Lady Smith | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait from 2006 | |
| Senator of the College of Justice | |
| Assumed office 2001 | |
| Nominated by | Henry McLeish As First Minister |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Anne Mather 16 March 1955 |
| Spouse | David Alexander Smith |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Profession | Advocate |
Anne Smith,Lady Smith, PC (born 16 March 1955) is a Scottish lawyer,and a retired judge. Smith is currently the chair of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.
Smith was educated at Jordanhill School and Cheadle County Grammar School for Girls,before attending the School of Law of the University of Edinburgh,where she graduated with an LL.B. (Hons.). [1] She served a two-year apprenticeship with Shepherd and Wedderburn WS,and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1980.
Smith worked as standing junior counsel to the Countryside Commission, [1] before becoming a Queen's Counsel in 1993. [1]
She served as a temporary sheriff from 1995 to 1999, [2] as chairman of the Scottish Partnership on Domestic Abuse from 1998 to 2000, [1] and as an advocate depute from 2000 to 2001. [2] In April 2001 she was blamed by Donald Findlay for falling dress standards in the courts. In 1997,she had been the first woman to appear before the Court of Session in trousers;Findlay said that "The drop in standards began when female lawyers were allowed to wear trousers in court. They are all right for going to Tesco in,but not suitable dress for ladies to wear in court." [2] In November 2001,Smith was appointed a judge of the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary,the Supreme Courts of Scotland,taking the judicial title Lady Smith. Filling the vacancy created by Brian Gill's promotion to Lord Justice Clerk,she was only the third woman to be appointed to the College of Justice.
Smith was appointed as chairwoman of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in July 2016;since February 2017 she has been the sole member of the panel. [3] In 2019,a disability discrimination employment claim was made against Smith at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry. The allegation was that Smith discriminated,harassed and victimised a junior advocate of the inquiry when he was diagnosed with cancer,undergoing surgery,during chemotherapy and thereafter to date. Smith denied the allegations. The claim was later withdrawn due to fear of costs. [4] [5] On 23 February 2022,an appeal court held that Smith was acting beyond her powers to prevent the BBC from fully reporting on the disability discrimination employment claim against Smith. An order restricting reporting detail of the claim was issued by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and then challenged by the BBC,first through a judicial review and then an appeal of that review decision. [6]
The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has been criticised for the limited scope of investigations,mounting costs,and delay. [7] [8] [9]
John Halley,a former Counsel to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry,has written a book documenting his experience of disability discrimination by Smith. Halley outlines the cover up and corruption by the Scottish legal profession attempting to silence him because he called for an investigation into the historical child abuse allegations against senior legal professionals. [10]
Smith and her Senior Counsel,Andrew Brown KC,have been consistently criticised by survivors,most notably a prominent and vocal group called EA Survivors (ex Edinburgh Academy) founded by survivors brought together through Nicky Campbell. EA Survivors (EAS) has written to the Inquiry expressing strongly negative views about Lady Smith and alleging that she is institutionally biased in favour of prestigious private schools citing:
- The controversial report on Loretto School in Musselburgh,which Smith published in April 2023. Survivors were highly critical of the positive tone adopted by Lady Smith. Her introductory sections describe how Loretto is “set in a leafy campus extending to about 85 acres…close to the sea.”“Pinkie House is worthy of particular mention”and according to Lady Smith’s report is “Scotland’s finest Renaissance Villa.”The Times wrote about the survivors' views on the Loretto report. [11]
- A serious conflict of interest as Lady Smith served on the board of governor's of Scotland's leading girls private school,St George's School for Girls. [12] The survivors also understand that Lady Smith's husband and children were privately educated at Fettes,St George's and Edinburgh Academy.
The EA Survivors full report is available online. [13]
The next report from the survivor group will be published in Q1 of 2025,and will cover:
- work being done to influence safeguarding in schools today
- progress with criminal convictions
- the role and culpability of former governors and school management
- collusion and cover up
- interference and abuse of position by senior members of the legal profession in Scotland
- systematic mistreatment of whistle-blowers by Lady Smith.
Lady Smith's predecessor resigned due to alleged views deemed 'offensive to survivors'. [14]
Smith married David Alexander Smith,a solicitor,in 1979,with whom she has a daughter and a son.
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