Lawyer Aamer Anwar to appear before disciplinary tribunal

One of Scotland’s most senior human rights lawyers is due to appear before a disciplinary tribunal next month.

Aamer Anwar, 53, is scheduled to appear virtually before the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal on September 20 at 10.30am, timetables show.

The independent body decides if a solicitor has been guilty of professional misconduct.

In a statement issued to The Times, which first reported the story, the solicitor denied any allegations of misconduct.

He said: “It would obviously be inappropriate for me to comment in any detail on pending matters before the tribunal involving confidential client business, but I can say this is a historic, technical single issue from several years ago involving the wording of the firm’s former terms of business, and any misconduct on my part is denied.”

The PA news agency has tried to contact Mr Anwar, the 2017 “lawyer of the year” in the Legal Awards of Scotland, but has so far received no response.

A former rector of Glasgow University, Mr Anwar has been involved in high-profile cases including representing the family of Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

He was also instructed in the perjury trial of former Scottish Socialist leader Tommy Sheridan, and in the appeals over the so-called Ice Cream Wars.

This week, he initiated legal proceedings on behalf of Health Secretary Humza Yousaf and his wife Nadia El-Nakla against a nursery they accuse of racially discriminating against their daughter Amal.