Iain Bonomy, Lord Bonomy, (born 15 January 1946)
/ref> is a former

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 ...

, a judge of the

Supreme Courts In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, sitting in the

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 C ...

and the

Inner House The Inner House is the senior part of the Court of Session, the supreme civil court in Scotland; the Outer House forms the junior part of the Court of Session. It is a court of appeal and a court of first instance. The chief justice is th ...

of 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 ...

from 2010 to 2012. From 2004 to 2009, he was a Judge of the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

Early life

Born on 15 January 1946 in

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

, Bonomy attended

Dalziel High School Dalziel High School is a non-denominational secondary school in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Overview James K. Scobbie, Rector from 1957 until 1974, greatly enhanced the school's performance during his tenure. Since then, the school ...

and the

School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for bec ...

of 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 ...

, graduating

LL.B. 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 ...

in 1968. In 2006, he was awarded an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

by the university. He undertook his apprenticeship as a solicitor at

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; ), sometimes referred to as EK, is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland, and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. Historically a small village, it was designated Scotland's first "new town" on 6 Ma ...

Town Council between 1968 and 1970, before moving into practice with Ballantyne and Copland in Motherwell, rising to become a partner. In 1983, he left to begin

devilling Devilling is the custom of more senior self employed barristers/advocates making use of their junior’s services to complete briefs belonging to the more senior barrister/advocate, usually without the knowledge of the attorney. Not to be confuse ...

, and in 1984 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 ...

, gaining

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 ...

status in 1993. From 1990 to 1996, he served as an

Advocate Depute The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service () is the independent public prosecutor, prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by Charles III of the United Kingd ...

, and in 1996 served as senior counsel to the Dunblane Inquiry.

Judicial career

In 1997, he was appointed a

, a judge of the

and

, Scotland's

supreme courts In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, taking the judicial title, Lord Bonomy. He sat primarily on civil and criminal cases at first instance, although occasionally sat on appellate business. A tabloid newspaper nicknamed him "Judge Dread" when he jailed a

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

-dealer for ten years for failing within twenty-four hours to name his supplier.Scottish judge will oversee run-up to Karadzic trial in The Hague
/ref> In 2001, he led a review for the

Scottish Executive The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in t ...

of the Practices and Procedure of the High Court; the report, ''Improving Practice – the 2002 Review of the Practices and Procedures of the High Court of Justiciary'' was published in December 2002. In 2004, he was appointed to the

(ICTY), sitting as a judge on many high-profile cases, and presiding over the trial of former Serbian President

Milan Milutinović Milan Milutinović ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Милутиновић, ; 19 December 1942 – 2 July 2023) was a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 1997 to 2002. Milutinović served as Secretary for Education and Science of ...

. In August 2008, he was appointed to preside over preparations for the trial of captured former

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби Босне и Херцеговине, Srbi Bosne i Hercegovine), often referred to as Bosnian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, босански Срби, bosanski Srbi) or Herzegovinian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, � ...

leader

Radovan Karadžić Radovan Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb politician who was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal ...

. He resigned from the ICTY in 2009 for personal reasons, and was succeeded by

Howard Morrison Sir Howard Leslie Morrison (18 August 1935 – 24 September 2009) was a New Zealand entertainer. From 1964 until his death in 2009, he was one of New Zealand's leading television and concert performers. Morrison was also known for his active ...

. He was appointed to the

of the Court of Session on 16 August 2010 and appointed to the Privy Council in October 2010. He retired in 2012. He was appointed as chairman of the Infant Cremation Commission in April 2013, whose report was published in June 2014. On 6 February 2020 he was appointed as a Judge to the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT). The IRMCT is a small, temporary tribunal continuing the work of the ICTY and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonomy, Iain Living people 1949 births People from Motherwell People educated at Dalziel High School Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish solicitors Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Senators of the College of Justice Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia judges British judges of United Nations courts and tribunals