Quick Facts
Biography
Margaret Elizabeth Scott, Lady Scott (born 1960, Nairobi, Kenya) is a Scottish lawyer who was appointed a judge in 2012.
Legal career
Scott was called to the bar in Scotland (the Faculty of Advocates) in 1991. She "took silk" (became a Queen's Counsel) in 2002. She has acted as lead counsel in a number of high-profile appeal cases such as the Lockerbie bombing and the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars, in which she defended Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Thomas "TC" Campbell, respectively. She was also successful in the appeal case of Kim Galbraith, whose murder conviction for shooting her policeman husband was reduced to diminished responsibility.
Megrahi's second appeal
On 6 November 2008, Scott applied to the Court of Criminal Appeal for Megrahi's release on bail pending the second appeal against his conviction at the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial in 2001. The three judges reserved their judgment on the application. A week later, Megrahi's bail application was refused. Megrahi was told he would remain in jail for the duration of his second appeal.
Judicial career
On 2 November 2012, Scott was installed as a Senator of the College of Justice, taking the judicial title Lady Scott.