John Alastair Cameron, Lord Abernethy, PC (born 1 February 1938) is a Scottish lawyer, and 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 country's Supreme Courts, serving from 1992 to 2007, when he retired. He was a member of the

English Bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

before moving to the Scottish

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 ...

, where he served as vice-dean from 1983 to 1992.

Early life

Cameron was educated at the Clergy School,

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

St. Mary's School, Melrose St. Mary's School is a private, co-educational, day and boarding prep school in Melrose, Scotland. As of 2015 there are 190 pupils; 97 boys and 93 girls. History St. Mary's School was established in 1895 by John Hamilton as a school for boys. ...

, and

Trinity College, Glenalmond Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. T ...

. He undertook National Service as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

with the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

from 1956 to 1958, and then studied at

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

Legal career

Cameron was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1963, but moved to the

in 1966. He served 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 1972 to 1975, Standing Junior Counsel to the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...

from 1976 to 1979 and Standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Development Department from 1978 to 1979. He 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 1979, and the same year became Director of Faculty Services Limited, the services branch of the

, and was its Chairman from 1983 to 1989. He was Legal Chairman of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals from 1979 to 1992, serving in addition as President of the Tribunal from 1985. He was elected Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Advocates in 1983, serving until his appointment to the Bench. In 1992, he was appointed a

, 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, with the judicial title, Lord Abernethy, and promoted 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 2005, being 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 ...

. He was one of the four judges in the original

Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, 11 years, 4 months and 13 days after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988. The 36-week bench trial took place at a specially convened Scottish Court in the Netherlands set ...

. He was Vice-Chairman of the Judges' Forum of the

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associat ...

from 1993 to 1994, and Chairman from 1994 to 1998. He then became a member of the Council of the IBA's Section on Legal Practice from 1998 to 2002, and of the Council of its Human Rights Institute from 1998 to 2000 and 2002 to 2005. He was the first President of the Scottish Medico-Legal Society, serving from 1996 to 2000. He is also the author of ''Medical Negligence: An Introduction'' (). Lord Abernethy resigned as a judge in 2007, being succeeded in the

by Lord Wheatley, whose seat 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 ...

was filled by the appointment of

Colin Campbell, Lord Malcolm Colin Malcolm Campbell, Lord Malcolm (born 1953) is a Scotland, Scottish lawyer, and a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the country's College of Justice, Supreme Courts. Early life Campbell was educated at Grove Academy, a state s ...

, former Dean of the

Personal life

Cameron married Elspeth Miller in 1968. They have three sons. His interests include travel, sport, nature conservation and Africana. He is an

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, John, Lord Abernethy Living people 1938 births People educated at St. Mary's School, Melrose People educated at Glenalmond College Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple 20th-century King's Counsel Abernethy, Cameron, John Alastair, Lord Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century British Army personnel Royal Army Service Corps officers

Early life

Legal career

Personal life

See also

References