Donald James Dobbie Macfadyen, Lord Macfadyen (8 September 1945 – 11 April 2008) was a highly regarded

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

lawyer who served as a judge for over a decade. In 2002, he was one of the five judges who heard

the appeal ''The Appeal'' is a 2008 novel by John Grisham, his 21st book and his first fictional legal thriller since ''The Broker'' was published in 2005. It was published by Doubleday and released in hardcover in the United States on January 29, 2008. ...

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against his conviction for the bombing in 1998 of

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 ...

Life

The grave of Donald Macfadyen, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh

Macfadyen was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, to Donald and Christina Macfadyen. He was educated at Hutchesons' Boys Grammar School and then at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, where he won many prizes and graduated in law in 1967. In 1969, Macfadyen was admitted to the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constitu ...

, at the unusually young age of 23. He was an

advocate depute The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by His Majesty's Lord Advocate, who under the S ...

(prosecutor) from 1979 to 1982, and was standing junior counsel to the

Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

from 1977 to 1979 and to the

Scottish Home and Health Department The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

from 1982 to 1983. Macfadyen became a

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 1983, aged only 38. From 1989 to 1995 he was a part-time chairman of Medical Appeal Tribunals and Vaccine Damage Tribunals. From 1991 to 1992 he was counsel to the inquiry into the Orkney child abuse scandal, when children had been removed from their parents following allegations of ritualistic abuse. This high-profile cases established his reputation, and from 1992 to 1995 he was vice-dean of the Faculty of Advocates. He died on 11 April 2008. His ashes are buried in

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 ...

in western Edinburgh, slightly north of the main entrance, facing the eastern path.

Judge

In 1994 Macfadyen one of the first people to be appointed a temporary 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 ...

. In 1995 his promotion was made permanent, when he was appointed as 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); ...

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 ...

in 2002

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macfaydyen, Donald 1945 births 2008 deaths Lawyers from Glasgow People educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School Alumni of the University of Glasgow Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Burials at the Dean Cemetery