Garry Sturrock

Mr Sturrock is a senior associate and accredited family lawyer at Brodies LLP. With over 12 years’ experience of both criminal and civil court work, including his former role as a procurator fiscal depute, he has a good insight into current issues facing court lawyers in Aberdeen and their clients.

Other senior appointments include criminal defence lawyer Ian Woodward-Nutt as vice president (criminal), civil litigation lawyer Jessica Sunassee-Mackey as vice president (civil), family lawyer Sophie Richardson as secretary and criminal defence lawyer Caitlin Pirie as treasurer.

Mr Sturrock said: “We have appointed a diverse group of experienced lawyers this year, all of whom bring with them an abundance of knowledge and insight. I am confident that collectively, we will continue to be an important voice on issues facing court lawyers and others involved in the justice process in Aberdeen.

“We will continue to make strong representations to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, the Scottish government and other justice partners on issues which we consider to be of importance. This includes our opposition to plans by the Scottish government to abolish the not proven verdict, to restrict jury numbers to 12 and require a minimum of eight for a guilty verdict and to scrap juries in sexual cases, all of which strike at the heart of the criminal justice process and the important safeguards for accused persons.

“We also remain concerned about the distinct imbalance in spending on civil and criminal legal aid in the recent budget when compared to allocations for Police Scotland and COPFS. Legal aid remains a cornerstone of our justice system, to allow those who cannot afford to instruct a lawyer (which includes the most vulnerable in our society) to be represented and to allow equality of arms in court proceedings.”