Ailsa Jane Carmichael, Lady Carmichael (born 26 November 1969) is a Scottish advocate and judge who has served as a Senator of the College of Justice since 2016.

Early life

Ailsa Jane Carmichael was born on 28 November 1969 in Paisley,

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...

, the eldest of two daughters to Ian Henry Buist Carmichael and Jean Cowie Carmichael ('' née'' Davidson). Her father was an advocate and worked for the Scottish Legal Action Group. Carmichael's younger sister Heather is an advocate, working in Westwater Advocates. In 1986, after leaving school from

fifth year Fifth Year refers to the fifth year of schooling in secondary schools in Scotland and Ireland. It was also the traditional term for the same year group in England and Wales, until about 1990 when most schools replaced it with Year Eleven and Ye ...

, Carmichael attended the

University of Glasgow School of Law The School of Law at the University of Glasgow provides undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Law, and awards the degrees of Bachelor of Laws (''Legum Baccalaureus'', LLB), Master of Laws (''Iuris Vtriusque Magistrum'', LLM), LLM by Researc ...

. She studied abroad at the Erasmus University in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

and worked in law firms in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. In 1990, she graduated with an

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

(hons) (Upper Second Class specialising in Comparative Law) and gained a

Diploma in Legal Practice A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

the following year.

Legal career

After receiving her

in 1991, she undertook a bar traineeship with Simpson & Marwick in Edinburgh after which she was admitted as an advocate in 1993, and devilled for sheriff J.A. Baird and for S.J. MacGibbon. From 2000 to 2008 she was standing junior counsel to the Home Office in Scotland, appearing in many

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...

s and statutory appeals relating to

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

and

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

. She was junior counsel to the Fingerprint Inquiry, which investigated the use of fingerprint evidence in the case of Detective Constable Shirley McKie. She

took silk In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or a ...

in 2008. Carmichael specialises in

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

and

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regulations"), ad ...

. She served as an advocate depute, as a member of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland, and as a part-time sheriff. From 2011 to 2014, Carmichael was a tutor in

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

at the Diploma in Legal Practice course at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

Senator of the College of Justice

On 11 May 2016, it was announced that Carmichael would be one of five new judges appointed to the

College of Justice The College of Justice includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies. The constituent bodies of the national supreme courts are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Office of the Accountant of Court, an ...

, the others being John Beckett, Alistair Clark, Frank Mulholland, and Andrew Stewart. Mulholland's appointment was not due to take effect until later in 2016, after the retirement of another judge. The other four appointees were to fill existing vacancies. Beckett, Clark and Stewart were all installed in May, however Carmichael's installation came a month later, on 30 June 2016. She took the judicial title Lady Carmichael.

Experience of sexism, and the importance of women role models

Carmichael has spoken about experiencing

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers pri ...

and sexual harassment in her legal training, and of the effect of being a parent on her studies. She has said:

Personal life

In 1997 she married Paul Barnaby. They had a daughter and son. Their marriage was dissolved in 2008. In 2010 she married Pino Di Emidio; they have a daughter.

References

External links

* Scottish Judiciary
The Hon Lady Carmichael (Ailsa Carmichael QC)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carmichael, Ailsa Living people Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish King's Counsel 21st-century King's Counsel Alumni of the University of Glasgow 21st-century Scottish judges Scottish sheriffs Scottish women judges Senators of the College of Justice People educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School 1969 births 21st-century women judges 21st-century British women lawyers