Acknowledgements
I have many people to thank for their help in the preparation of this report. First of all, there are the various judges, advocates, solicitors, civil servants, academics and others who generously gave of their valuable time to share their thoughts with me on the future of appellate jurisdiction in Scotland. As these exchanges took place under conditions of anonymity I cannot convey my thanks to all of these persons individually, but I want to record my gratitude to each and every one of them for their expertise and insight. On the administrative side, warm thanks are due to Lachlan Stuart of the Courts and Administrative Justice Team in the Scottish Government's Constitution, Law and Courts Directorate for his invaluable assistance. On the academic side, I was in the very fortunate position of being able to draw upon the wise counsel of a small Steering Group made up of Sir David Edward, David Johnston QC and Professor Tom Mullen. They read numerous drafts, often at extremely short notice, and provided just the right mix of critical insight and encouragement at our regular meetings. I greatly appreciate their constant and selfless support. Dr Elisenda Casanas Adam of the Universitat Autònoma di Barcelona drew upon her considerable expertise in matters of 'judicial federalism' to make an important contribution to the comparative dimension of the research, for which I am also very grateful. Last, but certainly not least, I wish to convey my enormous gratitude to Dr Daniel Carr of the Law School of the University of Dundee, who has worked tirelessly on this project with me over the last year. I could not have asked for a better research assistant or a more engaging intellectual collaborator. He takes full credit for the Appendices, and whatever is of value in the report itself is due in no small part to his sterling efforts.
Neil Walker
Old College
January 2010