Lady Carmichael joins the bench

Ailsa Carmichael QC has been installed as a Senator of the College of Justice, taking her place on the bench with the judicial title Lady Carmichael.

She becomes the 10th woman out of 34 current serving judges of the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary.

The Lord President, Lord Carloway, presided over the ceremony in the First Division courtroom in Parliament House today. 

He said: “Lady Carmichael, on behalf of the College of Justice, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the bench of the Court of Session.

“You have had a distinguished career since passing advocate in 1993 and having taken silk in 2008. This has included a specialism in public and administrative law, notably in asylum and immigration cases. I am sure that your skills in these expanding fields will prove a major asset to the bench.

“We will all wish you a rewarding life as part of our enthusiastic cohort.”

A graduate of the University of Glasgow, Ms Carmichael called to the bar in 1993, taking silk in 2008. She has served as standing junior counsel to the Home Department and reporter to the Scottish Legal Aid Board, and was also a tutor at the University of Edinburgh and a member of the Equality & Human Rights Commission panel of counsel.

She has served as a part time sheriff since 2007 and a Deputy Judge of the Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) since 2014.

Lady Carmichael is the fourth of the five new judicial appointees announced last month tp take their seat on the bench, following Lord Beckett, Lord Clark and Lord Ericht (Andrew Stewart). The former Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC will take his seat later in the year.