NEWS

In four separate ceremonies, Lady Anwar, Lord Ewing, Lord Ghosh and Lady O’Neill, were all installed as Senators of the College of Justice. The Lord President administered the Oath of Allegiance and the Judicial Oath before inviting them to take a seat on the bench.

Lord Pentland, Lord President of the Court of Session said: “I warmly congratulate the new Senators and very much look forward to working with them. Their diverse knowledge and experience will be a hugely beneficial addition to the bench and they will provide the high quality impartial justice the people of Scotland expect from their judiciary.

“The senior judiciary must reflect the society we serve. Those thinking of becoming judges should take confidence that, no matter one’s background or path in the law, becoming a member of the senior judiciary is open to you and based solely on merit. 

“Like the appointment of Lady Cosgrove thirty years ago, these appointments mark a welcome and historic step in further broadening the diversity of the senior judiciary.

“Most people never find themselves in a court room, but they can be confident that if they do, they will be met by judges who are impartial, independent and committed to the rule of law.”

The Right Honourable Dorothy Bain PC KC was also appointed to the Office of Senator of the College of Justice. She will take up appointment on 7 January 2027.

Senators hear a wide variety of important civil and criminal business in the Supreme Courts of Scotland.  They preside over the most complex and high-profile cases where decisions have a significant impact.

In the Court of Session, Senators hear an extensive range of civil business including commercial, family, immigration and international child abduction cases.  Judicial review cases often involve important and novel points of public law.  In the High Court of Justiciary, Senators preside over the most serious criminal cases.  

Biographies

Lady Anwar was appointed Sheriff Principal of Glasgow and Strathkelvin and President of the Sheriff Appeal Court in 2023 and as a Temporary Judge in 2024.  

She graduated from the University of Edinburgh (LLB Hons) in 1996 and from the University of Oxford (BCL) in 1998.  She was admitted as a solicitor in 2000. From 2009 to 2012 she became a partner and head of litigation for Scotland in a global law firm.  

She was appointed as a part-time sheriff in 2011 and as a sheriff at Glasgow Sheriff Court in 2014 where she was a designated family law and commercial law sheriff.  She was appointed Sheriff Principal of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway in 2020 and as Honorary King’s Counsel in 2024.  

As Sheriff Principal, Lady Anwar designed and developed Summary Case Management (SCM) and chair the SCM Board.  She was an adviser to the Scottish Sentencing Council and was formerly a member of both the Board of the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service and Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland.

She co-authored the Civil Bench Book for Sheriffs on behalf of the Judicial Institute and is a contributor to the 4th edition of Macphail on Sheriff Court Practice.

Lord Ewing is a graduate of the University of Glasgow (LLB Hons) and the University of Strathclyde (LLM). He qualified as a solicitor in 1990 and has both criminal and civil rights of audience. Mr Ewing practised in the criminal, civil and regulatory fields and became a KC in 2019. He has served as an Advocate Depute since 2018 and was subsequently appointed Assistant Principal Crown Counsel. During his time at Crown Office, he conducted a range of complex prosecutions and appeals.

Lord Ghosh is an Edinburgh University law graduate.  He holds a DPhil from St Edmund Hall, Oxford and a PhD from Clare Hall, Cambridge.  He practised at the Bar of both England and Wales (Lincoln’s Inn, called 1993, Queen’s Counsel 2006) and Scotland (called 1999, Queen’s Counsel 2010), with a primarily tax practice in England and a mixed practice (latterly including crime) in Scotland. He is a Bye-Fellow at Peterhouse, Cambridge and a Preceptor at Corpus Christi, Cambridge, having taught undergraduates across a range of private law and public law subjects.  He represented Scotland as a fencer for Scottish Universities, at several Five Nations tournaments and at the Commonwealth Games (2018 and 2022).

Lady O’Neill holds an LLB in Moral Philosophy & Public Law from the University of Glasgow and an LLM from Harvard Law School where she was a Kennedy Scholar.  She taught at Edinburgh Law School before joining Brodies in 2000.  A partner from 2004, she was Chair of the firm from 2013 to 2025.  She became a solicitor advocate in 2008, was first Standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Government between 2016 and 2020 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2020.  She is co-author, with Professor Chris Himsworth and David Blair, of Scotland's Constitution: Law and Practice.