Ranald Norman Munro MacLean, Lord MacLean (born 18 December 1938) is a retired

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. Born on 18 December 1938, MacLean was educated at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, where he was Head of School. He graduated BA from

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Iris ...

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from 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

LLM A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. 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 constit ...

in 1964, MacLean served as an

Advocate Depute The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by His Majesty's Lord Advocate, who under the ...

from 1972–1975 and was the Home Advocate Depute from 1979–1982. He was appointed

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 or ...

(QC) in 1977. MacLean was appointed a

Senator of the College of Justice 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); ...

in 1990, serving until 2005. He has been a member of various bodies, including the

Scottish Legal Aid Board The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, responsible for managing legal aid. It was established in April 1987, under the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986, taking over functions p ...

, the Council on Tribunals, the Parole Board for Scotland, the Secretary of State's Criminal Justice Forum and the Stewart Committee on Alternatives to Prosecution. He was Chairman of a committee established by the

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for ...

to review the sentencing and treatment of serious sexual and violent offenders including those with

personality disorder Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the individual's cultur ...

s in 1999. He also chaired the inquiry into the death of loyalist leader Billy Wright in the

Maze Prison Her Majesty's Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as The Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house alleged paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to Sep ...

(se
The Billy Wright Inquiry
. MacLean is a former member of the

Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for making recommendations on appointments to certain offices of the judiciary of Scotland. It was established in ...

, and, with two other judges and five lay members, is responsible for selecting all new Scottish judges and

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

s. He has been chairman of the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

s of

since 1996, and was chairman of the council of the

Cockburn Association The Cockburn Association (Edinburgh's Civic Trust) is one of the world's oldest architectural conservation and urban planning monitoring organisations, founded in 1875. The Scottish judge Henry Cockburn (1779–1854) was a prominent campaigner t ...

from 1988–1996.

Lockerbie

MacLean was one of the judges who presided at the

Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, 11 years, 4 months and 13 days after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988. The 36-week bench trial took place at a specially convened Scottish Court in the Netherlands se ...

. Although the conviction of

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Tripoli, Kingdom of Libya , death_date = , death_place = Tripoli, Libya , cause = Prostate cancer , nationality = Libyan , race = Arab , ...

at the trial was widely criticised, MacLean believes the verdict was right. ''"I have no doubt, on the evidence we heard, that the judgments we made and the verdicts we reached were correct"'', he told ''The Scotsman'' newspaper on 31 January 2006. As for Megrahi's application to the

Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, established by the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (as amended by the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act ...

(SCCRC), MacLean believes that the SCCRC will refer the case back for further appeal: ''"They can't be working for two years without producing something with which to go to the court"'', he suggested to ''The Scotsman''. ''"But it depends upon what the bases are for a fresh appeal, but I wouldn't have a problem with that."''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, Ranald Maclean, Lord Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People educated at Fettes College Maclean Living people Scottish King's Counsel Members of the Faculty of Advocates 20th-century King's Counsel 1938 births Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom