Selection panel named for Lord Justice Clerk appointment
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has named the selection panel that will appoint the next Lord Justice Clerk.
Lord Carloway, the previous holder of the office and the new Lord President, is one of the four strong team that also includes Sir Muir Russell and Alison Mitchell of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland, and Lady Stacey, Senator of the College of Justice.
The Lord Justice Clerk, Scotland's second most senior judge, chairs the newly created Scottish Sentencing Council, provides support to the Lord President and is deputy chair of the board of the Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service.
Applications for the post are invited until Sunday 7 February. Serving Court of Session judges, sheriffs and sheriffs principal who have held continuous office for the past five years, and advocates and solicitor advocates who have held rights of audience in the higher courts for at least five years, are eligible to apply.
The selection panel will make recommendations to the First Minister, who then makes her nomination to the Prime Minister after statutory consultation with the Lord President. The Prime Minister recommends a candidate to the Queen, but may not recommend anybody who has not been nominated by the First Minister.