The appointments of Indranil (Julian) Ghosh KC and Aisha Anwar KC mark the first time that Scotland has appointed senior judges of Indian and Pakistani heritage.

The appointees will take office on 24 August – except for Dorothy Bain PC KC, who will take up her appointment on 7 January 2027.

The Lord President, Lord Pentland, said: “I would like to thank the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland for undertaking the appointment process. I warmly congratulate the five new senators with whom I look forward to working. Each new senator brings a distinctive breadth of legal knowledge and professional experience, developed across a wide range of practice areas. That diversity of expertise will be invaluable to them.” 

Lord Pentland added that their contributions would help maintain the strength, integrity and independence of the court system. He expressed confidence that the new senators would support the continued provision of high quality justice for the people of Scotland.

Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar KC was appointed sheriff principal of Glasgow and Strathkelvin and president of the Sheriff Appeal Court in 2023 and as a temporary judge in 2024. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh (LLB Hons) in 1996 and from the University of Oxford (BCL) in 1998.

Dorothy Bain PC KC is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen who has been in practice at the Scottish bar since 1994. She was awarded silk in 2007 and served as lord advocate from June 2021 until her tenure concluded in June. In 2021 she was appointed to the Privy Council and in 2023 the University of Aberdeen awarded her an honorary LLD. 

Liam Ewing is a graduate of the University of Glasgow (LLB Hons) and the University of Strathclyde (LLM). He qualified as a solicitor in 1990 and has both criminal and civil rights of audience. He practised in the criminal, civil and regulatory fields and became a KC in 2019. 

Double silk Julian Ghosh is an Edinburgh University law graduate. He holds a DPhil from St Edmunds Hall, Oxford and a PhD from Clare Hall, Cambridge.  He practised at the bars of both England and Wales (Lincoln’s Inn, called 1993, Queen’s Counsel 2006) and Scotland (called 1999, Queen’s Counsel 2010). He represented Scotland as a fencer for Scottish universities, several Five Nations tournaments and at the Commonwealth Games (2018 and 2022).

Christine O’Neill holds an LLB from the University of Glasgow and an LLM from Harvard Law School where she was a Kennedy Scholar. A partner at Brodies from 2004, she was chair of the firm from 2013 to 2025. She became a solicitor advocate in 2008. She is co-author, with Professor Chris Himsworth and David Blair, of Scotland’s Constitution: Law and Practice.