The Board
There are currently sixteen Board Members: eight judicial/legal members and eight lay members including the Lay Chairing Member.
The Chairing Member receives a fee of £350 per day. The other lay members and the legal members receive a fee of £296 per day. The judicial members do not receive any fees for work undertaken except for May Dunsmuir who receives fees commensurate with her role as a Chamber President. All Board Members are eligible to claim for expenses incurred on Board business, based on Scottish Government Travel and Subsistence rules.
The Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 allows for Board Members to be appointed for a period of no more than four years; appointments can be renewed up to a maximum of 8 years.
Lindsay Montgomery CBE, FRSE, has substantial experience in the management, leadership and governance of public bodies. Past roles include Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Aid Board, Deputy Chair and later Chair of the Scottish Charity Regulator and Chair of Community Justice Scotland. He has also worked in various Government departments, including HM Treasury.
Lindsay has an extensive background in Scotland’s justice system. In addition to his role as Chief Executive of SLAB from 1999 until 2016, other roles include membership of the Scottish Civil Justice Council, the Scottish Government Justice Board and the National Criminal Justice Board. He was a member of several policy and reference groups for reviews of aspects of the justice system in Scotland, including Lord Gill's review of Scottish Civil Courts, Lord Carloway's review of Criminal Law and Practice and Sheriff Principal Taylor’s review of Expenses of Funding for Civil Litigation in Scotland.
He is a visiting professor in the School of Law at the University of Strathclyde with a focus on legal aid and access to justice, and Vice Chair of the International Legal Aid Group.
Other current roles include Chair of the Scottish Government Digital Board, as well as consultancy and other non-executive roles.
In 2009 he was awarded a CBE for his services to the administration of justice. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
He was appointed as the Chairing Member of JABS in January 2022.
Mrs May Dunsmuir is a solicitor, graduating from the University of Glasgow. She is Chamber President of the Health and Education Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland. Prior to that, she was the President of the Additional Support Needs Tribunals for Scotland. Mrs Dunsmuir was also previously a Convener with the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (MHTS). She served as an In-house Convener with the MHTS and was Lead Convener for child and adolescent mental health tribunals.
Before undertaking judicial appointments, Mrs Dunsmuir was a Children’s Reporter.
Mrs Dunsmuir was appointed to the board in May 2022 for four years.
Board Member Position: Judicial Member
Elizabeth Burnley has a background in Occupational Psychology, HR and general management. Her career started within manufacturing industry, within railway and chemical engineering. After leading a company manufacturing industrial locomotives, she moved into consultancy in team development and assessment and selection methods, an area she then undertook for the Boots Company plc. After experience as a Non-executive Director within the NHS, Elizabeth chaired fitness to practise hearings for the Nursing and Midwifery Council and sat as a Lay Member for hearings at the General Pharmaceutical Council.
She has a BSc and MSc from the University of Nottingham, an MBA from the Open University and an honorary doctorate from the University of Derby.
As a volunteer, Elizabeth was Chief Guide for the UK for 5 years and continues as an active volunteer.
Mrs Burnley was appointed as a Lay Assistant in January 2016 for three years. Further to this, she was appointed as a Lay Board Member from August 2018 for four years, until August 2022.
Board Member Position: Lay Member
Cat is a partner at BTO Solicitors. After graduating LLB in 1992, she worked as a solicitor for a number of years, and called to the bar in 1998, specialising in personal injury. She practised as an Advocate for ten years before leading a Dispute Resolution team in a commercial law firm, growing turnover by over 300%. She joined BTO in 2022. Having undertaken cases in the Sheriff Court, the Court of Session, the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court, Cat has extensive litigation and courtroom experience.
Cat specialises in financial disputes, including financial claims against banks and other financial institutions, contract breaches, insolvency disputes, banking fraud and property disputes. She currently holds a band 1 ranking in Chambers UK for her banking litigation work. She also has an established expertise in general commercial and contract disputes, inter-company disputes, and in professional negligence claims. Cat is a qualified mediator, and mediates regularly for her clients.
She is a member of the Westminster All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking's Professional Advisory Panel, and was a Committee member of the House of Commons Parliamentary Inquiry into Financial Disputes. In 2018 she provided expert testimony to the Treasury Select Committee on financial disputes. Cat sits on the Lord President’s Consultative Committee on Commercial Actions, chaired by Lord Doherty; and on the Law Society of Scotland’s Professional Conduct Committee, which sits monthly.
Board Member Position: Legal Member
Cat was appointed to the Board in June 2022 for a term of four years.
David Young KC is a sheriff in the courts of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway.
After graduating LLB in 1985, he worked as a solicitor for a number of years, specialising in corporate law. He called to the bar in 1998, and appeared regularly as defence counsel in criminal cases. He was appointed an advocate depute in 2004, and served six years as a prosecutor in Crown Office. He was the first depute head of the National Sexual Crimes Unit.
After becoming a KC in 2011, Sheriff Young was appointed a part-time sheriff in 2012 and joined the Parole Board for Scotland as a legal member in 2017. He was appointed a full-time Sheriff in 2018.
Board Member Position: Judicial Member
Paul spent 40 years in the civil service, leaving in 2019. He held a number of director general posts in Scottish government from 2009 onwards, culminating in the role of chief executive of NHS Scotland and DG health and social care. During his civil service career, he served all of the main parties of government in both the UK and devolved administrations.
Paul now has a diverse portfolio covering academia and the public, private and third sectors. He is a Civil Service Commissioner, an honorary professor at the University of Glasgow, Scotland’s member of council for the Open University, and patron of Medics Against Violence. He is a senior faculty member at the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh), on the board of the Care Inspectorate, a Fellow of SRUC, and a senior advisor to public affairs firm Charlotte Street Partners.
Paul was appointed to the board in November 2023 for four years.
Board Member Position: Lay Member
Emma is a Lay Member of the Judicial Appointments Board and joined us in December 2021. She has extensive recruitment and leadership experience and enjoys all aspects of people development; leadership, engagement and optimizing their performance.
She led an award winning £20M turnover recruitment business from start up to her exit in 2019 as Managing Director of the 45 person team engaging approx. 300 temporary workers each week. She led their digitization, rebranding and entry into new markets and supported multiple firms in their bid to secure the best fit for their business.
Emma has worked on a consultancy basis for a variety of firms from employee owned businesses to plcs and is particularly interested in organisations who are striving for excellence and efficiency.
She has sat on the board of West Lothian College and is currently a voluntary board member for BE-ST and Board Advisor for Exmos.
Emma has a BA in Law, two children and lives in Edinburgh.
Board Member Position: Lay Member
Shona Haldane is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh. She trained at a large Edinburgh firm and worked for the same firm for five years before pursuing a career at the Bar. She called at the bar in 1996 and enjoyed a busy civil practice, including appointments as Standing Junior to the Forestry Commission and thereafter the Home Office.
She also held an appointment as an Ad Hoc Advocate Depute for a number of years as well as serving on the Presbyterial Commission of the Church of Scotland. Shona took silk in 2010 and then, in 2021, was appointed as a Senator of the College of Justice (a High Court Judge).
Lady Haldane was appointed to the Judicial Appointments Board in May 2022.
Board Member Position: Judicial Member
A graduate in both history and law, Lord Weir served his traineeship with Maclay Murray and Spens, Solicitors, before being admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in July 1995.
He served as an Advocate Depute between 2005 and 2008, took silk in 2010, and was appointed a floating sheriff of South Strathclyde Dumfries and Galloway, based at Hamilton Sheriff Court, in April 2015.
In April 2018 he took up a position as one of the resident sheriffs at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, sitting as one of the specialist sheriffs in the All Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court. He served as a temporary judge of the Court of Session between 2017 and 2020, and was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice in April 2020.
Board Member Position: Judicial Member
Lord Weir was appointed to the Board in January 2023 for a term of four years.
Kate Dowdalls KC is a graduate of the Univerity of Strathclyde. After completing her traineeship, she spent 13 years as a solicitor in private practice. She was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 2000 and took silk in 2013. She was appointed Scottish Law Commissioner in July 2018, to lead the Aspects of family law project. In June 2023 she was appointed Sheriff Principal of South Strathclyde Dumfries and Galloway.
Board Member Position: Judicial Member
Paul Cackette is a former Director of Legal Services and former Chief Planning Reporter in the Scottish Government. Before retiring in January 2021, he was the Scottish Government Director of PPE and Director, Outbreak Management during the Covid pandemic. He was awarded a CBE in 2021.
At present he is a Visiting Professor of Public Law at Strathclyde University and is a part-time self-employed planning reporter. He was appointed in 2022 as an independent external reviewer in relation to a review of systems and procedures in the Irish Planning system (An Bord Pleanala). That work was completed in December 2022. Paul sits on the Planning sub-committee of the Law Society.
After joining the Government Legal Service in 1988, Paul led reform of the civil justice system for the government between 2003 and 2008 while working in the Justice Directorate. He was then appointed as Legal Secretary to the Lord Advocate and in 2009 became Deputy Solicitor to the Scottish Government. He was a member of the Project Board for the construction of the Queensferry Crossing. He is committed to broadening diversity in the judiciary and was the Scottish Government Disability Champion up until 2016.
Board Member Position: Legal Member
Paul was appointed in November 2023 for 3 years.
Jonathan Barne K.C. has been practising at the Scottish Bar since 2003.
Having graduated from Oxford University in 1992, Jonathan worked as a journalist in Estonia and then was employed as a cataloguer in the Chinese art department of an international auction house. Jonathan attended Edinburgh University in 1997 to undertake and accelerated law degree. He completed his legal traineeship with Shepherd and Wedderburn in 2002 before being admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 2003. In 2008, he was appointed a standing junior to the Scottish Government. Jonathan took Silk in 2017 and enjoys a broad civil practice with a particular focus on commercial law, property law, construction law, professional negligence and public/administrative law.
Board Member Position: Legal Member
Jonathan was appointed in November 2023 for 3 years.
Gareth spent over thirty years in policing in a range of different forces undertaking a range of operational and strategic roles. In addition he was Director of the senior police assessment processes for five years and an assessor for the five years prior.
He retired as the Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police in 2021 and was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in the 2022 New Years Honours List.
He is an independent decision maker for Ministerial conduct with the Scottish Government. He volunteers locally with a range of community groups. He is the chair of SEALL who promote music and performing arts across Skye and Lochalsh and is a trustee for the Lochalsh and Skye Housing Association and the Kyle & Lochalsh Community Trust. He is the Operations Manager for the Kyle RNLI station.
He has a particular interest in leadership development, assessment and selection, strategic and crisis communications and change management.
Gareth lives by Loch Alsh with his wife and Ted a grumpy cairn terrier.
Board Position: Lay Member
Gareth was appointed in January 2024 for 3 years.
Dr Fiona McLean
Fiona has extensive experience in leadership positions and as a non-executive director in the public sector. She was a founding board member of Historic Environment Scotland; is a member of the Committee for Scotland for the National Lottery Heritage Fund; and sits on the board of the Cairngorms National Park Authority. Fiona was previously Vice Chair of Court at the University of the Highlands and Islands, and is now the elected Rector and Chair of Foundation for the University. She was also Chair of Highland Home Carers, Scotland's second largest employee-owned company. Fiona's interest in the justice system was developed as non-executive director on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's Executive Board.
Fiona started her career in academia, obtaining a PhD on museum policy and marketing from the University of Northumbria. After a number of years as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Stirling, she joined Glasgow Caledonian University as Professor of Cultural Heritage Management.
Fiona has a strong commitment to equalities and diversity, and in most of her non-executive roles has acted as equalities champion. For the Cairngorms National Park Authority, she helped found and now chairs an Equalities Advisory Panel to support the Authority in mainstreaming equalities within the Authority and the National Park; and for the University of the Highlands and Islands she chaired a working group to increase diversity on the University Court and the Boards of the University's Partner Colleges.
Board Member Position: Lay Member
Fiona was appointed in January 2024 for 4 years.
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Peter Murray has extensive governance experience as Vice Chair of NHS Lothian, Council member of the Scottish Social Services Council and Chair of Bon Accord Care, an adult social care provider in Aberdeen.
As part of his role in NHSL he was a member of East Lothian and Edinburgh Integrated Joint Boards. In East Lothian he has Chaired the Board on two separate occasions. Peter Chaired the Integrated Joint Board, Chairs and Vice Chairs Executive for 6 years.
Past roles include Board membership of Aberdeen College and Grampian Credit Union,
Peter has considerable experience in leadership and management from his 30-year career in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Peter retired from this role in 2016 as the Director of Service Transformation.
Peter has a MA in Political Studies from Aberdeen University.
Board Position: Lay Member
Peter was appointed in January 2024 for 3 years.
Wilma has 25 years’ HR experience in the public and private sectors, having worked for a variety of diverse organisations, including a large insurance company, a university and the police service in Scotland. As an HR consultant, she also provided advice and guidance to a number of small businesses, one being a start-up. Whilst working for the police service, she undertook specialist roles in Project Management, Equality and Diversity and Staff Development.
Wilma has been a Lay Member of Employment Tribunals since 2010, a Lay Member on Fitness to Teach hearings for the General Teaching Council for Scotland since June 2023 and was a Lay Member on Fitness to Practise hearings for the Scottish Social Services Council from 2014 to 2021. She has in-depth experience in policy development, recruitment and selection, equality impact assessment and panel decision making.
She has a MA in Modern History, a Postgraduate Diploma in HR and was a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development for 26 years.
Board Position: Lay Member
Wilma was appointed in January 2024 for 4 years.