The Stair Society is a

learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

devoted to the study of

Scots law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

. It was instituted in 1934 "to encourage the study and to advance the knowledge of the history of Scots Law," and is named after

James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount Stair (May 1619 – 29 November 1695) was a Scottish lawyer and statesman, and a key influence on the Scottish Enlightenment. He was a leading figure of Scottish law, "and also one of the greatest thinkers on ...

, the seventeenth century

Lord President of the Court of Session The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General () is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. ...

considered the most important of Scots Law's Institutional Writers. It can compared to the

Selden Society The Selden Society is a learned society and registered charity concerned with the study of English legal history. It functions primarily as a text publication society, but also undertakes other activities to promote scholarship within its sphere ...

, an organisation devoted to the study of English legal history.

Society

The Society has around three hundred and thirty five members from Scotland and around the world. The Society holds an

annual general meeting An annual general meeting (AGM, also known as the annual meeting) is a meeting of the general membership of an organization. These organizations include membership associations and companies with shareholders. These meetings may be required ...

in November, which includes a guest lecture. Recent distinguished figures to have addressed the Society included Alan Watson, Rogers Professor at the

University of Georgia School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a Public university, public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it one of the oldest American university law ...

, and John H. Langbein, Sterling Professor of Law and Legal History at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

. The Society is run by a Council, chaired by John Ford, Professor of Civil Law at the University of Aberdeen School of Law. The President of the Society is Lady Wolffe. As part of its aim of furthering study Scots legal history, the Stair Society produces printed and electronic publications, specifically an annual volume along with occasional other publications. The Society's Literary Director is Mark Godfrey, Professor of Legal History at the

University of Glasgow School of Law The School of Law at the University of Glasgow provides undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Law, and awards the degrees of Bachelor of Laws (''Legum Baccalaureus'', LLB), Master of Laws (''Iuris Vtriusque Magistrum'', LLM), LLM by Researc ...

. The Society previously provided a postgraduate scholarship to support someone undertaking doctoral research in Scots legal history. The scholarship has had one successful graduate, Dr Thomas Green, who is now a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen School of Law. The programme is currently suspended.

Viscount Stair

James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair, generally known as Viscount Stair, was an important political figure in seventeenth century Scotland and served as

from 1671 to 1681 and 1689 to 1695. The first edition of his "''Institutions of the Law of Scotland''", an account of the

private law Private law is that part of a legal system that governs interactions between individual persons. It is distinguished from public law, which deals with relationships between both natural and artificial persons (i.e., organizations) and the st ...

of Scotland according to the judgements 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 ...

, was published in 1681, and the work is now considered the foundation of modern Scots law.

References

External links

Stair Society
{{Authority control 1934 establishments in Scotland Charities based in Scotland Learned societies of Scotland Text publication societies Legal organisations based in Scotland Legal history of Scotland Organizations established in 1934 Organisations based in East Lothian

Society

Viscount Stair

See also

References

External links