His Majesty the King, on the recommendation of Scottish Ministers has appointed Deborah Anne Lovell as a new part-time legal member of the Scottish Land Court.  Ms Lovell has also been appointed by the Scottish Ministers as a part-time legal member of the Lands Tribunal for Scotland. This will be the first female appointment to both the Scottish Land Court and Lands Tribunal for Scotland.

A panel was formed to provide advice to the Scottish Ministers on suitable candidates to fill the combined vacancies which arose in April 2023.

Ms Lovell obtained an LLB Honours Degree from the University of Aberdeen before qualifying in 1996; she joined the Commercial Real Estate team in Anderson Strathern in 2002, becoming a partner in 2004 and serving three terms on the firm’s strategic Board. Deborah is a former tutor of the University of Edinburgh and was Convenor of the Law Society of Scotland’s Property Law Committee and member of the Tax Sub-Committee before taking up an appointment as a Solicitor Member to the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal in November 2019.

She will take up her appointment on 1 March 2024. This appointment covers two part-time 0.4 FTE positions. Combined remuneration for these posts is £126,164 per annum.

The Scottish Land Court has the authority to resolve a range of disputes in agricultural and crofting matters. The Court is based in Edinburgh but holds hearings throughout Scotland. The Tribunal’s main areas of work concern applications and disputes regarding the discharge or variation of title conditions; disputed claims for compensation for compulsory purchase of land or loss in value of land caused by public works; appeals against decisions by the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland; disputes under the Electronic Communications Code; and voluntary or joint references in which the Tribunal acts as arbiter.