Sir Richard Rashleigh Folliott Scott, Baron Scott of Foscote, (born 2 October 1934) is a British judge, who formerly held the office of

Lord of Appeal in Ordinary Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

Early life

The son of Lieutenant-Colonel C. W. F. and Katharine Scott, Scott was born on 2 October 1934 and educated at

Michaelhouse School Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan, KwaZulu-Natal, Balgowan valley in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. History ''St. Michael's Diocesan Co ...

, Natal in South Africa. He then studied at the University of Cape Town, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1954, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he received a B.A ( Law Tripos) in 1957 and a Blue in rugby. He then spent a year as Bigelow Fellow at the University of Chicago, where he met his future wife, Rima Elisa Ripoll, who is from Panama.

Legal career

Scott was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

by the Inner Temple in 1959, becoming a Bencher in 1981. From 1960 to 1983, he practised at the Chancery Bar, and was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1975. In 1980, Scott was appointed Attorney-General of the Duchy of Lancaster, a post he held until 1983. He was Vice-Chairman of the Bar from 1981 to 1982, and chairman from 1982 to 1983. Scott was appointed a

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 Justice in 1983, sitting in the Chancery Division, and received the customary knighthood. From 1987 to 1991, he held the office of Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster, which has responsibility for overseeing Chancery business in the North of England. He was promoted to the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

in 1991, becoming a

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Justice ...

and receiving an appointment 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 ...

, and serving as Vice-Chancellor, the head of the Chancery Division, from 1994 to 2000, and Head of Civil Justice from 1995 to 2000. On 17 July 2000, he was appointed a

and created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Scott of Foscote, of Foscote in the County of Buckinghamshire. He retired from this post on 30 September 2009, and did not transfer along with the other Lords of Appeal of ordinary to the new

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (initialism: UKSC or the acronym: SCOTUK) is the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom for all civil cases, and for criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. As the Unite ...

. The vacancy on the bench his retirement created was filled by Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, previously Master of the Rolls. He sat as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

until his retirement from the House of Lords on 21 December 2016. In 2003, he was appointed a non-permanent member of Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal, and while serving there, he is known by his Chinese name (). He left the court in 2012. Notable judicial decisions of Lord Scott included: * '' Cumbrian Newspapers Group Ltd v Cumberland & Westmorland Herald Newspaper & Printing Co Ltd'' 986BCLC 286 - leading authority on class rights of shares

Scott Inquiry

In 1992, Scott, while a Lord Justice of Appeal, was appointed to chair an inquiry into the '' Arms-to-Iraq'' scandal, in which it was claimed the British government had supported British companies in selling defence equipment to Iraq. The report was published in 1996, although much of it was secret. In 2001, Scott said it was "''regrettable and disappointing''" the Government had not made changes to the law regulating the arms trade.

Personal life

Lord Scott has been married to Rima Elisa Ripoll since 1959. They have two sons and two daughters.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foscote, Richard Scott, Baron Scott of 1934 births Knights Bachelor Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Scott of Foscote British King's Counsel Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Alumni of Michaelhouse 20th-century King's Counsel University of Cape Town alumni Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Living people Justices of the Court of Final Appeal (Hong Kong) Hong Kong judges South African emigrants to the United Kingdom Attorneys-General of the Duchy of Lancaster Crossbench life peers Judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Chancery Division judges