John Taylor Cameron, Lord Coulsfield, (24 April 1934 – 28 February 2016) was a Scottish judge who served as a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland 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 ...

from 1987 to 2002.

Biography

Cameron was born on 24 April 1934 in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. His father was John Reid Cameron, director of education for Dundee Council and his mother was Annie Duncan, a teacher. Cameron was educated at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational private boarding and day school in Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, before getting an open scholarship to study at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

where he studied classics. When he failed the entrance examination for the civil service, he attended

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

where he studied for an

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

. 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 const ...

in 1960, and lectured in public law at the University of Edinburgh from 1960 to 1964. He was appointed

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

(QC) in 1973, and served as an

Advocate Depute The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service () is the independent public prosecutor, prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by Charles III of the United Kingd ...

from 1977 to 1979. He was Chairman of the Medical Appeals Tribunal for Scotland from 1985 to 1987. He was appointed as a

in 1987, taking the judicial title Lord Coulsfield. He was the Scottish Judge on the

Employment Appeal Tribunal The Employment Appeal Tribunal is a tribunal in England and Wales and Scotland, and is a superior court of record. Its primary role is to hear appeals from Employment Tribunals in England, Scotland and Wales. It also hears appeals from decisions ...

from 1992 to 1996. Before joining the Court of Session he was a judge in the Courts of Appeal of Jersey and Guernsey. In 2000, he was one of the four judges at the

Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, more than 11 years after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988. The 36-week bench trial took place at a specially convened Scottish Court in the Netherlands set up under ...

. Cameron retired from practicing law in 2002. He served as Editor of the Scottish Law and Practice Quarterly and chair of the committee for legal education in Scotland. He died on 28 February 2016 at the age of 81 after a short illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, John 1934 births 2016 deaths People educated at Fettes College Coulsfield Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Faculty of Advocates Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford