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Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland
06/10/2008
Sir Muir Russell, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, has been appointed as the new Chair of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland. He will succeed Sir Neil McIntosh who is standing down after six years.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said:
"I am delighted to announce Sir Muir's appointment today. Under the guiding hand of its first chairman Sir Neil McIntosh, the Judicial Appointments Board has firmly established itself as part of Scotland's judicial system. In Sir Muir the independent panel that recommended this appointment have identified someone of experience and skill who is very well placed to take the Board forward, and in due course onto a statutory footing."
Sir Muir was appointed Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow in 2003. Before that he had a successful career in public service, serving latterly as Permanent Secretary in the Scottish Executive from 1999 to 2003. He has held a number of public appointments. He was knighted in 2001.
Sir Muir has been appointed to the Board for a period of three years. He will take up his appointment during October.
Sir Muir will succeed the current Chair Sir Neil McIntosh whose term of appointment comes to an end in October. The composition of the Board of five legal and five lay persons remains unchanged.
The Board meets monthly in Edinburgh. The appointment attracts a fee of £17,500 per year.
The appointment of the new Chair followed recommendations to Scottish Ministers by an independent selection panel chaired by The Rt Hon Lady Cosgrove, retired judge of the Court of Session.
The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland was set up in 2002 with a remit to advise Ministers on the appointment of judges, sheriffs principal and sheriffs (both full-time and part-time). There are ten members, five legal members (a judge, sheriff principal, sheriff, an advocate and a solicitor) and five lay members, one of whom is the Chair.
The Judicial Appointments Board is entirely independent of Ministers and currently operates on an administrative basis. Under provisions in the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Bill, passed by the Scottish Parliament on September 25, 2008, the Board will be established in due course as a statutory body.