Domestic Abuse Committee

Remit and terms of reference

The Domestic Abuse Working Group Committee will support the Council in its preparation of a sentencing guideline or guidelines on domestic abuse offences. 

The Committee will oversee all aspects of the development of the guideline until submission to the High Court and will give consideration thereafter to ongoing monitoring of the guideline. In terms of the Council’s standing orders the Council will specify the expected lifetime of the committee. This may be reviewed and, if appropriate, amended by the Council during the committee’s lifetime. The Committee’s work will include, in particular: 

    • making recommendations to the Council as to the scope, content, and approach of the guideline
    • identifying knowledge and information gaps relevant to the development of the guideline, submitting any proposals for research to the Research Committee
    • reviewing draft guidelines prepared by the secretariat, providing advice and direction as required while having regard to any guideline methodology and           drafting style agreed by the Council
    • supporting engagement with relevant stakeholders at all stages of the guideline development process
    • overseeing the judicial and public consultation process, including the preparation of consultation documents and impact assessments

The Committee will report regularly to the Council on the progress of guideline development, making recommendations and, where appropriate, referring significant or potentially controversial decisions to the Council.

The Hon. Lord Colbeck

Judicial member

Lord Colbeck will hold office until July 2025.

A graduate of the University of Strathclyde, Lord Colbeck was admitted as a solicitor in 1988, working for A.C. White in Ayr and Levy & McRae in Glasgow before joining MacRoberts in 1993. He became a partner there in 1997, specialising in commercial and construction disputes and health and safety and environmental prosecutions, and served as the managing partner from 2011 to 2014. Following his appointment as a part-time sheriff in 2011 and then a full-time sheriff in 2014, he was appointed as the Sheriff Principal of Glasgow and Strathkelvin in 2016. Lord Colbeck was appointed as a judge in the Supreme Courts in May 2023.

Summary Sheriff Amel Elfallah

Judicial member

Summary Sheriff Elfallah will hold office until July 2027.

Summary Sheriff Amel Elfallah has been a summary sheriff in Glasgow since October 2021, presiding over a variety of courts. She originally trained and qualified as a solicitor in personal injury litigation, before joining the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in 2003. She became a senior procurator fiscal depute in 2008 and held that role in various departments within COPFS, undertaking summary, solemn and appellate criminal work. She also specialised in equalities and training work, and has been a National Institute for Trial Advocacy-accredited advocacy trainer since 2008.

Susan Fallone JP

Judicial member

Susan will hold office until December 2023.

Susan Fallone has been a JP in Edinburgh since 2013. She was admitted as a solicitor in 2006, and called to the Bar in 2021. She was appointed as a safeguarder in 2013, and acts as a curator ad litem and reporting officer in Edinburgh. She has an extensive range of experience within the legal system, having worked within the areas of criminal defence, family, and housing law; for law centres; for local authorities; as a supervision solicitor at the University of Strathclyde Law School; and as an in-court advisor. She sat on children’s hearings from 1995-2001. As well as her legal qualifications – LLB, LLM, and the Diploma in Legal Practice – she has an MA in social science.

Lindsey Miller

Prosecutor member

Lindsey will hold office until October 2026.

Lindsey Miller is a graduate of the University of Aberdeenand joined the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in 1994. She has held a number of operational and policy roles including responsibility for matters such as victims, vulnerable witnesses and sexual offences, as well as serious and organised crime and counter-terrorism. She was appointed as secretary to Sir Anthony Campbell's Inquiry into Crown Decision-Making in the Case of the Murder of Surjit Singh Chhokar, and was tasked by the Lord Advocate with preparing recommendations about the investigation of all sudden and unexplained deaths in Scotland and military deaths abroad, which led to the establishment of the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit (SFIU). For a number of years she had strategic responsibility in Scotland for the Disrupt Strand of the Serious and Organised Crime Taskforce and has a particular interest in community experiences, specifically those of children and young people, of organised crime.

Joanne McMillan

Solicitor member

Joanne will hold office until May 2028.

Joanne heads up her own firm in Glasgow. She appears in courts across Scotland on a daily basis and has a particular interest in sentencing and the parole process. Joanne graduated from the University of Strathclyde in 2008. In 2010, she commenced her traineeship at Turnbull McCarron solicitors where she remained for 10 years. She set up her own firm in July 2020, dealing in both criminal and civil law. Joanne is also a member of the executive committee of the Glasgow Bar Association.

Sheriff Paul Brown

Advisor

Sheriff Brown was the Council's Summary Sheriff member between 2020-2021 until his appointment as sheriff. Sheriff Brown sits on the Domestic Abuse Committee as an advisor by invitation of the Council.