Douglas Young (Scottish lawyer)

Douglas Young TD FRSA WS (born 23 October 1948), also known as Doug Young, is a former Scottish solicitor and reserve British Army officer.

Young was born in Inverness, Scotland, and educated at Inverness Royal Academy (when that school had a primary department), Drumtochty Castle School, Fettes College, and the University of Aberdeen.

Young was a practising solicitor from 1973 to 2002, both in local government (Moray District Council and Highland Regional Council) and in private practice. He has been a Member of the Council of the Scottish Law Agents' Society. He remains a non-practising Writer to the Signet.

Young enlisted in the British Territorial Army in 1966, being commissioned into the Scottish Division in 1970. He served in the 52nd Lowland Volunteers (now 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland) from 1970-1973, the 51st Highland Volunteers (now 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland) from 1973-89, and a central pool of staff officers from 1989-2002, assigned for much of that period to 20th Armoured Brigade.

In December 1990 Young was granted a Short Service Volunteer Commission in his affiliated regiment the Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons), serving in the Headquarters of 1st Armoured Division (United Kingdom) throughout Operation Granby in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait.

In 1996 he served in IFOR with HQ ARRC based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel the same year, and served 1996-97 as a senior liaison officer to HQ SFOR in Sarajevo.

In 1998 Young returned to the Balkans for elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and again as a member of the United Kingdom Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission, subsequently merged in the Kosovo Verification Mission of the OSCE. [http://www.un.org/icty/transe54/020529ED.htm Young was mentioned in evidence at the ICTY trial of Slobodan Milosevic, 29 May 2002 (retrieved 9 Oct 2007)] ] He worked mainly in the Orahovac/Rahovec and Mališevo/Malishevë municipalities. He was the originator of a plan to take local staff of any ethnicity, such as interpreters, to their nominated places of safety in the event of the Mission's withdrawal to Macedonia. This duly took place in March 1999. Young then became an OSCE Human Rights officer working with refugees and potential witnesses [http://www.osce.org/odihr/item_11_17755.html "Kosovo/Kosova: As Seen As Told", An analysis of the human rights findings of the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission from October 1998 to June 1999, OSCE/ODIHR 5 Nov 1999 (retrieved Oct 2007)] ] on the border, and in Skopje.

Before retiring from the reserve forces in 2002, Young served a final tour with KFOR as a senior liaison officer to the Kosovo Protection Corps.

He has given evidence as a certified expert witness before the Immigration Appeal Tribunal.

Young is the author of [http://www.baff.org.uk/documents/Silence.pdf "Silence in the Ranks"] , an analysis of difficulties encountered by members of the British Armed Forces and their families in participating in the UK General Election of 2005, with recommendations which were largely reflected in the Electoral Administration Act 2006.

Young was one of the founders of the British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF) in late 2006, and has been a frequent spokesperson on behalf of that organisation. In 2007 he co-authored an article [http://www.baff.org.uk/documents/CovenantApr07.pdf "British Armed Forces Federation: An Independent Voice", "The House" Parliamentary Magazine, 2 April 2007 (retrieved Nov 2007)] ] which highlighted the Military Covenant between the Nation and the Army and, by extension, the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. He has been participating in a Council of Europe working group on Human Rights of Members of the Armed Forces. [http://www.euromil.org/newsitem.asp?newsid=238 EUROMIL news - "Strasbourg: EUROMIL delegation at the Council of Europe 14-15 June 2007" (accessed Oct 2007)] ] [http://www.coe.int/t/e/human_rights/cddh/3._committees/07.%20other%20committees%20and%20working%20groups/09.%20armed%20forces%20(dh-dev-fa)/ Council of Europe: DH-DEV Group on Human Rights of Members of the Armed Forces (DH-DEV-FA) (accessed Dec 2007)] ]

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* [http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/5457/Fighting_for_soldiers_on_the_front_line.html "Fighting for Soldiers on the Front Line", "The Inverness Courier", 14 March 2008 (accessed Mar 2008)]