Matthew Gerard Clarke, Lord Clarke was a

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 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 Cou ...

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 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 ...

Early life

Matthew Clarke Lord Clarke was educated at Holy Cross High School

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, and studied at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

(

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

). He was admitted as a solicitor in 1972, and lectured in 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, ...

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 ...

from 1972 to 1978, when he 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 constitu ...

. He was Standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Home and Health Department from 1983 to 1989, in which year 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 ...

. He served as a Judge of the Courts of Appeal of Jersey and Guernsey from 1995 to 2000. He was a member of the Consumer Credit Licensing Appeal Tribunal from 1976 to 2000, of the Estate Agents Tribunals from 1980 to 2000, and of the Trademarks Tribunal from 1995 to 2000, and was part-time Chairman of the Industrial Tribunals from 1987 to 2000. He was a member of the UK Delegation to the Council of the Bars and Law Societies of Europe from 1989 to 1999, serving as its Leader from 1992 to 1996 He was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Europa Institute at the

in 1995.

Publications

Lord Clarke was the Scottish Editor of

Sweet & Maxwell Sweet & Maxwell is a British publisher specialising in legal publications. It joined the Associated Book Publishers in 1969; ABP was purchased by the International Thomson Organization in 1987, and is now part of Thomson Reuters. Its British ...

's ''Encyclopaedia of Consumer Law'' (1980), and has contributed to other publications, including: *''Corporate Law: the European dimension'' (1991) *''Butterworth's EC Legal Systems'' (1992) *''Green's Guide to European Laws in Scotland'' (1995) * McPhail, ''Sheriff Court Practice'' (1999) *''A True European: essays for Judge

David Edward Sir David Alexander Ogilvy Edward (born 14 November 1934) is a Scottish lawyer and academic, and former Judge of the Court of Justice of the European Communities. Sir David is an Honorary Fellow of University College, Oxford; Honorary Profess ...

'' (2004) *''Court of Session Practice'' (2005)

The Bench

Clarke was appointed a

, a judge of the

and

, the Supreme Courts of Scotland, in 2000, taking the judicial title, Lord Clarke. In 2007, Lord Clarke's decision to throw out the charges in the case of the

World's End murders The World's End Murders is the colloquial name given to the murder of two girls, Christine Eadie, 17, and Helen Scott, 17, in Edinburgh, in October 1977. The case is so named because both victims were last seen alive leaving The World's End pub ...

provoked a statement in the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

Elish Angiolini Lady Elish Frances Angiolini (''née'' McPhilomy; born 24 June 1960"Angiolini, Elish Frances" in ''Who's Who'', A & C Black.) is a Scottish lawyer. She was the Lord Advocate of Scotland from 2006 until 2011, having previously been Solicitor Ge ...

, resulting in a public dispute between her and the

Lord Justice General Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

, Lord Hamilton. Lord Clarke was principal commercial judge in the Court of Session before being promoted to the

of the Court of Session in 2008, being at the time sworn 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 a member of the Lands Valuation Appeal Court. He sat on the Bench of the UK Supreme Court during the illness of

Lord Rodger of Earlsferry Alan Ferguson Rodger, Baron Rodger of Earlsferry, (18 September 1944 – 26 June 2011) was a Scottish academic, lawyer, and Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He served as Lord Advocate, the senior Law Officer of Scotla ...

, along with

Lord Reed Robert John Reed, Baron Reed of Allermuir, (born 7 September 1956) is a British judge who has been President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom since January 2020. He was the principal judge in the Commercial Court in Scotland before b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Matthew Living people Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish solicitors Academics of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century King's Counsel

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a popular surname i ...

Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Faculty of Advocates People educated at Holy Cross High School, Hamilton Judiciary of Jersey 1945 births

Early life

Publications

The Bench

See also

References