Joëlle brought touch of Gallic flavour to the Scots law scene

Joëlle Godard, a lawyer and lecturer at Edinburgh University, has died at 51.

Joëlle Godard was born in Algeria in 1956 but moved to France with her family as the African country continued its fight for independence with the colonial power.

The family settled in the south-western town of Pau and Ms Godard went on to graduate from the University of Pau with a degree in law.

During a trip to Scotland she met the solicitor Andrew Weatherley and he became her partner until her death.

In 1985 she abandoned her studies in France and moved to Edinburgh.

The following year she took over a class run by the Law Society designed to teach the French language to lawyers.

However, she expanded the class to one that also taught French law to the attending lawyers.

This proved to be such a success that she was offered a part-time lecturing position at Edinburgh University in 1989 and the post was made full-time in 1999.

She taught comparative criminal procedure and French comparative law.

Her research focused on comparisons between the French, English and Scottish legal cultures.

In the space of ten years she published over ten articles, both in French and English, on the subject of comparative law.

She was highly involved in university life away from the lecture theatre, serving as a director of studies responsible for the welfare of law students and as a student exchange co-ordinator.

A highly popular lecturer, she was also responsible for inviting a large number of high-profile speakers to the university.

Many of her students have now gone on to occupy senior positions in the law.

She was also involved in a number of organisations away from the university, such as the Franco-British Lawyers' Society, whose Scottish branch she helped to found, and the British Council, with which she ran the European Young Lawyers Programme in Edinburgh for several years.

In 2004 she was presented with the prestigious Chevalier des Palmes Academiques, a French government award for academics who have helped to expand the understanding of French culture.

She decided to study for a doctorate in 2007 with the University of Poitiers and had recently been told that she would be awarded it.

Away from the law, she was a keen musician who played piano.

Michael Clancy, of the Law Society of Scotland, who took some of Ms Godard's classes, said she "brought an outside perspective on the Scottish legal system that proved invaluable in all our undertakings – especially in Brussels".

He added: "Joëlle added some delightful Gallic spice to the legal profession in Scotland."

Ms Godard died in Dunfermline, Fife, on June 15 following a brief illness.

She is survived by Mr Weatherley and their two daughters.