Alastair McPherson Johnston, Lord Dunpark (1915–1991) was a Scottish judge. A controversial and sometimes very lenient judge he made several important rulings in Scots Law such as Porchetta v Porchetta which established that a child's rights were superior to the rights of a father (or mother) and the child's welfare was the paramount issue.

Life

He was born in

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

on 15 December 1915 the son of Rev Alexander McPherson Johnston and his wife Eleanora Guthrie Wyllie. He was created a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice 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); ...

in October 1971 with the title of Lord Dunpark. One of his first roles was as a Commissioner on the

Scottish Law Commission The Scottish Law Commission is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It was established in 1965 to keep Scots law under review and recommend necessary reforms to improve, simplify and update the country's legal sy ...

. From 1969 to 1973 Lord Dunpark served as Chairperson of the influential Edinburgh conservationist organisation the

Cockburn Association The Cockburn Association (Edinburgh's Civic Trust) is one of the world's oldest architectural conservation and urban planning monitoring organisations, founded in 1875. The Scottish judge Henry Cockburn (1779–1854) was a prominent campaigner t ...

. He retired in 1990 aged 75, the maximum for service as a judge in Scotland. He died of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 31 August 1991. He is buried in the modern extension to

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

. The grave lies close to the south-east corner.

Family

He married Katherine Margaret Mitchell (1914–1983), known as "Bunty". They were parents to Alan Johnston, Lord Johnston. Following Bunty's death in 1985 he married Kathleen Elizabeth Sarah Welsh (1919–2003) of

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Cou ...

in Ireland, widow of John C Macfie of 17

Heriot Row Heriot Row is a highly prestigious street in central Edinburgh, virtually unchanged since its original construction in 1802. From its inception to the present day in remained a top address in the city and has housed the rich and famous of the cit ...

.Glasgow Herald (newspaper) 28 August 2003

Publications

*An Introduction to the Law of Scotland (with JAD Hope)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Alastair Mcpherson 1915 births 1991 deaths People from Stirling 20th-century Scottish judges Senators of the College of Justice Burials at the Dean Cemetery