The Baroness Clark of Calton | |
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![]() Official portrait, 2023 | |
Senator of the College of Justice | |
In office 2006–2019 | |
Nominated by | Jack McConnell as First Minister |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Preceded by | Lady Cosgrove |
Advocate General for Scotland | |
In office 19 May 1999 –18 January 2006 | |
Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | The Lord Davidson of Glen Clova |
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
Assumed office 21 June 2005 Life Peerage | |
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh Pentlands | |
In office 1 May 1997 –11 April 2005 | |
Preceded by | Malcolm Rifkind |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Lynda Margaret Clark 26 February 1949 |
Political party | Labour |
Alma mater | Queens College,St Andrews, University of Edinburgh |
Lynda Margaret Clark,Baroness Clark of Calton PC ,known as Lady Clark of Calton,(born 26 February 1949) is a Scottish judge. She was formerly the Labour Member of Parliament for Edinburgh Pentlands. She was Advocate General for Scotland from the creation of that position in 1999 until 2006,whereupon she became a Judge of the Court of Session in Scotland.
Clark read law at Queens College,St Andrews during its transition to independence as the University of Dundee School of Law,graduating in 1970 with an LL.B. (Hons) from St Andrews,and subsequently gained a PhD in criminology and penology from the University of Edinburgh in 1975 presenting the thesis "Bail decision-making :law and practice in Scotland". [1] [2] She was a lecturer in Jurisprudence from 1973 at the University of Dundee until she was called to the Scottish Bar in 1977. She took silk in 1989,and was subsequently called to the English Bar in 1990 as a member of the Inner Temple.
Clark first stood for election to Parliament at the 1992 general election,where she unsuccessfully contested the North East Fife seat held by Menzies Campbell of the Liberal Democrats. At the 1997 general election,she was elected to the House of Commons for the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency,unseating the Conservative Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs,Malcolm Rifkind. Rifkind was one of the high-profile losses on election night for the Conservative Party,who experienced their worst defeat since the 1906 general election and lost all their seats in both Scotland and Wales.
In May 1999,Clark was appointed as the first-ever Advocate General for Scotland,a new post created by the Scotland Act 1998 to advise the Crown and Government of the United Kingdom on Scots law.
She stood down at the 2005 general election,allowing Secretary of State for Transport Alistair Darling to contest the new Edinburgh South West constituency. [3]
On 13 May 2005,it was announced that Clark would be created a life peer,and on 21 June 2005 the title was gazetted as Baroness Clark of Calton,of Calton in the City of Edinburgh. [4]
On 18 January 2006,Lady Clark of Calton resigned as Advocate General,pending an expected judicial appointment. She was replaced as Advocate General by Neil Davidson,QC [5] (now Lord Davidson of Glen Clova).
On 19 January,Clark was appointed as a Senator of the College of Justice,a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland. [3] She was installed in office in February 2006. [6]
On 21 June 2012,Lady Clark succeeded Lord Drummond Young as chairman of the Scottish Law Commission. [7] Lady Clark demitted office on 31 December 2013 in order to sit in the Inner House of the Court of Session,and was succeeded as chairman by Lord Pentland. [8]
As of 2016,Lady Clark of Calton is the most recent Senator of the College of Justice to have served in the House of Commons.
She retired from the bench in 2019. [9]
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 held by Lord Stewart of Dirleton.
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Events from the year 2006 in Scotland.
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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.
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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.
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Events from the year 1844 in Scotland.
Lady Clark may refer to:
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