The senators of the College of Justice are judges of the

College of Justice The College of Justice includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies. The constituent bodies of the national supreme courts are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Office of the Accountant of Court, an ...

, a set of legal institutions involved in the

administration of justice The administration of justice is the process by which the legal system of a government is executed. The presumed goal of such an administration is to provide justice for all those accessing the legal system. The phrase is also commonly used to d ...

in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges 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 Edinburg ...

); Lords Commissioners of Justiciary (judges of 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 Chairman of the

Scottish Land Court The Scottish Land Court is a Scottish court of law based in Edinburgh with subject-matter jurisdiction covering disputes between landlords and tenants relating to agricultural tenancies, and matters related to crofts and crofters. The Scott ...

. Whilst the High Court and Court of Session historically maintained separate judiciary, these are now identical, and the term ''Senator'' is almost exclusively used in referring to the judges of these courts. Senators of the college use the title ''Lord'' or ''Lady'' along with a surname or a territorial name. Note, however, that some senators have a

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Be ...

title, which would be used instead of the senatorial title. All senators of the college have the honorific, ''

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' ( American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certa ...

'', before their titles, while those who are also

privy counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

s or peers have the honorific, ''

The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' ( abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The ter ...

''. Senators are made privy counsellors upon promotion to the Inner House. Under section 11 of the Treason Act 1708, it is treason to kill a Senator of the College of Justice "sitting in Judgment in the Exercise of their Office within Scotland".

History

In the past, other officers of state were included as senators, including the

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 ...

Lord Clerk Register The office of Lord Clerk Register is the oldest surviving Great Officer of State in Scotland, with origins in the 13th century. It historically had important functions in relation to the maintenance and care of the public records of Scotland. To ...

Master of Requests Master of Requests, from the Latin Requestarum Magister, is an office that developed in several European systems of law and government in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. Holders of the title had the responsibility of presenting pe ...

and the Secretary of State.

List of senators

The

Court of Session Act 1988 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 ...

, when enacted, limited the number of senators of the College of Justice (aside from the chairman of the

, who ranks as a senator) to 34.Court of Session Act 1988
s. 1
This was subsequently increased to 35 by The Maximum Number of Judges (Scotland) Order 2016, enacted by the Scottish Ministers. The current judges are as follows.

Inner House

The Lord President is the president of the First Division, and the Lord Justice Clerk is the president of the Second Division.

Outer House

Retired judges

There are also some retired judges who still sit occasionally in the

or the Court of Criminal Appeal to hear cases if needed when there is a shortage of available judges. They are also called senators of the College of Justice. As of 2022, 7 retired judges are available to sit as judges:

Notes

References

External links

Biographies of Senators
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senator Of The College Of Justice Judiciary of Scotland College of Justice Lists of judges in Scotland