Lady Dorrian becomes most senior woman in Scottish legal history

A packed First Division courtroom witnessed Scottish legal history, with the installation of Lady Dorrian as Lord Justice Clerk. She is the first woman to hold either of the two senior judicial titles in Scotland.

A bench of fourteen of her fellow judges, led by Lord Carloway, the Lord President, was convened for the ceremony.

Lord Carloway administered the oath of allegiance, the official oath and the judicial oath to Lady Dorrian, and welcomed her to her place on the bench as Lord Justice Clerk and President of the Second Division of the Court of Session.

He recounted some of the milestones in Lady Dorrian’s career, including being admitted to Faculty in 1981, talking silk in 1994, and serving as a temporary judge before being appointed a Senator in 2005 and joining the Second Division in 2012.

“Now, as Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian becomes the most senior woman in Scottish legal history,” added Lord Carloway.

Lady Dorrian said: “It is a great honour to be the first woman, the first of many I have no doubt, to be appointed to this great office.”

She thanked all those who had sent her messages of support and encouragement, and said she hoped to justify that encouragement and draw on that support as she worked with her colleagues and others to ensure Scotland had a modern, accessible and efficient legal system which truly met the needs of the people it served.