Robin Gilmour McEwan, commonly called Lord McEwan was a

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 and former

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 High Court of Justiciary and

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 ...

, the country's

Supreme Courts A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Early life

McEwan was born on 12 December 1943 in

Paisley, Renfrewshire Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Wate ...

, to Ian G. McEwan and Mary McEwan. He was educated at Paisley Grammar School, and the School of Law of the University of Glasgow, where he graduated with a First in Law. He held the Faulds Fellowship in Law at the University from 1965–1968, having been admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1967, and took a Ph.D. in 1969, entitled ''The rights and liabilities of the undisclosed principal in the law of agency''. From 1974–76, McEwan was Standing Junior Counsel to the Department of Energy, and was appointed

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 ...

in 1976, serving until 1979. He took silk in 1981, and became Chairman of the Industrial Tribunals the same year, serving until 1982, when he was appointed

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway The Sheriff Principal of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway is the head of the judicial system of the sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway, one of the six sheriffdoms covering the whole of Scotland. The sheriffdom employs ...

, first at Lanark but moving in 1988 to Ayr. He was a member of the Scottish Legal Aid Board from 1989 - 1996.

Publications

In 1980, he published a textbook on ''Pleading in Court'' and co-authored ''A Casebook of Damages in Scotland'' with Ann Paton; the two would later be appointed to the bench in the same year. He has also contributed to the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia.

The Bench

In 1991, McEwan became a temporary judge of the

and High Court of Justiciary, Scotland's supreme courts, and was appointed a permanent

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); ...

in 2000, taking the judicial title, Lord McEwan. He sat in the Outer House. He retired in 2008, his vacancy being filled by

Valerie Stacey, Lady Stacey Valerie Elizabeth Stacey, Lady Stacey is a Scottish lawyer, and a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the country's Supreme Courts. She was the first woman ever elected Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Advocates. Early life Born Valerie Tho ...

Personal life

McEwan married Sheena McIntyre in 1973, with whom he has two daughters. He enjoyed golf, and was a member of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and Prestwick Gold Club, and the

New Club The New Club is a private social club in the New Town area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 1787, it is Scotland's oldest club. The club occupied premises on St Andrew Square from 1809 until 1837, when it moved to purpose-built rooms on ...

, Edinburgh. He was an

Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...

and

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway The Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway is one of the seven dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church. It covers Dumfries and Galloway, Ayrshire, Lanarkshire (including Glasgow), Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and west Stirlingshire (south of the Ri ...

. He had been Deputy Chairman of the Boundary Commission for Scotland and a member of the Scottish Civil Courts Review since 2007. He died at the age of 80 on 30 December 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McEwan, Robin 1943 births 2023 deaths Scottish Episcopalians People educated at Paisley Grammar School Alumni of the University of Glasgow Lawyers from Paisley, Renfrewshire Members of the Faculty of Advocates

Mcewan The Scottish surname MacEwen derives from the Old Gaelic ''Mac Eoghainn'', meaning 'the son of Eoghann'. The name is found today in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. Because it was widely used before its spelling was standardised, the modern n ...

Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel