Claire Mitchell

Claire Mitchell is a Kings Counsel working in Scotland. She has a particular interest in constitutional, human rights and sentencing questions.

Claire Mitchell KC
Alma mater	University of Glasgow
Occupation(s)	Kings Counsel, Criminal Defence Advocate
Employer	Compass Chambers
Known for	Campaign for posthumous pardons for witches of Scotland

Career

She has an honours degree in law from University of Glasgow and became a QC (now KC) in 2019 and was called at the Bar in 2003. Before that she was a solicitor in private practice since 1996.^[1][2]

Mitchell was President of the Scottish Criminal Bar Association from 2016 to 2018.

Mitchell represented Sheku Bayoh’s family in 2023 and highlighted the issues of racism which shaped the case.^[3][4]

She represented Scottish Covid Bereaved group^[5] in the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry^[6][7]

She supports the use of new technology to ensure business continuity for law courts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic ^[8] She said “Covid has forced us all well past where we thought we would be in 2021. We are now seeing the benefits of investing in technology. Measures which increase efficiency save money which can then be reinvested in measures which increase efficiency – it’s a virtuous circle.”^[8]

Mitchell leads the 'Witches of Scotland' campaign with Zoe Venditozzi to seek posthumous justice for women historically convicted and executed as witches in Scotland.^[9][10] The campaign used Twitter as its main channel to reach the public and a petition to the Scottish parliament as a way to influence policy makers.^[10][11][12]

Mitchell hopes that laws used to dispense historic pardons can be used in these cases, as they have been done for the people in Salem, Massachusetts.^[12][13]

She is the author, with Zoe Venditozzi, of the book 'How to Kill a Witch: A Guide For The Patriarchy' ^[14][15] drawing on experiences of their campaign for official recognition of the miscarriage of justice in Scotland's historical witch trials. The book was launched in May 2025 in Edinburgh.^[16] Mitchell wore an outfit styled in the Witches tartan.^[17] In 2022, Mitchell and Venditozzi were made Doctors of Laws by the University of Dundee in recognition of their work^[18]

Other roles

She is on the panel of the Bloody Scotland book club ^[19][20]

She is one of the legal experts involved in the 2021 TV series Murder Island, based on a drama written by Ian Rankin.^[21][2]

Recognition

She received a "Special Recognition Award" in 2013 from Law Awards of Scotland.^{[citation needed]}