NEWS

Lady Drummond, who has been Vice-Chair since 2023, succeeds Lord Beckett, who stood down following his appointment as Lord Justice Clerk.

The Judicial Institute for Scotland provides education and training for Scottish judges. As Head of the Scottish judiciary, The Lord President delegates responsibility for the delivery of judicial training to the Judicial Institute’s Board. The operational work is led on behalf of the Board by the Institute’s Director Sheriff Pino Di Emidio and Deputy Director Sheriff Adrian Cottam.

In addition to face to face and online courses, the Institute develops and publishes resources for practising judges including a number of benchmark texts such as the Jury Manual, Civil and Criminal Bench Books and the Equal Treatment Bench Book.

The Lord President, Lord Pentland said:

“I would like to pay tribute to the work undertaken in the last few years by the Lord Justice Clerk as he stands down as Chair of the Judicial Institute. In particular the implementation of Lady Dorrian’s Review Group aimed at improving the court experience of those who have experienced trauma. The work done on the Jury Manual in relation to a plain English rewrite of the sexual offences chapters and new directions on rape myths and stereotypes was also very important.

Lady Drummond as Vice Chair worked closely with Lord Beckett on implementing these changes and others and I had no hesitation in appointing her as Chair and wish her every success in the role. As the work of judges continues to evolve, the Judicial Institute has never been more important or relevant in preparing the judiciary to adapt in a rapidly changing society.” 

Lady Drummond was installed as a Senator of the College of Justice in May 2022 after serving as an Appeal Sheriff and a Temporary High Court Judge since 2020.

Educated at Glasgow and Cambridge Universities, Lady Drummond was appointed assistant parliamentary counsel before calling to the Bar in 1998. She became a QC in 2011 after acting as standing junior to the Advocate General and Scottish Ministers. She sat as a part-time Sheriff from 2009 and took up the role as resident Sheriff in Dundee in 2014 and commercial sheriff in 2017. She is Honorary Professor of St Andrews University and Justice of the St Helena Court of Appeal.