Craig Robert Kindness Sandison, Lord Sandison (born 30 May 1966) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

judge who has been 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 ...

since 2021.

Career

Sandison graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 1989, with a

Bachelor of Laws 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 ...

degree and then 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 ...

with a Diploma in Legal Practice. He obtained a Diploma in

Forensic Medicine Forensic medicine is a broad term used to describe a group of medical specialties which deal with the examination and diagnosis of individuals who have been injured by or who have died because of external or unnatural causes such as poisoning, assa ...

from the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. Sandison obtained a master's degree in 1991 and a PhD in 1994, both from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He trained with Scottish

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

's firm Brodies before becoming an

Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

at 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 1996. He became a

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 ...

in 2009. It was announced on 4 February 2021 that Sandison had been appointed as a Senator of the College of Justice. He was installed as a Senator of the College of Justice at a ceremony in the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

on 23 February 2021, taking the judicial title of Lord Sandison. Sandison acted for '' Wings Over Scotland'' blogger Stuart Campbell in his defamation action against former

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party (UK), Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and Unionism in the United Kingdom, unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Sco ...

leader and

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

Kezia Dugdale Kezia Alexandra Ross Dugdale (born 28 August 1981) is a Scottish former politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2015 to 2017. A former member of the Scottish Labour Party and Co-operative Party, she was a Member of th ...

, over a newspaper column she had written. This was the first case to ever be heard by the Inner House of the

virtually and was done so in the wake of the widespread restrictions imposed in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

."Virtual court hears Kezia Dugdale defamation appeal"

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 21 April 2020

References

External links

"The Hon Lord Sandison (Craig Sandison)"
at the Judiciary of Scotland
"Craig Sandison QC CV"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandison, Craig Scottish King's Counsel Living people Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Glasgow Members of the Faculty of Advocates 20th-century Scottish lawyers 21st-century Scottish lawyers Senators of the College of Justice 1966 births