Ronald King Murray, Lord Murray, PC (15 June 1922 – 27 September 2016) was a Scottish Labour politician and judge who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice in 1979.

Life

Educated at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a hospital school in 1741, became a day school in 1871, and was merg ...

, Edinburgh, 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 ...

and

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship S ...

, he served in the

REME The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

and SEAC from 1941 to 1946. He was admitted as an advocate in 1953, served as an Advocate Depute from 1964 to 1970 (from 1967 as a Senior Advocate Depute). He was appointed 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 1967. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Caithness and Sutherland in 1959, Edinburgh North in a May 1960 by-election, and Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles in 1964 and 1965. He was elected and sat for Edinburgh Leith from 1970 until 1979. He served 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 ...

from March 1974 until May 1979, and was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

in 1974. In 1979 he was appointed to the Court of Session and

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 ...

as a Senator of the College of Justice, with the judicial title Lord Murray. His uncle David King Murray had been a Senator of the College of Justice from 1945 to 1955. In April 1977, the Young Liberals' annual conference unanimously passed a motion to call on the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

leader (

David Steel David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, (born 31 March 1938) is a British politician. Elected as Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Peebles, followed by Tweeddale, Ettrick, and Lauderdale, he served as the final leade ...

) to move for the impeachment of Murray for allegedly mishandling a murder case. Despite the urgings of the then chairman of the Young Liberals,

Peter Hain Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...

, Steel did not table such a motion in the House of Commons, but Murray agreed that the Commons still have the right to initiate an impeachment motion. Lord Murray was an active supporter of the World Court Project U.K., part of a worldwide network directed to obtaining a decision on the legality of using nuclear weapons. Success came in 1996, when the International Court of Justice ruled, in an advisory opinion, that the use of such weapons and the threat to use them would generally be illegal as contrary to international humanitarian law. He died on 27 September 2016 at the age of 94.

Family

He was nephew of David King Murray, Lord Birnam

References

* 1922 births 2016 deaths People educated at George Watson's College Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Lord Advocates Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers officers British Army personnel of World War II Murray Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel {{Scotland-Labour-UK-MP-stub