News
24 July 2015
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Michael Matheson, today announced the appointment of Professor Stephen Tierney as a Lay Member to the Judicial
Appointments Board for Scotland.
Stephen Tierney is Professor of Constitutional Theory in the school of law,
University of Edinburgh and Director of the Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law.
He is a graduate of the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Toronto and has held visiting professorial positions in New Jersey and Barcelona.
He teaches and researches in constitutional law, addressing the changing constitutional arrangements of the UK and Scotland and the position of the judges within the constitution. He was British Academy Senior Research Fellow 2008-2009 and Economic and Social Research Centre Senior Research Fellow 2013-2014, the latter position dedicated to studying the constitutional future of Scotland. He served as constitutional advisor to the Scottish Parliament ’s Referendum (Scotland) Bill
Committee in 2013 and as constitutional adviser to the House of Lords Constitution
Committee in 2015. He is also editor of the UK Constitutional Law blog.
Professor Tierney does not hold any other Ministerial Appointments.
This appointment will be for four years and will run from 18 May 2015 to 17 May
2019.
This appointment is parttime and attracts a remuneration of £290 per day for a time commitment of 20 and 40 days per year depending on the number of appointment rounds.
This appointment is regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public
Life in Scotland.
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public. Professor Tierney has not undertaken any political activity in the last five years.
Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland
The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland (JABS) was established by Ministers in 2002 in order to create more open and accessible arrangements for judicial appointments in Scotland. It became a statutory advisory Non-Departmental Public

Body on 1 June 2009. Appointment to the offices of: judge of the Court of Session, sheriff principal, sheriff and part-time sheriff can only be made following the recommendations made by JABS. It is an independent advisory body which ensures that the selection process is open and transparent and based on merit.