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Parole Board for Scotland
18/06/2008
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice today announced the appointment of four new legal members to the Parole Board for Scotland.
The new legal members are:
Paul Arthurson was educated at both Edinburgh and Oxford Universities Sheriff Arthurson was called to the bar in 1991 and took silk in 2005. In 2005 he was appointed an All Scotland Floating Sheriff. He also acts as a Shrieval convenor of Mental Health Tribunals in restricted patient cases. Aged 43 and married with 2 daughters he also teaches, as lecturer, the professional ethics component of the Diploma in Legal Practice course at Edinburgh University. Sheriff Arthurson holds no other Ministerial appointments.
Heather Baillie worked in Edinburgh for 10 years firstly as a court solicitor then specialising in Licensing law. She co-authored the Annotations of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976. Ms Baillie moved to Paisley in 1991 and became a Legal Member of the Social Security and Child Support Appeal Tribunals while continuing in private practice specialising in licensing law as a consultant. She was appointed as a Legal Convener member of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland in 2005 for which she receives a daily fee of £430.
Brian Donald was a senior partner in private practice in Edinburgh and Glasgow for many years before becoming a permanent Sheriff in Kirkcaldy in 1999. From 1978 to 1983 he served as a member of the Stewart Committee on Alternatives to Prosecution and in 1984 was appointed a Temporary Sheriff, serving as such until obtaining his permanent Shrieval commission in 1999. He was founder member of the Scottish Legal Aid Board (1985-1991) and taught Civil Advocacy in the post-graduate Diploma Course in the Law School of Edinburgh University(1980-1990). On retiring from the shrieval Bench in August, in addition to taking up the Parole Board post, he hopes to continue work as a part-time Sheriff. Sheriff Donald holds no other ministerial appointments.
Brian Kearney was born in Greenock and educated at Greenock Academy and Glasgow University (MA, LLB) Sheriff Kearney practiced as a solicitor in Glasgow from 1960 to 1974. He was appointed as a floating Sheriff in 1974 and was appointed to Glasgow in 1977, retiring in 2007. Brian Kearney was a Temporary sheriff principal in North Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway from July 2007 to March 2008. He was a member of the Judicial Studies Committee from 1997 to 2004 and was Chairman of the Glasgow Branch of Scottish Association for the Study of Delinquency from 1998 to 2005. He has written legal text-books, including a comprehensive study of the law affecting the Children's Hearings System. Sheriff Kearney holds no other Ministerial appointments.
These appointments run from 2 June 2008 and end on 30 April 2015. Sheriff Kearney took up appointment from 2 June 2008 and his term will end on 24 August 2010.
The posts are part-time and attract a daily fee of £289 for a time commitment of 8-12 days per month.
The Parole Board is a key component of the criminal justice system in Scotland. It is responsible for putting into effect the requirements of the law in relation to early release on licence, recall to prison and, as appropriate, re-release of long term (offenders sentenced to imprisonment for four years or more), extended sentence and life sentence prisoners.
These Ministerial public appointments were made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland's Code of Practice.
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political activity (if there is any to be declared) to be made public. Within the last five years the appointed new members have not been involved in any political activity.