British advocate
James Peter Hymers Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern
,
KT
,
PC
,
FRSE
(born 2 July 1927)
[1]
is a British lawyer. He served as
Dean of the Faculty of Advocates
,
Lord Advocate
, and
Lord Chancellor
(1987–1997). He is a former active member of the
House of Lords
, where he sat as a
Conservative
. He retired from the House on 22 July 2022.
[2]
Early life and education
[
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]
Mackay was born in
Edinburgh
on 2 July 1927. He won a scholarship to
George Heriot's School
,
[3]
and then studied mathematics and physics at the
University of Edinburgh
, receiving a joint MA in 1948.
[1]
He taught mathematics for two years at the
University of St Andrews
before moving to
Trinity College, Cambridge
, on a scholarship, from which he obtained a BA in mathematics in 1952.
[1]
He then returned to Edinburgh University where he studied law, receiving an LLB (with distinction) in 1955.
[1]
Career
[
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]
Mackay was elected to the
Faculty of Advocates
in 1955. He was appointed a
Queen's Counsel
in 1965.
[1]
He was Sheriff Principal for Renfrew and Argyll from 1972 to 1974.
[1]
In 1973 he became Vice-Dean of the Faculty on Advocates and from 1976 until 1979 served as its
Dean
, the leader of the Scots bar.
[1]
In 1979, Mackay was appointed
Lord Advocate
, the senior law officer in Scotland, and was created a
life peer
as
Baron Mackay of Clashfern
, of
Eddrachillis
in the District of Sutherland, taking his
territorial designation
from his father's birthplace, a cottage beside
Loch na Claise Fearna
.
[4]
After his retirement, Mackay sat in the House of Lords. He was also Commissary to the University of Cambridge until 2016. He is the editor-in-chief of
Halsbury's Laws of England
, the major legal work which states the law of England, first published in 1907; the post is usually held by a former Lord Chancellor.
[5]
He is also a senior fellow of
The Trinity Forum
, a Christian nonprofit organisation that supports the renewal of society through the development of leaders.
Family and religion
[
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]
Mackay is the son of
railway signalman
James Mackay (who came from Claisfearn near
Tarbet
in
Sutherland
) and his wife Janet Hymers.
[1]
Mackay married Elizabeth Gunn Hymers, of
Halkirk
, in 1958. They have a son, James and two daughters, Elizabeth and Shona.
[6]
Mackay was raised a member of the
Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland
; as an adult he was an
elder
of the church.
[1]
The church forbids its members to attend
Catholic
religious services; nevertheless Mackay attended two Catholic
funeral masses
for members of the judiciary (for
Charles Ritchie Russell
in 1986,
[4]
and again for
John Wheatley
in 1988).
[1]
Following the second mass Mackay was called before a church synod where he denied that he had broken the church's prohibition of showing "support for the doctrine of Catholicism", saying "I went there purely with the purpose of paying my respects to my dead colleagues."
[7]
The church suspended Mackay from the eldership and from membership.
[1]
The synod met again in Glasgow in 1989 to review the decision; the meeting asked Mackay to undertake not to attend further Catholic services, but he announced "I have no intention of giving any such undertaking as that for which the synod has asked",
[8]
and later withdrew from the church. The dispute precipitated a schism, leading to the formation of the
Associated Presbyterian Churches
. Mackay did not join the new communion, but as of 1993
[update]
worshipped with their Inverness congregation.
[4]
As a Presbyterian, Mackay was a firm believer in moderation. At a gathering for the
Faculty of Advocates
, Mackay had laid on a spread of tea and toast, complete with a tiny pot of honey. One of the lawyers in attendance contemplated the pot and remarked, "I see your Lordship keeps a bee."
[9]
[10]
Mackay is also the Honorary President of the
Scottish Bible Society
.
[11]
He supported the society's programme to send a Bible to every court in Scotland
[11]
and wrote in support of "The Bible in Scots Law", a pamphlet it distributed to Scottish lawyers which described the Bible as a "foundational source book for Scotland's legal system".
[12]
He is a strict
sabbatarian
, refusing to work or travel on a Sunday, or even to give an interview if there is a chance it could be rebroadcast on the sabbath.
[4]
Honours and arms
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]
Styles of
The Lord Mackay of Clashfern
|
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|
Reference style
| His Lordship
|
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Spoken style
| Your Lordship
|
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Alternative style
| Sir
|
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Mackay was appointed a
Knight of the Thistle
by
Queen Elizabeth II
on 27 November 1997.
[13]
In 2007 the Queen appointed him to the office of
Lord Clerk Register
, replacing
David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss
.
[14]
He retired from this office in November 2022, and was succeeded by
Lady Elish Angiolini
.
[15]
He became a fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
in 1984.
[16]
In 1989, he was elected honorary fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge
.
[17]
He received an honorary doctorate from
Heriot-Watt University
in 1990.
[18]
He was awarded an honorary degree (Doctor of Laws) by the
University of Bath
in 1994
[19]
and by
Northumbria University
in 2017.
[20]
Coat of arms of James Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern
|
- Coronet
- Coronet of a Baron
- Crest
- A Dexter Arm couped at the Elbow proper the hand grasping a Pair of Balances Or
- Escutcheon
- Azure on a Chevron Argent between two Bears' Heads couped Argent muzzled Gules in chief and a Fleece Argent in base a Roebuck's Head erased between two Hands grasping Daggers the points turned towards the buck's head all proper
- Supporters
- Dexter: a Male Figure attired in the Robes of the Lord High Chancellor; Sinister: a Male Figure attired in the Robes of one of Her Majesty's Counsel learned in the Law in Scotland proper
- Motto
- Manu Justi
(With the hand of a just man)
[21]
- Orders
- Order of the Thistle
|
References
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External links
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