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The Right Honourable Patricia Scotland

Patricia Scotland, was born in the Commonwealth of Dominica. She completed her LLB (Hons) from London University at the age of 20 and was called to the Bar at Middle Temple at 21. Scotland has achieved a number of extraordinary firsts throughout her career—not least of which was to be the first woman in the more than 700-year history of the office to serve as Her Majesty’s Attorney-General for England and Wales and for Northern Ireland. While holding these and other senior ministerial offices, she was given responsibility to address, inter alia, gender equality, domestic violence, forced marriage, and international child abduction. From these positions, she promoted diversity and equality of opportunity, particularly for girls and women. As the first woman to hold the office of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, she is placing special emphasis on mobilizing the 56 member nations to tackle climate change – including its disproportionate impact on women – and, through women’s enterprise, to build the resilience of smaller or more vulnerable countries. 

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