Lady Lynda Clark, Baroness Clark of Calton is a Senator of the College of Justice and formerly Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission. Lady Clark was Advocate General for Scotland from the creation of that position in 1999 until 2006, and Labour Member of Parliament for Edinburgh Pentlands from 1997 until 2005.   Please tell […]

Carla Ferstman joined REDRESS in 2001 as its Legal Director and became the Director in 2005. She was called to the Bar in British Columbia, Canada in 1994 and practiced there as a criminal law barrister. Also prior to joining REDRESS, she worked with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in post-genocide Rwanda, with […]

Amanda Finlay CBE was formerly a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Justice, responsible for legal aid and legal services strategy. Now retired, she is a member of the Civil Justice Council, and the CJC Working Group on Self-Represented Litigants, a Council member of JUSTICE, a trustee of LawWorks and of Law for Life, […]

Polly Glynn is Deighton Pierce Glynn’s managing partner. Polly is a public law and human rights specialist with a particular interest in social welfare law. Previously she was of the founding partners at Pierce Glynn. Polly qualified in 1993 working at Leigh Day and Fisher Meredith before establishing Pierce Glynn with Stephen Pierce in 1997. […]

Ruth Hayes is Centre Director at Islington Law Centre.  The Law Centre has been part of a dynamic voluntary sector in Islington for over 40 years, and works in collaboration with a wide range of agencies across the statutory, voluntary and private sectors.  Islington is a vibrant, diverse borough and the Law Centre is proud […]

Monica McWilliams is Professor of Women’s Studies, based in the Transitional Justice Institute at the University of Ulster. Monica was the Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission from 2005-2011. She was the co-founder of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition political party and was elected to a seat at the Multi-Party Peace Negotiations, […]

We received a collective response from the women at the Office of the Speaker’s Counsel, the legal team at the House of Commons.   The Office of Speaker’s Counsel (‘OSC’) provides legal advice and support to Mr Speaker, the Clerk and all the departments of the House as an institution. The work of the OSC falls […]

Pragna Patel is a founding member of the Southall Black Sisters (SBS) and Women Against Fundamentalism. She worked as a co-ordinator and senior case worker for SBS from 1982 to 1993, when she left to train and practice as a solicitor. In 2009 she returned to SBS as its Director. She has been centrally involved […]

Róisín Pillay is Director of the Europe Regional Programme at the International Commission of Jurists, where she is responsible for programme’s work to advance the legal protection of human rights in Europe and the CIS region. She has worked extensively on national implementation of international human rights standards, on the rule of law and judicial […]

Catherine Smith is an advocate at Arnot Manderson in Edinburgh. Catherine’s principal areas of work are reparation and public law. Catherine is a founding member and executive board member of JUSTICE Scotland and is the Director of Advocacy for Beyond Borders, a Scottish NGO.     Please tell us about your best day at work? […]