Three join SCCRC board as new chair takes over

A new chair and two other board members have taken up post at the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body that investigates alleged miscarriages of justice in the Scottish criminal courts.

Bill Matthews has succeeded Jean Couper as chair. A former senior executive with Motorola who has also worked in the SME sector, Mr Matthews first served as a non-executive director in Scottish Government, including as audit chair in the Crown Office & Procurement Fiscal Service, and then on the board of the Scottish Police Authority and through membership of the British Transport Police Authority.

He is joined on the board by Raymond McMenamin and Elaine Noad. Mr McMenamin, a solicitor, worked initially as a procurator fiscal depute but has since gained more than 30 years’ experience in private practice and has been a senior partner of KW Law, West Lothian since 1997. A solicitor advocate with rights of audience in the High Court, he was appointed as a part time sheriff in 2007 and as a shrieval convener of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland in 2015.

Ms Noad has spent most of her career in local government, most recently as Director of Social Work, Housing & Health with South Ayrshire Council. Since then she has served on bodies including the Scottish Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal, the Parole Board and the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland. She currently acts as an independent public appointments advisor for the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland. 

Each appointment is for four years until 31 December 2020, with a time commitment of three to four days a month.