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 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 ...

); 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 A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer, as well as certain officials such as some judges and members of the Scottish gentry. These styles are used "by court ...

of ''Lord'' or ''Lady'' along with a surname or a territorial name. Note, however, that some senators have a

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

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 Peers may refer to: People * Donald Peers * Edgar Allison Peers, English academician * Gavin Peers * John Peers, Australian tennis player * Kerry Peers * Mark Peers * Michael Peers * Steve Peers * Teddy Peers (1886–1935), Welsh international ...

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 The Treason Act 1708 (7 Ann c 21) is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which harmonised the law of high treason between the former kingdoms of England and Scotland following their union as Great Britain in 1707. This Act is partly st ...

, 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 Henry Lauder, Lord St Germains (d. 19 July 1561 Edinburgh) was a Scottish lawyer and landowner. He was a son of Gilbert Lauder (d. before 19 May 1550), a son of Lauder of Haltoun. Gilbert Lauder was a Baillie and burgess of Edinburgh, by right of ...

King's Advocate The King's Advocate (or Queen's Advocate when the monarch was female) was one of the Law Officers of the Crown. He represented the Crown in the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England, where cases were argued not by barristers but by ad ...

, 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 Master of Requests, from the Latin Requestarum Magister, is an office that developed in several European systems of law and government in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. Holders of the title had the responsibility of presenting pe ...

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.Court of Session Act 1988
s. 1
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.

Outer House

Retired judges

There are also some retired judges who still sit occasionally in the

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:

Notes

References

External links

Biographies of Senators
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senator Of The College Of Justice Judiciary of Scotland College of Justice Lists of judges in Scotland