John Francis Wheatley, Lord Wheatley, PC (born 9 May 1941) is a Scottish lawyer and retired Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, sitting in the

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 C ...

and 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 The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

. He is an authority on road traffic law. His father, John Wheatley, Baron Wheatley, was

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. The current Lord Justice Clerk is Lord Beckett, who was appointed to the position on 4 February 2025, succeeding Lady Dorr ...

between 1972 and 1985, the second-most senior judge in Scotland.

Early life

Wheatley was born the son of John Thomas Wheatley and Agnes Nichol. His father, a distinguished lawyer, had served as

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

and

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

, before being appointed a judge and rising to the rank of

, the second-most senior judge in Scotland. The young Wheatley was educated at his father's former school, Mount St Mary's College, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, and studied at the School of Law of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

Legal career

Wheatley 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 const ...

in 1966, and appointed Standing Counsel to the Scottish Development Department in 1971, and

Advocate Depute The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service () is the independent public prosecutor, prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by Charles III of the United Kingd ...

in 1975. He was appointed a Sheriff of Tayside, Central and Fife in 1979, serving at Dunfermline from 1979 to 1980, and at Perth from 1980 to 2000. In 1998 he was promoted

Sheriff Principal of Tayside, Central and Fife The Sheriff Principal of Tayside, Central and Fife is the head of the judicial system of the sheriffdom of Tayside, Central and Fife, one of the six sheriffdoms covering the whole of Scotland. The sheriffdom employs a number of legally qualified ...

. He was appointed a Temporary High Court Judge in 1992 and took silk in 1993. In 2000, Wheatley was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the

and

, Scotland's Supreme Courts, taking the judicial title, Lord Wheatley. From 2002 to 2006, he was Chairman of the Judicial Studies Committee, the body responsible for the training of judges. He was promoted to the

of the Court of Session, and to the Privy Council, in 2007.

In popular culture

In the 2021 mini-series '' A Very British Scandal'', Wheatley was played by Jonathan Aris.

Personal life

Lord Wheatley married Bronwen Fraser in 1970, with whom he has two sons. He stood as the Labour Party candidate in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

in the

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years and 29 in leap years, with the February 29, 29th day being called the ''leap day''. February is the third a ...

and October 1974 general elections. His recreations include gardening and music, and he is the founder, and current President, of the

' football team, Faculty Phantoms FC. He lives in Fossoway, Kinross-shire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheatley, John 1941 births People educated at Mount St Mary's College Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century King's Counsel Wheatley Scottish King's Counsel Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Faculty of Advocates Living people Scottish sheriffs Scottish Labour parliamentary candidates

Early life

Legal career

In popular culture

Personal life

See also

References