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 Cour ...

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 t ...

of the Court of Session. He is an authority on road traffic law. His father,

John Wheatley, Baron Wheatley John Thomas Wheatley, Baron Wheatley, (17 January 1908 – 28 July 1988) was a Scottish Labour politician and judge. Biography Wheatley was born on 17 January 1908 in Shettleston, Glasgow, the third and youngest child of Janet (1877� ...

, 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. Originally ''clericus justiciarie'' or Clerk to the Court of Justiciary, the counterpart in the criminal courts of the Lord ...

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

Early life

Wheatley was born the son of

John Thomas Wheatley John Thomas Wheatley, Baron Wheatley, (17 January 1908 – 28 July 1988) was a Scottish Labour politician and judge. Biography Wheatley was born on 17 January 1908 in Shettleston, Glasgow, the third and youngest child of Janet (1877� ...

and Agnes Nichol. His father, a distinguished lawyer, had served as Solicitor General and

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate ( gd, Morair Tagraidh, sco, Laird Advocat), is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved 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 Mount St Mary's College is an independent, co-educational, day and boarding school situated at Spinkhill, Derbyshire, England. It was founded in 1842 by the Society of Jesus (better known as the Jesuits), and has buildings designed by notable ar ...

, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Jesuit boarding school in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, and studied at the

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, l ...

of 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 ...

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 constit ...

in 1966, and appointed Standing Counsel to the Scottish Development Department in 1971, and Advocate Depute 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 1980–2000. In 1998 he was promoted Sheriff Principal of Tayside, Central and Fife. He was appointed a Temporary High Court Judge in 1992 and

took 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 1993. In 2000, Wheatley was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the

and Court of Session, 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.

Personal life

Lord Wheatley married Bronwen Fraser in 1970, with whom he has two sons. He stood as the Labour Party candidate in Dumfries in the February 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 The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1930. Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross, the county borders Per ...

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

Early life

Legal career

Personal life

See also

References