Secretariat

Ondine Tennant

Secretary to the Council

Ondine was appointed in October 2014 as Secretary to the Council.

Ondine is part of the senior management team of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and previously had responsibility for establishing the Scottish Civil Justice Council. In prior roles with the Scottish Government, Ondine has worked on major programmes to reform both the civil and criminal justice systems and on healthcare improvement. She gained a LLB (Hons) in Law and Politics from the University of Edinburgh in 2007, which involved a year’s study at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

David Dickson

Principal Legal Officer to the Council

David was appointed in October 2017 as Principal Legal Officer to the Council.

David was seconded to the Council from the Scottish Government. In the past he has worked as a criminal defence solicitor, a procurator fiscal depute, and for the Law Society of Scotland. While at the Scottish Government he was involved with summary justice reform, court efficiency, and the greater use of technology in the justice system. He graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1989 with an honours degree in law.

Dr Nicole Vidal

Principal Research Officer

Nicole was appointed in April 2024 as Principal Research Officer to the Council.

David Ross

Principal Policy Officer (Corporate)

David was appointed in May 2022 as Principal Policy Officer (Corporate) to the Council.

David was appointed in September 2018 as Senior Policy Officer to the Council. He was previously a policy officer with the Scottish Civil Justice Council. He graduated from the University of Glasgow with a joint honours degree in English Literature and Scottish History before joining the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service in 2009, where he has worked in a variety of roles, including as a clerk of court in the Sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway.

Valerie MacGregor

Principal Policy Officer (Engagement)

Valerie was appointed in May 2022 as Principal Policy Officer (Engagement) to the Council.

Valerie was seconded to the Council in May 2022. She has previously worked as the Head of Judicial Communications and as the Council’s Communications Manager. Before joining the court service, she worked as a journalist for a national news agency. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a master’s degree in History and studied journalism at Napier University.

Richard Smith

Business Manager

Richard was appointed in November 2020 as Business Manager to the Council.

Will Searle

Senior Communications Manager

Will was appointed in June 2024 as Senior Communications Manager to the Council.

Will joined the Council having built an understanding of criminal justice and welfare at Children’s Hearings Scotland as Communications and Engagement Lead. Before that he worked for Scotland’s Rural College, Age Scotland and Edinburgh based charity, Deaf Action, in a range of communications and marketing roles. Will has also worked in political campaigning, running elections campaigns across Edinburgh at all levels of government.

Hannah Downey

Researcher

Hannah was appointed in April 2024 as a Researcher to the Council.

Caroline Bellinger

Communications Manager

Caroline was appointed in May 2022 as Communications Manager to the Council.

Caroline joined the Council from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, where she was Communications Manager. Before joining SCTS, she worked both in Scotland and Australia as a newspaper and magazine journalist, in TV and film production, and in communications for a number of third-sector organisations. She also worked in Japan for three years as an English teacher and travel writer. Caroline graduated from Charles Sturt University in New South Wales, Australia, with a journalism degree.