Senior Decision Maker appointed to Scottish Supreme Courts bench

​One of the Commission’s Senior Decision Makers, Andrew Stewart QC, has been installed as a Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland and Lord Commissioner of Justiciary, taking his place on the bench with the judicial title of Lord Ericht. The Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian, presided over the ceremony in the First Division courtroom in the Parliament House.

Lord Ericht is a former president of the Scottish Tax Tribunals, a Senior Decision Maker of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, and president of the Appeal Tribunal of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS). He qualified as a solicitor in 1988 and practised with Clifford Chance and Tods Murray WS before being called to the bar in 1996. He was appointed standing junior counsel to the DTI from 2000 to 2009 and elected clerk of the Faculty of Advocates from 2003 to 2009. After taking silk in 2009 he served as an advocate depute until 2013 then returned to independent practice in mainly commercial and public law.

Speaking about Lord Ericht’s appointment, the Commission’s Chairman, Cees Schrauwers, said: “The Commissioners and I were pleased to learn of this very significant appointment and we would like to take this opportunity to publicly congratulate Lord Ericht upon his elevation to the bench. Although disappointed that he will no longer be able to serve as one of our Senior Decision Makers, we know Lord Ericht’s acknowledged talents and experience will continue to be put to very effective use.”

Notes for Editors

1. In 2014, the Commission appointed a panel of Queen’s Counsel to sit as ‘Senior Decision Makers’ and determine the outcome of the Commission’s major enforcement cases involving serious findings against a licensee and / or individual Directors where those findings are contested by the licensee.
2. ‘Senior Decision Makers’ are required to assess the issues and if the case is proven they determine what penalties should be imposed upon the licensee and / or Directors including the level of fine to be paid, any period of prohibition from practising in the industry and the contents of any public statement that is to be issued by the Commission.
3. The principal benefits of this approach are that it reinforces the independence and quality of the Commission’s decision-making process while at the same time enabling Commissioners to undertake their wider corporate governance responsibilities for oversight of the Commission’s entire operations including enforcement cases.