Lynda Margaret Clark, Baroness Clark of Calton , known as Lady Clark of Calton, (born 26 February 1949) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

judge. She was formerly the Labour Member of Parliament for Edinburgh Pentlands. She was

Advocate General for Scotland His Majesty's Advocate General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, whose duty it is to advise the The Crown, Crown and His Majesty's Government on Scots law. The Office of the Advocate General for Scotland is a Departments o ...

from the creation of that position in 1999 until 2006, whereupon she became a Judge of the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

in Scotland.

Career

Clark read law at Queens College, St Andrews during its transition to independence as the University of Dundee School of Law, graduating in 1970 with an LL.B. (Hons) from St Andrews, and subsequently gained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in criminology and penology from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

in 1975 presenting the thesis "Bail decision-making : law and practice in Scotland". She was a lecturer in

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

from 1973 at the University of Dundee until she was called to the Scottish Bar in 1977. She

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

in 1989, and was subsequently called to the

English Bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

in 1990 as a member of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

Politics

Clark first stood for election to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the 1992 general election, where she unsuccessfully contested the North East Fife seat held by

Menzies Campbell Walter Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, (; born 22 May 1941), often known as Ming Campbell, is a Scottish politician, advocate and former athlete. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for North ...

of the Liberal Democrats. At the 1997 general election, she was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

for the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency, unseating the Conservative

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs The secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs, also known as the foreign secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, Government of the United Kingdo ...

Malcolm Rifkind Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind (born 21 June 1946) is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament from 2 ...

. Rifkind was one of the high-profile losses on election night for the Conservative Party, who experienced their worst defeat since the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting e ...

and lost all their seats in both

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. In May 1999, Clark was appointed as the first-ever

, a new post created by the

Scotland Act 1998 The Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legislated for the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament with tax varying powers and the Scottish Government (then Scottish Executive). It was o ...

to advise the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

and

Government of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Scots law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

. She stood down at the 2005 general election, allowing

Secretary of State for Transport The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Departm ...

Alistair Darling Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (28 November 1953 – 30 November 2023) was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under prime minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party ...

to contest the new

Edinburgh South West Edinburgh South West is a Scottish constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, first used at the 2005 UK general election. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. ...

constituency. On 13 May 2005, it was announced that Clark would be created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

, and on 21 June 2005 the title was

gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

d as Baroness Clark of Calton, of Calton in the City of Edinburgh. On 18 January 2006, Lady Clark of Calton resigned as Advocate General, pending an expected judicial appointment. She was replaced as Advocate General by Neil Davidson, QC (now Lord Davidson of Glen Clova).

Judge

On 19 January, Clark was appointed as a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court ...

, a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland. She was installed in office in February 2006. On 21 June 2012, Lady Clark succeeded Lord Drummond Young as chairman of the

Scottish Law Commission The Scottish Law Commission () is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It was established in 1965 to keep Scots law under review and recommend necessary reforms to improve, simplify and update the country's legal ...

. Lady Clark demitted office on 31 December 2013 in order to sit in the

Inner House The Inner House is the senior part of the Court of Session, the supreme civil court in Scotland; the Outer House forms the junior part of the Court of Session. It is a court of appeal and a court of first instance. The chief justice is th ...

of the

, and was succeeded as chairman by Lord Pentland. As of 2016, Lady Clark of Calton is the most recent Senator of the College of Justice to have served in the House of Commons. She retired from the bench in 2019.

Publications

*''The Role of the Advocate General for Scotland'' *

References

External links

TheyWorkForYou.com – Baroness Clark of CaltonThe Public Whip – Voting Record – Lynda Clark MP/Baroness Clark of CaltonBBC News – Lynda Clark profile
– October 2002

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Lynda 1949 births Living people Nobility from Edinburgh Advocates general for Scotland Alumni of the University of Dundee Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Clark of Calton Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Faculty of Advocates Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 Clark Scottish women judges Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century Scottish women politicians 20th-century Scottish politicians 21st-century Scottish women politicians 21st-century Scottish politicians Women law officers of the Crown in the United Kingdom