The senators of the College of Justice 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 of Session); Lords Commissioners of Justiciary (judges of the High Court of Justiciary); and the Chairman of the

Scottish Land Court The Scottish Land Court is a Scottish court of law based in Edinburgh with subject-matter jurisdiction covering disputes between landlords and tenants relating to agricultural tenancies, and matters related to crofts and crofters. The Scott ...

. Whilst the High Court and Court of Session historically maintained separate judiciary, these are now identical, and the term ''Senator'' is almost exclusively used in referring to the judges of these courts. Senators of the college use the title ''Lord'' or ''Lady'' along with a surname or a territorial name. Note, however, that some senators have a

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Be ...

title, which would be used instead of the senatorial title. All senators of the college have the honorific, ''

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' ( American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certa ...

'', before their titles, while those who are also privy counsellors or peers have the honorific, ''

The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' ( abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The ter ...

''. Senators are made privy counsellors upon promotion to the Inner House. Under section 11 of the Treason Act 1708, it is treason to kill a Senator of the College of Justice "sitting in Judgment in the Exercise of their Office within Scotland".

History

In the past, other officers of state were included as senators, including the Lord Advocate,

Lord Clerk Register The office of Lord Clerk Register is the oldest surviving Great Officer of State in Scotland, with origins in the 13th century. It historically had important functions in relation to the maintenance and care of the public records of Scotland. To ...

Master of Requests Master of Requests, from the Latin Requestarum Magister, is an office that developed in several European systems of law and government in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. Holders of the title had the responsibility of presenting pe ...

and the Secretary of State.

List of senators

The Court of Session Act 1988, when enacted, limited the number of senators of the College of Justice (aside from the chairman of the

, who ranks as a senator) to 34.Court of Session Act 1988
s. 1
This was subsequently increased to 35 by The Maximum Number of Judges (Scotland) Order 2016, enacted by the Scottish Ministers. The current judges are as follows.

Inner House

The Lord President is the president of the First Division, and the Lord Justice Clerk is the president of the Second Division.

Outer House

Retired judges

There are also some retired judges who still sit occasionally in the Court of Session or the Court of Criminal Appeal to hear cases if needed when there is a shortage of available judges. They are also called senators of the College of Justice. As of 2022, 7 retired judges are available to sit as judges:

Notes

References

External links

Biographies of Senators
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senator Of The College Of Justice Judiciary of Scotland College of Justice Lists of judges in Scotland