Appointment of King's Counsel in Scotland 2024 Report by Keith Connal, Independent Observer

Applications

Thirty-two applications were received: twenty-five from advocates and seven from solicitor advocates. This compares with a total of twenty-five applications received in 2023.

Six of the advocate applicants and one of the solicitor advocates have applied before.

Ten female advocates applied. This represents an increase from the previous two years in numerical and percentage terms: 10/25 (40%) in 2024 as compared to 5/22 (23%) in 2023 and 8/25 (32%) in 2022. The numbers this year are also higher than the current percentage of advocates who are female (127/443 – 29%).

Four female solicitor advocates applied, which represents an increase from 2023 when there were no female solicitor advocate applicants.