Kent alumna Dr Lucy Scott-Moncrieff has been appointed a new Commissioner for Standards by the House of Lords.
Dr Scott-Moncrieff is an alumna of Kent Law School, a patron of the Kent Law Campaign and an Honorary Graduate of Kent. She is also a former president of the Law Society of England and Wales and was awarded the CBE in January 2014 for her services to legal aid.
As a Commissioner for Standards, Dr Scott-Moncrieff will be responsible for the independent and impartial investigation of alleged breaches of the House of Lords Code of Conduct. This includes investigating breaches of the rules on the House’s system of financial support for members. She will take up her position from June 2016.
In a career that spans 35 years, Dr Scott-Moncrieff has been a Mental Health Act Commissioner, a commissioner with Postcomm, and was a founder member of the QC Appointments Panel. She was involved in the first case under the Human Rights Act that led to a declaration of incompatibility and a subsequent remedial order, which changed the discharge criteria of the Mental Health Act 1983.
As a solicitor specialising in mental health and human rights, Dr Scott-Moncrieff has been widely recognised for her contribution to society. She was invited to attend the 2013 Women of the Year Lunch in October in recognition of her work with detained patients, won the Association of Women Solicitors’ award for best manager of a legal aid practice in 2011 and was named Mental Health Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year in 2005.
Dr Scott-Moncrieff is currently a Commissioner for the Judicial Appointments Commission. She is also Chair of the Advisory Board for the UK Administrative Justice Institute; Chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee for the Law Society of England and Wales; Co-Chair of the Access to Justice and Legal Aid Committee of the International Bar Association; a Mental Health Tribunal Judge for the Courts and Tribunal Juiciary; an associate with Verita, which carries out investigations on behalf of public bodies; and Managing Owner at Scott-Moncrieff & Associates Ltd (Scomo).