Alistair Duff

Alistair John MacKenzie Duff (born 1954) is a former Scottish advocate and sheriff who later became Director of the Judicial Institute of Scotland before resigning after being arrested and charged with undisclosed offences.

Duff was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife in 1954 and moved to Glenrothes where he attended secondary school at Glenwood High School, Glenrothes then to Glenrothes High School where both his father and uncle were teachers.

In 1971 he went to Edinburgh Law School where he graduated with first class honours.

He married Carol Ferguson in April 1978 in Edinburgh, with whom he had four children.

They divorced in 2007 and in the same year he married his current wife Susan Duff.

Susan Duff was a defence advocate at Compass Chambers in Edinburgh, subsequently appointed A. Sheriff in October 2021 for Tayside, Central and Fife regions.

In December 2021 he abruptly retired from the Judicial Institute for Scotland following his arrest in October 2021.

He was arrested and charged in December 2021 following a complaint made in October 2021 and appeared in court on 6th November 2023, charged with 'sexually aggravated breach of the peace'.

He was fined £1275.

Concerns about the apparent secrecy surrounding the case were expressed in various quarters, including Member of Scottish Parliament Russell Findlay who submitted two written questions to the Scottish Parliament asking for the publication of ministerial correspondence relating to Duff's arrest and resignation and legal advice received in ruling against the MSP, all of which were rejected.

In November 2022 following further police investigations, Duff was arrested and charged with a further offence.