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Appointment of sheriff
19/10/2009
Her Majesty the Queen, on the recommendation of the First Minister, has appointed Donald Stevenson Corke as an all-Scotland floating sheriff based in Airdrie.
First Minister Alex Salmond nominated Mr Corke for appointment on the basis of a report by the independent Judicial Appointments Board.
Mr Corke will have a commission enabling him to serve where required throughout Scotland's sheriff courts, but in practice he is expected to sit mostly in the Sheriffdom of South Strathclyde Dumfries and Galloway.
Mr Corke (50) graduated with a BA from the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 1982, and an LL.B from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in 1984. He was admitted as an Advocate in Pretoria, South Africa in 1985, became a member of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland in 1988, and was admitted as a barrister in England and Wales (Middle Temple) in 1995. Since April 2005 he has been a salaried Immigration Judge, and from October 2005, a part-time sheriff. The salary of a sheriff is £128,296 per annum.
The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland was established by Ministers in 2002; and it became an independent advisory non-departmental public body on June 1, 2009. The Board has statutory responsibilities under the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008. The Board's roll is to recommend for appointment to the office of judge, sheriff principal, sheriff and part-time sheriff. The First Minister retains the statutory responsibility for making nominations to Her Majesty the Queen. The First Minister is required by statute to consult the Lord President of the Court of Session before making his nomination to Her Majesty.