Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament from 2010 to 2015. He is also known for his advocacy of a pro-European stance within his party's policies.
His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate, is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament. The Lord Advocate provides legal advice to the government on its responsibilities, policies, legislation and advising on the legal implications of any proposals brought forward by the government. The Lord Advocate is responsible for all legal advice which is given to the Scottish Government.
His Majesty's Advocate General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, whose duty it is to advise the Crown and His Majesty's Government on Scots law. The Office of the Advocate General for Scotland is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is currently occupied by Catherine Smith KC..
Peter Lovat Fraser, Baron Fraser of Carmyllie, PC, QC was a Scottish politician and advocate.
Lady Elish Frances Angiolini is a Scottish lawyer who ìs a Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford and has served as the Principal of St. Hugh's College, Oxford since 2012; she is a candidate in the 2024 University of Oxford Chancellor election.
Neil Forbes Davidson, Baron Davidson of Glen Clova is a Scottish lawyer and former Advocate General for Scotland.
James Arthur David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead, is a retired Scottish judge who served as the Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General, Scotland's most senior judge, and later as first Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2009 until his retirement in 2013. He had previously been the Second Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. He is the Chief Justice of Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts.
William Grant, Lord Grant, was a Scottish advocate, a Unionist politician, and a judge. Born to the Grant's distillery family who created Glenfiddich whisky, he was one of Scotland's Great Officers of State for the last 12 years of his life.
Thomas David King Murray, Lord Birnam,, known as Lord Murray between 1938 and 1941 and Sir David King Murray between 1941 and 1945, was a Scottish advocate and judge who served for two years as Unionist Member of Parliament (MP).
Francis Mulholland, Lord Mulholland, is a Scottish judge who has been a Senator of the College of Justice since 2016. He previously served from 2011 to 2016 as Lord Advocate, one of the Great Officers of State of Scotland and the country's chief Law Officer, and as Solicitor General, the junior Law Officer.
The Dundee Law School is the law school of the University of Dundee in Scotland. It provides undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in Scots and English law, permitting students to qualify into all three United Kingdom legal jurisdictions. The law school traces its roots to the University of St. Andrews, and has placed in the top 15 law schools in the UK on the University League Tables. The school is based in the Scrymgeour Building—named for Henry Scrymgeour, a 16th-century legal philosopher from Dundee—while the Law Library is based in the libraries building, both on the university's main campus. The Law School is part of the wider School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Law at Dundee.
Paul Benedict Cullen, Lord Pentland, is a former Solicitor General for Scotland, a Senator of the College of Justice and former Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission.
James Edward Drummond Young, Lord Drummond Young, is a retired judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland and was formerly Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission.
Valerie Elizabeth Stacey, Lady Stacey is a Scottish lawyer, and a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the country's Supreme Courts. She was the first woman ever elected Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Advocates.
James Ivory, Lord IvoryFRSE, was a Scottish judge.
William Ian Stewart, Lord Allanbridge was a Scottish lawyer, judge and politician, who served as Solicitor General for Scotland, the country's junior Law Officer from 1972 to 1974, and as a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, from 1977 to 1995.
Events from the year 1987 in Scotland.
Prior to the 20th Century, there were few women in law in the United Kingdom. Prior to the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919, women were not permitted to practice law in the United Kingdom. By 1931 there were around 100 female solicitors. The first female-only law partnership was founded in 1933. In 2010, a report by The Lawyer found that 22 percent of partners at the UK's top 100 firms were women; a follow-up report in 2015 found that figure had not changed. Since 2014, a number of large corporate firms of solicitors have set gender diversity targets to increase the percentage of women within their partnerships. By 2019, 51% of British solicitors were women.
