Andrew Rutherford Hardie, Baron Hardie, (born 8 January 1946) is a former

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); ...

, a judge of the

Supreme Courts of Scotland The College of Justice includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies. The constituent bodies of the national supreme courts are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Office of the Accountant of Court, and ...

, and a former Lord Advocate, the country's senior Law Officer. He led the prosecution team in the preparation of the original Lockerbie bombing trial, but resigned as Lord Advocate shortly before the trial commenced in 2000.

Early life

Born in Alloa, Hardie was educated at

St Modan's High School St Modan's Roman Catholic High School is an S1-S6 Catholic high school in Stirling, Scotland. History In September 1933, St Modan's High School was officially opened by Archbishop McDonald of St Andrew's and Edinburgh. It was located in Barnsda ...

, Stirling and at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

( M.A., LL.B.). He was admitted as a solicitor in 1971 and to the Faculty of Advocates in 1973. He served as an Advocate Depute from 1979 to 1983, and was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1985. He was Treasurer of the Faculty of Advocates from 1989 until he was elected

Dean of the Faculty Dean is a title employed in academic administrations such as colleges or universities for a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, over a specific area of concern, or both. In the United States and Canada, deans are usua ...

from 1994 to 1997. From 1991 to 1994 he sat as a part-time Chairman of the Medical Appeals Tribunal.

Lord Advocate

Following

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

's 1997 election victory, Hardie was appointed Lord Advocate, and created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

, as Baron Hardie, of Blackford in the City of Edinburgh, and appointed to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. As well as serving as the country's top prosecutor, he played an active role in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, including acting as a Government spokesman during the passage of the Scotland Act 1998. Under the terms of this Act, the Lord Advocate became a member of the new Scottish Executive, with his duties to the

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

passing to the newly created office of

Advocate General for Scotland His Majesty's Advocate General for Scotland ( gd, Àrd-neach-tagraidh an Rìgh airson Alba) is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, whose duty it is to advise the Crown and His Majesty's Government on Scots law. The Office of the Advocate Gener ...

. The first

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

was elected in 1999, at which time Hardie became a member of the Scottish Executive.

Lockerbie trial

On Wednesday 21 December 1988,

Pan Am Flight 103 Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...

from London to New York was blown up over the Scottish town of

Lockerbie Lockerbie (, gd, Locarbaidh) is a small town in Dumfries and Galloway, south-western Scotland. It is about from Glasgow, and from the border with England. The United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town ...

, killing two hundred and seventy people. In 1991, two Libyan men were indicted for the bombing, but their trial did not begin until May 2000. The trial itself was held in a special sitting of the High Court of Justiciary, sitting as the Scottish Court in the Netherlands, at Camp Zeist, a former US Air Force base in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Hardie took over as Lord Advocate shortly before arrangements for the trial were agreed, and it was intended he would lead the prosecution team, however he resigned as Lord Advocate in March 2000, two months before the trial was scheduled to begin, and was forced to defend himself against accusations of having 'abandoned' the victims' families. He was succeeded as Lord Advocate by the Solicitor General, Colin Boyd.

The Bench

Lord Hardie was appointed a Judge of the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...

and High Court of Justiciary in March 2000. In 2008, a review of judicial performance named him as "''Scotland's worst judge''". The figures showed that eighty-four sentences imposed by Hardie had been overturned on appeal, all having been reduced, while two convictions were overturned, although both these convictions arose from the one case, in which it was found Hardie had misdirected the jury on a point of law. Hardie was appointed to the

Inner House The Inner House is the senior part of the Court of Session, the supreme civil court in Scotland; the Outer House forms the junior part of the Court of Session. It is a court of appeal and a court of first instance. The chief justice is th ...

of the Court of Session in 2010 and retired on 31 December 2012.

The Tram Inquiry

Lord Hardie was appointed as chair of The Tram Inquiry. Lord Hardie's probe has now lasted longer than the

Chilcot inquiry The Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot)

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardie, Andrew Baron Hardie 1946 births Living people Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Crossbench life peers Lord Advocates Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Alloa Deans of the Faculty of Advocates People educated at St Modan's High School Hardie Life peers created by Elizabeth II