NEWS

The Lord President, Lord Pentland, and the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Beckett, recommended the appointments.  Lord Arthurson will replace Lord Doherty following his appointment to the United Kingdom Supreme Court.  Lord Mulholland will replace Lady Paton, who has retired.  Lord Braid will replace Lord Armstrong when he retires later in the year.

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Angela Constance MSP, consented to the appointments, being satisfied that  they are required to meet the business demands of the Court.

The Lord President said: “I welcome these new appointments to the Inner House and warmly congratulate Lords Arthurson, Mulholland and Braid.  Each of them has had a distinguished career in the legal profession and as members of the judiciary.  The appointments will ensure that the Inner House and the Criminal Appeal Court continue to operate effectively and efficiently.”

Lord Arthurson was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Courts in March 2017. In 2005, he was appointed as a sheriff and separately as a Queen's Counsel; and in 2013 he was appointed as a temporary judge of the Court of Session. He also served as a member of the Sheriff Appeal Court.

He has served as a chair of tribunals for the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland and on the Parole Board for Scotland.

Lord Mulholland was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Courts in 2016. 

He graduated [with Hons] in law at Aberdeen University (1981) and also has a masters degree in business administration at Edinburgh University (1997). 

He was appointed as the Solicitor General for Scotland in 2007 and the Lord Advocate in 2011. During his time as Lord Advocate he helped to steer the Scottish Government through the legal issues which came with the referendum on independence.

He has wide experience in the legal profession, including having been Procurator Fiscal for Edinburgh, Area Procurator Fiscal for Lothian and Borders, Crown Counsel and Senior Crown Counsel. 

He is the first instance criminal administrative judge and has chaired the Welfare committee and was the first security judge. 

After graduating from the University of Edinburgh with first class honours in 1980, and as the recipient of the Lord President Cooper Memorial Prize, Lord Braid went into the solicitor branch of the profession, becoming a partner in Morton Fraser in 1985 and a solicitor-advocate in 1995, dealing predominantly with commercial litigation in the Court of Session.  He became a part-time sheriff in 2001 and was appointed as a sheriff in 2005, sitting latterly in Edinburgh.  In 2015, he was appointed as a designated personal injury sheriff in the All-Scotland Court, and as one of the first appeal sheriffs in the Sheriff Appeal Court, sitting in both civil and criminal cases.

In June 2020, Lord Braid was appointed as a judge in the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary.  He was a commercial judge from 2021 (and the senior commercial judge from 2022) until May 2025, and has been the senior family judge from May 2025 to date.