Membership

The Right Hon. Lord Beckett, the Lord Justice Clerk

Chair

The Chair of the Scottish Sentencing Council is the Lord Justice Clerk, by virtue of the office.

Lord Beckett has presided over many high profile cases in the High Court since being appointed as a temporary judge in 2008 and then a judge of the Supreme Courts in May 2016. He was elevated to the Inner House of the Court of Session in July 2023. Lord Beckett served on Lady Dorrian’s review on improving the Management of Sexual Offence Cases and is a former Chair of the Judicial Institute. He has been at the forefront of training the judiciary in trauma informed practice.

He was involved in developing written directions for juries and the use of plain language in suggested jury directions. He actively promoted the development of Evidence on Commission, chairing a cross-sector problem-solving user group and providing training and guidance. He co-authored a Bench Book on case management in the High Court to support judges and guide the professions.

Lord Beckett is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh and was admitted as a solicitor in 1986, working in private practice before being admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1993. He was appointed an advocate depute in 2003 and became a Queen's Counsel in 2005. He served as Principal Advocate Depute and then Solicitor General for Scotland in 2006. He became a sheriff in 2008 and was appointed as an appeal sheriff on the establishment of the Sheriff Appeal Court in 2015.

Lord Beckett became Lord Justice Clerk in February 2025.

The Right Hon. Lord Matthews

Senator member

Lord Matthews will hold office until November 2025.

The Right Hon. Lord Matthews was appointed a judge of the Supreme Courts in 2007, having served as a temporary judge since February 2004. He graduated from the University of Glasgow LL.B (Hons), and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in July 1979.

He was appointed as a Queen's Counsel in 1992 and practised at the Bar until his appointment as a sheriff in January 1997. He was Standing Junior Counsel to the Department of Employment in Scotland from June 1984 until March 1988, and served as an advocate depute from April 1988 until January 1993.

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.

Sheriff Iain Fleming

Sheriff member

Sheriff Fleming will hold office until March 2026.

Sheriff Iain Fleming was appointed as a part time sheriff in 2005 and as a full time sheriff in 2014, following a career as a solicitor and solicitor advocate. He served in the Sheriffdom of North Strathclyde at Greenock Sheriff Court until 2017, and since then has sat in Glasgow Sheriff Court, conducting courts at summary and solemn level. As part of his duties in Glasgow he has presided at the problem-solving Alcohol Court since February 2018. He has also been a shrieval member of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland since 2011.

Vacant

Judicial member

Vacant

Judicial member

Lindsey Miller

Prosecutor member

Lindsey will hold office until October 2026.

Lindsey Miller is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen and 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.

Victoria Young

Advocate member

Victoria will hold office until November 2028.

Victoria practises mainly in criminal law and has acted in the High Court for both prosecution and defence since being admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1995. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1991 and spent a number of years with Brodies Solicitors in Edinburgh before beginning her devilling (training) with the Faculty in 1994. Since calling to the bar, she has been instructed in more than 150 High Court trials, including for offences such as murder, rape, terrorism and serious assault.

In 2020, she was appointed ad hoc Advocate Depute with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and since then has prosecuted trials and conducted Evidence by Commission. For the last three years, Victoria has also assisted with the National Bar Mock Trials Competition. She is also a trainer with the Faculty of Advocates Advocacy Training Course.

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.

DCC Bex Smith

Constable member

DCC Smith will hold office until June 2029.

Deputy Chief Constable Bex Smith holds over twenty years of policing experience drawn from a range of nationally significant command functions. She has executive responsibility for Crime and Operational Support. Within her portfolio, DCC Smith holds responsibility for Major Crime, Public Protection, Local Crime, Organised Crime, Counter Terrorism, Intelligence and Operational Support.

She joined the Police Service of Scotland in 2022 where she was appointed Assistant Chief Constable for Major Crime, Public Protection and Local Crime and has spent 18 of her 21 years in policing in Public Protection, Major Crime, Local Crime and Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). Bex was Regional Head of Investigations at the National Crime Agency where she managed all SOC investigations across a wide variety of threats, including Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, Drugs, Fraud and Child Abuse. Prior to that, DCC Smith was a Detective Superintendent within Surrey Police with responsibility for a major ICT change programme and was also a talent lead, supporting fast track candidates.

DCC Smith is an experienced Strategic and Tactical Firearms Commander and has worked in professional standards.

Lynn Burns

Victims expert member

Lynn will hold office until July 2028.

Lynn has personally been impacted by violent crime and has a long standing interest in victims’ issues. She has been involved with a number of victims’ groups and organisations following the murder of her son, Sam, in 2013. She currently sits as the victim representative on the Scottish Government’s Victims Taskforce and has done so since 2018. She also sits on the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group for Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse.

Lynn volunteers with Young Enterprise Scotland, working with young people about to embark on further education. She has also been involved with several projects through the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit and various local community groups. She is a trustee of Break the Silence, an Ayrshire-based charity which supports survivors of rape and childhood sexual trauma. In her professional life, she is an independent financial advisor and runs her own company, with over 40 years’ experience.

Jay Gormley

Lay member

Jay will hold office until February 2030

Sheriff Amel Elfallah

Advisor to the Council

Sheriff Elfallah was appointed as an advisor to the Council in May 2024.

Sheriff Amel Elfallah has been a sheriff in Paisley since April 2024, and previously served as a summary sheriff in Glasgow. 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.