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 His Majesty's Advocate General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, whose duty it is to advise the The Crown, Crown and His Majesty's Government on Scots law. The Office of the Advocate General for Scotland is a Departments o ...

from May 2015 until his resignation on 16 September 2020.

Early life

Keen was educated at

The King's School, Rochester The King's School, Rochester, is a private co-educational all through day and boarding school in Rochester, Kent. It is a cathedral school and, being part of the foundation of Rochester Cathedral. The school claims to be the second oldest co ...

and

Dollar Academy Dollar Academy is a 5–18 Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day and boarding school for boys and girls in Scotland. The open campus occupies a site in the centre of Dollar, Clackmannanshire, at the foot of the Ochil ...

, and graduated LLB (with Honours) in law from the

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 ...

in 1976, where he was a Beckman scholar. 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 1980 and

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

(QC) in 1993. He was admitted to the Bar of England and Wales in 2009 and elected a Bencher of the Middle Temple in 2011.

Legal career

Keen served as standing junior counsel in Scotland to the Department of Trade and Industry from 1986 to 1993. He specialises in commercial law, property law and administrative law. He is also a member of Blackstone Chambers in Middle Temple, London. He defended Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah 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 ...

, with Fhimah being acquitted of all charges. In 2007, he represented Henri Paul's family at the inquest into the

death of Diana, Princess of Wales During the early hours of 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died from injuries sustained earlier that night in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, France. Dodi Fayed, Diana's partner, and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz ...

. He represented

Andy Coulson Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist. Coulson was the editor of the ''News of the World'' from 2003 to 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to ...

in relation to perjury charges. He has regularly appeared in the

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (initialism: UKSC) is the final court of appeal for all civil cases in the United Kingdom and all criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as some limited criminal cases ...

. In 2016, he appeared for the United Kingdom Government in the

R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union ''R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union'' is a United Kingdom constitutional law case decided by the United Kingdom Supreme Court on 24 January 2017, which ruled that the British Government (the executive) might not i ...

("Article 50 case") where he successfully argued that there was no constitutional requirement for the devolved administrations to consent to Brexit. Keen was elected Dean of the Faculty of Advocates (leader of the Scottish Bar) in 2007. He remained Dean until January 2014 when he resigned to become chair of the Scottish Conservative Party, having been chosen in November 2013 to succeed

David Mundell David Gordon Mundell, (born 27 May 1962) is a Scottish Conservative Party politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale since 2005. He previously served as Secretary of Stat ...

MP. He was appointed the

on 29 May 2015, and stepped down as chair of the Scottish Conservative Party. In May 2016 he was also appointed Lords Minister for the Ministry of Justice with policy responsibility for civil justice in England and Wales and regulation and promotion of the legal profession in England and Wales. In September 2017, he was appointed Minister for the Crown Dependencies. Keen was 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

on 8 June 2015 taking the title Baron Keen of Elie, of Elie in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. On 15 November 2017 Lord Keen of Elie was sworn as a Member of the Privy Council. On 16 September 2020, Keen offered his resignation over the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill, stating that he found it difficult to reconcile parts of it with the law. In May 2022 Keen was appointed to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution. On 12 January 2022 Keen was appointed a member of the UK delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

at Strasbourg. On 23 January 2024 Keen was elected Chair of the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

(PACE); a member of the Judicial Appointments Committee of PACE and a member of the Bureau of PACE.

Personal life

Keen is married and has two children. He was reported to be one of the highest earners in Scotland, being featured on a list of the top 100 earners in 2003. In 2017, Keen was charged with contravening section two of the

Firearms Act 1968 The Firearms Act 1968 (c. 27) is a UK act of Parliament, controlling use and possession of firearms. Overview The Act brought together all existing firearms legislation in a single statute. For the first time, it introduced controls for long ...

by failing to safely secure a shotgun, to which he pleaded guilty and was fined the sum of £1,000. A hearing of the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service in 2019 found that the offence constituted a breach of standards, but did not amount to professional misconduct.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keen, Richard 1954 births Living people Deans of the Faculty of Advocates Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from Rochester, Kent People educated at Dollar Academy Scottish King's Counsel People educated at King's School, Rochester Scottish Conservative politicians Advocates general for Scotland Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II 20th-century King's Counsel Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom