PATRICIA
SCOTLAND
Click on the sections to view the information
NAME
Patricia Scotland
Also known as Baroness Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, Oxfordshire, PC, QC, The Rt Hon. the Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC, Lady Scotland of Asthal
BORN:
Patricia Janet Scotland
19th August, 1955
St. Joseph, Dominica
PROFESSION
Attorney General for England and Wales, barrister
FAMILY
PARENTS:
Arthur L. Scotland and Dellie Marie Scotland née Mourillon
SIBLINGS:
Ten
SPOUSE:
Richard Mawhinney 1985–present
CHILDREN:
Two boys
EDUCATION
| Walthamstow High School for Girls, Walthamstow, England | |
| 19?–76 | University of London, England |
| DEGREES: | |
| 1976 | LLB Hons (London), University of London, England |
| 1977 | Called to the Bar, Middle Temple, England |
CAREER
| 1990 | Chairperson, Her Majesty’s Commissioner for Racial Equality (1990–92) | 1991 | Appointed Queens Counsel |
| 1994 | Appointed Assistant Recorder (a part-time judge) |
| Member, The Millennium Commission (1994–99) | |
| 1997 | Made a Bencher of the Middle Temple |
| 1999 | Appointed a judge |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1999–2001) | |
| 2000 | Appointed Recorder |
| 2001 | Raised to the Privy Council |
| Parliamentary Secretary in the Lord Chancellor’s department (2001–03) | |
| 2002 | Alternate UK Government Representative of the European Convention (2002–03) |
| 2003 | Minister of State for the Criminal Justice system and Law Reform at the Home Office |
| Spokesperson for the Department of Trade and Industry on women and equality issues in the House of Lords | |
| Dame of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George | |
| Dominican Representative of the Council of the British Commonwealth Ex-Service League | |
| Former Honorary President of the Trinity Hall Law Society | |
| Sponsor of the George Viner Memorial Fund Trust | |
| Patron, The Margaret Beaufort Institute | |
| Patron, GAP | |
| Patron, The Frank Longford Charitable Trust | |
| Patron, The Women and Children’s Welfare Fund | |
| Chairperson, Former Chairman of the ILEA Disciplinary Tribunal | |
| Chairperson, HMG Caribbean Advisory Group | |
| Member, The Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship | |
| Member, The BBC World Service Consultative Group Lifeline, Trinidad & Tobago | |
| Member, The Antigua Bar | |
| Member, The Bar of the Commonwealth of Dominica | |
| Patron of the Women and Children’s Welfare Fund | |
| Door Tenant at Bridewell Chambers | |
| The Bar Public Relations Committee | |
| Race Relations Committee | |
| Professional Conduct Committee | |
| Judicial Studies Board Ethnic Minority Advisory Committee | |
| House of Commons Working Party on Child Abduction | |
| Legal Advisory Panel on the National Consumer Council | |
| National Advisory Committee on Mentally Disordered Offenders | |
| Founder member and former Head of Chambers of 1 Gray’s Inn Square | |
| Advisory Panel of the British American Project | |
| The Parliamentary Labour Party Women’s Group | |
| The Thomas Moore Society | |
| The House of Lords All Party Parliamentary London Group | |
| The All Party Parliamentary Lords’ Prayer Group | |
| The All Parliamentary Group on Breast Cancer | |
| The All Party Parliamentary Group of CAFOD | |
| The All Party Parliamentary Group for Children |
AWARDS
| 1992 | Black Woman of the Year (Law) |
| One of the top 100 Black Britons | |
| 2004 | Yorkshire Black Achievers Award |
| Peer of the Year in the House 2004 Awards | |
| Peer of the Year in the Channel 4 Political Awards | |
| Parliamentarian of the Year in the Political Studies Association Awards | |
| 2005 | The Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards |
| 2007 | Britain’s most influential black woman, New Nation newspaper |
| Honorary Doctorate for services to law, government, social justice and international affairs, University of Westminster | |
| Honorary Doctorate, University of Buckingham | |
| Honorary Doctorate, University of Leicester | |
| Honorary Doctorate, University of East London | |
| Honorary Fellow of The Society for Advanced Legal Studies, Wolfson College, Cambridge | |
| Honorary Fellow of The Society for Advanced Legal Studies of Cardiff University |
NOTABLE
| Specialised in family and public law | |
| 1991 | First black female QC (Queens Counsel); also the youngest person, at age 35, to be appointed Queens Counsel in Britain since William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) |
| 1997 | Created a life peer as Baroness Scotland of Asthal, in the County of Oxfordshire |
| 2007 | Appointed Attorney General by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown |
| First woman to become Attorney General for England and Wales | |
| First Dominican to be appointed to a cabinet post in the United Kingdom | |