Fifteen new King's Counsel appointed

Fifteen new King’s Counsel have been appointed by HM The King on the recommendation of First Minister Humza Yousaf – 13 advocates and two solicitor advocates.

The advocates who successfully applied for appointment are: Dan Byrne, Alan Caskie, Donald Davidson, Fiona Drysdale, Brian Gill, David Hay, Malcolm McGregor, Mark Mohammed, Susan Ower, Christopher Paterson, Paul Reid, Helen Watts and Christopher Wilson. 

They are joined as silks by Alan Cameron and Graeme Jessop, solicitor advocates.

Nominations were made to the First Minister by the Lord Justice General, after consulting other judges, the Lord Advocate, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates and the President of the Law Society of Scotland.

A report by Bill Thomson, the independent observer of the process, reveals that there were 25 applications – 22 from advocates and three from solicitor advocates. Only five female advocates applied this year, compared with eight last year. The overall success rate of 60% compares with last year's 64%.

Mr Thomson concludes that he is "satisfied that the process has been conducted fairly and thoroughly in accordance with the criteria set out in the Guide for Applicants. It is clear from the information available to me that the recommendations to be made to the First Minister are based on merit".