John Oswald Mair Hunter, Lord Hunter VRD (1913–2006) was a 20th-century Scottish advocate 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 ...

. He was known to friends as Jack Hunter.

Life

He was born 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 ...

on 21 February 1913 the son of John Mair Hunter QC. He was educated at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

and

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

. He studied law at both

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

. He passed both the English and Scottish bar as an advocate in 1937. In September 1939 as an officer in the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

he was called up prior to the onset of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

serving on the mine-layer Menestheus. He reached the rank of Lt Commander. After the war he practiced as an advocate in Edinburgh. He became

King'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 ...

in 1951 (Queen's Counsel following the

coronation of Elizabeth II The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Elizabeth II as queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. Elizabeth acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon th ...

). In 1957 he became

Sheriff Principal In Scotland a sheriff principal (''pl''. sheriffs principal) () is a judge in charge of a sheriffdom with judicial, quasi-judicial, and administrative responsibilities. Sheriffs principal have been part of the judiciary of Scotland since the ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

. In 1972 he became Sheriff of Roxburgh, Berwick and Selkirk. In October 1961 he was elected a

under the title of Lord Hunter. A decided hard-liner he spoke out against what he called the "sociological nonsense" of excusing crime due to poor social backgrounds. He served 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 ...

from 1971 to 1981. From 1981 until retirement in 1986 he served on the Inner Court of the Court of Session (as an appeal judge). He died on 20 March 2006 aged 93.

Other positions of note

*Chairman of the

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. Founded in 1824 ...

*Chairman of the Scottish Council of Salmon and Trout Association

Notable cases

*In 1964 he ruled in the Harris tweed case that this name could only be used for fabric wholly made on the

Isle of Harris Harris (, ) is the southern and more mountainous part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Although not an island itself, Harris is often referred to in opposition to the ''Isle of Lewis'' as the Isle of Harr ...

. *In 1966 he expressed deep concern that a murderer might serve a lesser sentence than one convicted of

culpable homicide Culpable homicide is a categorisation of certain offences in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the homicide (illegal killing of a person) either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a pa ...

due to the workings of the Scottish legal system, when he observed that the accused found guilty of accidentally killing his two sisters would serve a shorter sentence if he pleaded guilty of murder.

Family

In 1959 he was married to Doris Mary Simpson. They had one daughter. Following her death in 1988 he married Angela Marion McLean.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, John Oswald Mair 1913 births 2006 deaths Lawyers from Edinburgh People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Senators of the College of Justice Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Military personnel from Edinburgh Royal National Lifeboat Institution people Scottish King's Counsel Alumni of New College, Oxford People educated at Rugby School