Sheriff Carmichael, who sat at Dundee Sheriff Court, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2024. He became the first judge in the world to continue conducting criminal jury trials with the aid of speech synthesis technology.

Speaking to Scotland Tonight last year, Sheriff Carmichael said: “I have spent almost my entire adult working life in public service. It’s important to me to carry on doing this for as long as I can.”

He added: “I could not have done this by myself. If anybody watching or listening to this, including someone with a diagnosis or their employer, gets something positive from it, that would give me huge pleasure.”

The Lord President, Lord Pentland said: “Sheriff Alastair Carmichael was a fine man and lawyer who dedicated his career to public service as a prosecutor and then sheriff. He was self-effacing and did not crave the publicity he attracted for working in court with technological assistance. He allowed media coverage, despite his instinctive reticence, to give hope to others by showing what technology made possible when suffering from a serious and debilitating progressive condition.

“He was consistent in crediting medical professionals, technicians, court staff, lawyers and colleagues for enabling him to work on. He was motivated by his absolute commitment to justice and to serving the public in Dundee for as long as he possibly could. On behalf of the Scottish judiciary, I extend profound condolences and sympathy to Sheriff Carmichael’s family.”

Sheriff Principal Gillian Wade, sheriff principal of Tayside, Central and Fife, commented: “It is with the greatest sadness that we learned our dear colleague and friend Alastair Carmichael passed away. Our thoughts are very much with his family at this time.

“He bravely faced the devastating diagnosis of MND with courage and determination. His resilience in continuing to work until the end was nothing short of heroic. Having served as a fiscal depute, and an advocate depute before becoming a sheriff, Alastair’s commitment to public duty was unwavering. I have never heard anything but good said about him. He was highly regarded both personally and professionally. I know he will be greatly missed by the sheriffs the staff with whom he worked and the lawyers who appeared before him. His loss will be felt by us all but he will be held in the highest regard in our memories.”