Paul Benedict Cullen, Lord Pentland, (born 11 March 1957) is a former
Solicitor General for Scotland
, body =
, insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg
, insigniasize = 110px
, image = File:Official Portrait of Ruth Charteris QC.png
, incumbent = Ruth Charteris KC
, incumbentsince = 22 June 2021
, department = Crown Office and ...
, a
Senator of the College of Justice (a judge of the country's
Supreme Courts) and former Chairman of the
Scottish Law Commission
The Scottish Law Commission is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It was established in 1965 to keep Scots law under review and recommend necessary reforms to improve, simplify and update the country's legal sy ...
.
Early life
Born in
Gosforth
Gosforth is a suburb of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It constituted a separate urban district from 1895 until 1974 before officially merging with the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 2001, it had a populati ...
,
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
, he was educated at
St Augustine's High School,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
and at the
School of Law of the University of Edinburgh.
Legal career
Cullen 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 1982,
devilling
Devilling is the period of training, pupillage or junior work undertaken by a person wishing to become an advocate in one of the English-speaking common law systems of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, and Australia.
Etymology
While there ...
for
Alan Rodger QC.
He tutored part-time at the
Faculty of Law at 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 1982 to 1986, when he was elected Clerk of the Faculty of Advocates, serving until 1991. He was Standing Junior Counsel to the
Department of the Environment
An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...
in Scotland from 1988 to 1991 and appointed an
Advocate Depute in 1992, becoming a
Queen's Counsel
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 o ...
in 1995. A member of the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
, he became
Solicitor General for Scotland
, body =
, insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg
, insigniasize = 110px
, image = File:Official Portrait of Ruth Charteris QC.png
, incumbent = Ruth Charteris KC
, incumbentsince = 22 June 2021
, department = Crown Office and ...
, the junior
Law Officer in Scotland, in 1995, when
Donald Mackay succeeded
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 ...
as
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 ...
, the senior Law Officer. He held this post until the
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
election victory in 1997, when he was succeeded by
Colin Boyd, who later became Lord Advocate.
He was the Chairman of the public inquiry into the
Gilmerton
Gilmerton ( gd, Baile GhilleMhoire, IPA: paləˈʝiːʎəˈvɔɾʲə is a suburb of Edinburgh, about southeast of the city centre.
The toponym "Gilmerton" is derived from a combination of gd, Gille-Moire– a personal name and later surnam ...
Limestone Emergency in 2001–2002, and has been Chairman of the Appeal Committee of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) is the world's first professional body of Chartered Accountants (CAs). It is a regulator, educator, influencer and thought leader.
ICAS act as a thought leader and voice of the professiona ...
and of the Police Appeals Tribunal.
[ ] In 2003, ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...
'' named him the seventieth highest earner in Scotland, and third highest earner at
the Bar, after
Richard Keen
Richard Sanderson Keen, Baron Keen of Elie (born 29 March 1954) is a British lawyer and Conservative Party politician. He was Advocate General for Scotland from May 2015 until his resignation on 16 September 2020.
Early life
Keen was educated ...
QC (who was sixty-first with earnings of £600,000 and a former Dean of the Faculty) and
Michael Jones, Lord Jones (who was fifty-fifth with earnings of £750,000). He was involved in a number of high-profile cases, including the
Countryside Alliance
The Countryside Alliance (CA) is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as farming, rural services, small businesses and field sports, aiming to "Give Rural Britain a voice".
History
The Countryside Alliance ...
challenge to the
Scottish fox-hunting ban, judicial review connected to the
Stockline Plastics factory explosion
On 11 May 2004, the ICL Plastics factory (commonly referred to as Stockline Plastics factory), in the Woodside district of Maryhill, Glasgow in western Scotland, exploded. Nine people were killed, including two company directors, and 33 injured, ...
, and the first two appeals to 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 under the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 13) was an Act of the Scottish Parliament passed in 2002. It covers public bodies over which the Scottish Parliament has jurisdiction, fulfilling a similar purpose to the UK-level Freedom of Info ...
and the first such appeal to the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
.
Political career
Cullen contested the
Eastwood Eastwood may refer to:
Places
;in Australia
*Eastwood, New South Wales
**Eastwood railway station
**Electoral district of Eastwood
*Eastwood, South Australia
;in Canada
* Eastwood, Ontario
*Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood
;in the Ph ...
constituency at the
1997 general election for the Conservative Party, but finished in second place to
Jim Murphy
James Francis Murphy (born 23 August 1967) is a Scottish former politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2014 to 2015 and Secretary of State for Scotland from 2008 to 2010. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for East Re ...
of the Labour Party. All Conservative Party representation was wiped out from Scottish constituencies at that election. Cullen served as Vice-President of the Edinburgh South Conservative Association from 1997 until he took the bench in 2008. He represented the
Scottish Conservative Party
The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...
on the Consultative Steering Group in 1998-99 which helped prepare procedures for the new
Scottish Parliament. He was appointed Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel of the Scottish Conservatives in 2000.
The Bench
In November 2008, Cullen was appointed as a
Senator of the College of Justice, a judge 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
Court of Session, the
Supreme Courts of Scotland.
He took the judicial title, Lord Pentland,.
In 2010 he was appointed as a member of the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber). He has also served as an Intellectual Property judge.
Lord Pentland was appointed as Chairman of the
Scottish Law Commission
The Scottish Law Commission is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It was established in 1965 to keep Scots law under review and recommend necessary reforms to improve, simplify and update the country's legal sy ...
on 1 January 2014 for a period of five years until 31 December 2018. He was appointed to the First Division of the Inner House of the Court of Session in July 2020, and to the Privy Council in September 2020.
Personal life
Cullen is married to Joyce Nicol, former Chairman of
Brodies LLP (1983), with whom he has two sons and a daughter. He plays tennis and bridge, and is a member of the
New Club.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Paul
1957 births
Living people
People from Gosforth
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Scottish Conservative Party politicians
Solicitors General for Scotland
Pentland, Cullen, Paul, Lord
Members of the Faculty of Advocates
People educated at St Augustine's High School, Edinburgh
Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Scottish King's Counsel
20th-century King's Counsel
Scottish Conservative Party parliamentary candidates