Commissioner news

Following Kate Dowdalls KC’s appointment as Sheriff Principal of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway, a role she will take up in early June, Professor Gillian Black will move from a part-time role as a Scottish Law Commissioner to a full-time role from 1 June 2023.  This will apply for the balance of her current term, which runs until 21 April 2025.  We are pleased that Scottish Ministers have agreed this change.  We congratulate Kate on her upcoming appointment, and Gillian on her enhanced role at the Commission.  An appointment process for a new Commissioner will begin in due course.

Lady Paton said: “Since we heard the good news about the appointment of Kate Dowdalls KC as Sheriff Principal we have been considering how best to fill her role as lead Commissioner for the project considering aspects of family law.  The next phase will be a review of the civil remedies for domestic abuse, and this is an area of law with which Professor Gillian Black, currently a Commissioner working part-time, has previous research expertise.  I am therefore delighted that she has been successful in securing a move to a full-time Commissioner appointment, which will allow her to take forward this important work in an effective and seamless way.  Kate Dowdalls KC will continue as a Commissioner until 31 May and we will have the opportunity before then to thank her for her considerable contribution to the Commission and our work.”