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:
- Professor Adam Tomkins, John Miller, Professor of Public Law, University of Glasgow;
- Jane Munro, Advocate;
- Gordon Downie, Partner, Shepherd and Wedderburn;
- Paul Cackette, Legal Secretary to the Lord Advocate.
The secretary to the steering group is Chris Laird, Shepherd and Wedderburn and he can be contacted at chris.laird@shepwedd.co.uk.
Calendar
It is expected that the Group will meet on a quarterly basis each spring, summer, autumn and winter. This is the suggested calendar for the Group’s first year of activities:
- 23 April 08, “Remedies in Public Law”, University of Glasgow
- 26 June 08, “Revisiting the Devolution Settlement“, Faculty of Advocates
- 18 September 08, “Scotland’s FOI Regime: Current Issues”, Scottish Government, Victoria Quay, Leith
- 29 January 09, “Human Rights - From Minefield to Mainstream?”, Royal Faculty of Procurators, 12 Nelson Mandela Place
Each quarterly event will take place either as a breakfast or 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 will also lay 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.