The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the

College of Justice The College of Justice () includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies. The constituent bodies of the national supreme courts are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Office of the Accountant of Court, ...

, a set of legal institutions involved in the

administration of justice The administration of justice is the process by which the legal system of a government is executed. The presumed goal of such an administration is to provide justice for all those accessing the legal system. Australia In ''Attorney General for ...

in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges 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 ...

); Lords Commissioners of Justiciary (judges of 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 Chairman of the

Scottish Land Court The Scottish Land Court () is a Courts of Scotland, Scottish court of law based in Edinburgh with subject-matter jurisdiction covering disputes between landlords and tenants relating to Tenant farmer, agricultural tenancies, and matters relat ...

. 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

judicial courtesy title A courtesy title is a form of address and/or reference in the British system of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer, as well as certain officials such as some judges and members of the Scottish gentry. Thes ...

of ''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 Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

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

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

'', before their titles, while those who are also

privy counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

s or peers have the honorific, ''

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

''. Senators are made privy counsellors upon promotion to 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 ...

, the senior part of the Court of Session. 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

Henry Lauder, Lord St Germains, King's Advocate, was one of the nine advocates appointed at the institution of the College of Justice. Originally, some officers of state were included as senators, including the

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

Lord Clerk Register The office of Lord Clerk Register (Scottish Gaelic: ''Clàr Morair Clèireach'') is the oldest remaining Great Officer of State in Scotland, with origins in the 13th century. It historically had important functions in relation to the maintenanc ...

, Master of Requests 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 24.Court of Session Act 1988
s. 1
This was subsequently increased to 25 in 1991, 27 in 1993, 32 in 1999, 34 in 2004, 35 in 2016, and most recently 36 by The Maximum Number of Judges (Scotland) Order 2022. 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

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:

References

External links

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