kids encyclopedia robot

Senator of the College of Justice facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts


The Senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court of Session); Lords Commissioners of Justiciary (judges of the High Court of Justiciary); and the Chairman of the Scottish Land Court. Whilst the High Court and Court of Session historically maintained separate judiciary, these are now identical, and the term Senator is almost exclusively used in referring to the judges of these courts.

Senators of the college use the judicial courtesy title of Lord or Lady along with a surname or a territorial name. Note, however, that some senators have a peerage title, which would be used instead of the senatorial title. All senators of the college have the honorific, The Honourable, before their titles, while those who are also privy counsellors or peers have the honorific, The Right Honourable. Senators are made privy counsellors upon promotion to the Inner House.

Under section 11 of the Treason Act 1708, it is treason to kill a Senator of the College of Justice "sitting in Judgment in the Exercise of their Office within Scotland".

History

Henry Lauder, Lord St Germains, King's Advocate, was one of the nine advocates appointed at the institution of the College of Justice.

Originally, some officers of state were included as senators, including the Lord Advocate, Lord Clerk Register, Master of Requests and the Secretary of State.

List of senators

The Court of Session Act 1988, when enacted, limited the number of senators of the College of Justice (aside from the chairman of the Scottish Land Court, who ranks as a senator) to 24. This was subsequently increased to 25 in 1991, 27 in 1993, 32 in 1999, 34 in 2004, 35 in 2016, and most recently 36 by The Maximum Number of Judges (Scotland) Order 2022. The current judges are as follows.

Inner House

The Lord President is the president of the First Division, and the Lord Justice Clerk is the president of the Second Division.

Senator Mandatory retirement Inner House appointment Outer House appointment Division
1 Carloway, The Rt Hon. LordThe Rt Hon. Lord Carloway (Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General) 20 May 2024 August 2008 February 2000 First
2 Dorrian, The Rt Hon. LadyThe Rt Hon. Lady Dorrian (Lord Justice Clerk) 16 June 2027 November 2012 2005 Second
3 Paton, The Rt Hon. LadyThe Rt Hon. Lady Paton 2022 April 2007 January 2000 Second
4 Malcolm, The Rt Hon. LordThe Rt Hon. Lord Malcolm 1 October 2023 1 July 2014 2007 Second
5 Turnbull, The Rt Hon. LordThe Rt Hon. Lord Turnbull 1 October 2023 September 2016 2006 Second
6 Pentland, The Rt Hon. LordThe Rt Hon. Lord Pentland 11 March 2027 July 2020 November 2008 First
7 Doherty, The Rt Hon. LordThe Rt Hon. Lord Doherty 30 January 2028 December 2020 May 2010 First
8 Matthews, The Rt Hon. LordThe Rt Hon. Lord Matthews 4 December 2023 August 2021 2007 Second
9 Tyre, The Rt Hon. LordThe Rt Hon. Lord Tyre 17 April 2026 5 January 2022 May 2010 First
10 Boyd of Duncansby, The Rt Hon. The LordThe Rt Hon. The Lord Boyd of Duncansby 7 June 2023 5 January 2022 26 June 2012 First
11 Wise, The Rt Hon. LadyThe Rt Hon. Lady Wise 2033 5 January 2022 6 February 2013 First

Outer House

Senator Mandatory retirement Appointment
12 Brailsford, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Brailsford 16 August 2024 2006
13 Stacey, The Hon. LadyThe Hon. Lady Stacey 25 May 2024 January 2009
14 Scott, The Hon. LadyThe Hon. Lady Scott 2030 2 November 2012
15 Armstrong, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Armstrong 15 February 2013
16 Beckett, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Beckett 17 May 2016
17 Clark, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Clark 24 May 2016
18 Ericht, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Ericht 2033 31 May 2016
19 Carmichael, The Hon. LadyThe Hon. Lady Carmichael 2039 30 June 2016
20 Mulholland, The Rt. Hon. LordThe Rt. Hon. Lord Mulholland 18 April 2029 15 December 2016
21 Summers, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Summers 17 March 2017
22 Arthurson, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Arthurson 17 March 2017
23 Fairley, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Fairley 13 January 2020
24 Poole, The Hon. LadyThe Hon. Lady Poole 13 January 2020
25 Harrower, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Harrower 17 February 2020
26 Weir, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Weir 6 April 2020
27 Braid, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Braid 22 June 2020
28 Sandison, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Sandison 1 March 2021
29 Haldane, The Hon. LadyThe Hon. Lady Haldane 1 March 2021
30 Richardson, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Richardson 1 March 2021
31 Drummond, The Hon. LadyThe Hon. Lady Drummond 16 May 2022
32 Lake, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Lake 16 May 2022
33 Scott, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Scott 16 May 2022
34 Stuart, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Stuart 16 May 2022
35 Young, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Young 16 May 2022
36 Colbeck, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Colbeck 19 May 2023

Retired judges

There are also some retired judges who still sit occasionally in the Court of Session or the Court of Criminal Appeal to hear cases if needed when there is a shortage of available judges. They are also called senators of the College of Justice. As of 2022, 7 retired judges are available to sit as judges:

Senator Becomes ineligible to act as a judge Appointment Retirement
1 Clarke, The Rt Hon. LordThe Rt Hon. Lord Clarke 2022 2000 2016
2 Kingarth, The Rt Hon. LordThe Rt Hon. Lord Kingarth 21 June 2024 1997 2010
3 Clark, The Rt Hon. LadyThe Rt Hon. Lady Clark 26 February 2024 2006 2019
4 Brodie, The Rt Hon. LordThe Rt Hon. Lord Brodie 14 July 2025 2002 2020
5 Drummond Young, The Rt Hon. LordThe Rt Hon. Lord Drummond Young 2025 2001 2020
6 Rae, The Hon. LadyThe Hon. Lady Rae 20 June 2025 14 January 2014 2020
7 Uist, The Hon. LordThe Hon. Lord Uist 1 February 2026 April 2006 2021

See also

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Senator of the College of Justice Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.