Hazel Cosgrove, Lady Cosgrove

rdf:langString Hazel Cosgrove, Lady Cosgrove

rdf:langString Lady Cosgrove

rdf:langString Lady Cosgrove

rdf:langString As Prime Minister

rdf:langString Hazel Josephine Aronson

rdf:langString Official portrait, 2000

rdf:langString Scottish

rdf:langString Judge

rdf:langString "The public must have confidence that its legal system is representative of and has the ability to respond to and deal with the needs and problems of all of its citizens. A profession which is not truly representative of all of its citizens cannot enjoy that confidence. The increasing presence of women in the profession will, I believe, be a positive force."

rdf:langString Lady Cosgrove speaks to students at Strathclyde University

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rdf:langString John Allan Cosgrove

rdf:langString Hazel Josephine Cosgrove, Lady Cosgrove, QC CBE (née Aronson; born 12 January 1946), is a Scottish lawyer and judge who served as a Senator of the College of Justice from 1996 to 2006. She was the first woman appointed to the College of Justice. Born and raised in Glasgow, Cosgrove graduated law at the University of Glasgow, becoming the first in her family to attend university. Admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1968, she served as Standing Junior Counsel to the Department of Trade from 1977 to 1979 and became the first woman to serve as a Sheriff judge of Glasgow and Strathkelvin in 1979. She was a member of the Parole Board for Scotland from 1988 to 1991. In 1991, she was appointed to the Queen's Counsel. Cosgrove went on to serve as a Sheriff of Lothian and Borders at Edinburgh from 1983 to 1996. From 1992 to 1996, she was a temporary judge in the High Court of Justiciary and Court of Session. In 1996, a vacancy was made in the College of Justice and Cosgrove was nominated by Prime Minister John Major to be appointed a Senator of the College of Justice. She was appointed on 12 July 1996, becoming the first female to be appointed a Senator. She used the judicial title, Lady Cosgrove. As a Senator, Cosgrove was one of seven judges who rewrote the rape law in Scotland in 2002. She was Deputy Chairman of the Boundary Commission for Scotland from 1997 to 2006. In 2003, she was the first woman to be appointed to the Inner House of the Court of Session. Cosgrove retired as judge in 2006. Cosgrove received an CBE to her services the criminal justice system in Scotland. Having once been told "the bar is no place for a woman", she broke the 'glass ceiling' in Scotland's legal profession and has always encouraged other women to follow in her footsteps, advocating equality for women through her own achievements.

rdf:langString Hazel Josephine Aronson