James Edward Drummond Young, Lord Drummond Young, (born 17 February 1950) is a retired

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the Supreme Courts of Scotland and was formerly Chairman of 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 ...

Early life

James Drummond Young was born in

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 ...

the son of Duncan Drummond Young (1914-2007) and his wife, Annette Mackay (1914-1995). He was educated at John Watson's School in the city. He studied law at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (BA 1971),

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(

Joseph Hodges Choate Joseph Hodges Choate (January 24, 1832 – May 14, 1917) was an American lawyer and diplomat. Choate was associated with many of the most famous litigations in American legal history, including the Kansas prohibition cases, the Chinese exclusi ...

Memorial Fellow, 1971–72; LLM 1972) and 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 ...

School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

(LLB 1974), and 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 constit ...

in 1976,

taking silk In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or a ...

in 1988. He served as Standing Junior Counsel to the Department of Industry from 1984 to 1986 and to the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

from 1986 to 1988, and as 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 ...

from 1999 to 2001. He is co-author with John St. Clair of ''The Law of Corporate Insolvency in Scotland'', first published in 1988 and revised in 1992 and 2004.

Judicial career

Drummond Young was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice, 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 The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Cou ...

, Scotland's supreme courts, in July 2001, taking the judicial title, Lord Drummond Young. He formerly sat in the

Outer House The Outer House (abbreviated as CSOH in neutral citations) is one of the two parts of the Scottish Court of Session, which is the supreme civil court in Scotland. It is a court of first instance, although some statutory appeals are remitted ...

, and 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 ...

in June 2013. On 1 January 2007, Lord Drummond Young succeeded Lord Eassie for a five-year term as Chairman of the

, an advisory board to the Scottish Government which reviews, and recommends reform of, the

Law of Scotland Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Irela ...

. Lord Drummond Young demitted office in December 2011, but continued as Acting Chairman until Lady Clark of Calton was appointed Chairman in June 2012. He retired in March 2020.

Personal life

Lord Drummond Young married Elizabeth Mary Campbell-Kease in 1991, with whom he has a daughter. His interests include music and travel, and he is a member of

The Speculative Society The Speculative Society is a Scottish Enlightenment society dedicated to public speaking and literary composition, founded in 1764. It was mainly, but not exclusively, an Edinburgh University student organisation. The formal purpose of the Societ ...

of Edinburgh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drummond Young, James 1950 births Living people Lawyers from Edinburgh Senators of the College of Justice Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Harvard Law School alumni People educated at John Watson's Institution Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Contestants on University Challenge