About

These are the guiding principles for the Group and its organisation: 

  • The purpose of the Group is to bring together those directly concerned with the development and application of public law in Scotland for topical and informed debate on matters of common interest and concern
  • Membership of the Group is free and open to all interested parties, including legal practitioners, academics, students and public officials
  • Entry to events organised by the Group should be free to participants, with relevant costs (such as provision of venue, refreshments etc) being borne by the hosts
  • The Group should draw on material support from four key constituencies – solicitors, advocates, academics and government – with each of these being asked to host our activities.

As a general point, we are keen to encourage wide participation in the organisation and running of the Group and its programme activities. 
Steering Group 
The Group was founded and is current run by a small steering group.  The steering group currently consists of: 

  • Anna Poole, Advocate;
  • Gordon Downie, Partner, Shepherd and Wedderburn;
  • Paul Cackette, Deputy Solicitor to the Scottish Government;
  • Christine O’Neill, Partner, Brodies;
  • Alan Page, Professor of Public Law, University of Dundee;
  • June Murray, Head of Legal Services, North Lanarkshire Council.

The secretaries to the steering group are Katie Boyle and Emily Gilmour, they can be contacted at  Katie.Boyle@scotland.gsi.gov.uk and emily.gilmour@shepwedd.co.uk

The SPLG steering group – roles and responsibilities  
The functions of the SPLG steering group are to coordinate the SPLG’s activities – in particular by devising and organising its calendar of events (3 – 4 evening seminars and our annual summer conference) – and generally to promote and represent the SPLG in its dealings with its stakeholders and other interested parties. 
The members of the steering group (who are intended to be broadly representative of the four main constituencies which make up the SPLG’s membership,i.e., solicitors in private practice, advocates, in-house lawyers and academic lawyers) play a key role in the life of the SPLG by bringing forward imaginative and innovative ideas for events and speakers and by assisting the SPLG to secure speakers of the highest quality.  The steering group is looking to rotate its membership over a reasonable period and would encourage anyone with an interest in joining to contact one of its current members for further information.   
The members of the steering group hold formal meetings (in person or by telephone) shortly before each of the SPLG events and otherwise stay in contact with each other on an informal basis throughout the year to ensure the events in the SPLG calendar are delivered efficiently and to a high standard.  The steering group usually delegates ‘lead’ responsibility for organising each event in the calendar to two of its members. 

Calendar 

The Group meets on a quarterly basis each spring, summer, autumn and winter. This is the outline calendar for the Group’s prospective activities during 2011/12:
  • Autumn event – Media Law, 29 November, Glasgow
  • Winter event – International Law, 24 February, Edinburgh
  • Spring Event- TBC
  • Summer Conference – TBC

Each quarterly event takes place as an early evening meeting, lasting for 1½ to 2 hours with 2 or 3 speakers each talking for no more than 15-20 minutes. Apart from providing a venue, the host organisation also lays on some refreshments. 
Participants at seminars held by the Group will be entitled to claim credit under the continuing professional development (CPD) schemes of both the Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates.