Donald Mackay, Baron Mackay of Drumadoon

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Donald Sage Mackay, Baron Mackay of Drumadoon , PC , QC ( January 30, 1946 - August 21, 2018 ) was a British judge on the Supreme Court of Scotland and a former Lord Advocate , the country's highest-ranking law officer . He was one of five additional Lords of Appeal in the House of Lords .

life and career

Mackay was born in 1946 to Rev. Donald George Mackintosh Mackay and Jean Margaret Mackay. His brother is the journalist Alan Mackay. He attended the independent George Watson's College in Edinburgh . He studied at the School of Law of the University of Edinburgh ( LL.B. and LLM ) and at the School of Law of the University of Virginia .

From 1969 to 1971 he was a trainee solicitor at Davidson & Syme CS Edinburgh . He was admitted as a Solicitor in 1971 and practiced with Allan McDougall & Company for 5 years before being admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1976 . From 1982 to 1985 he was an Advocate Depute , a Prosecutor in the High Court and in 1987 he became Crown Attorney for Scotland .

From 1988 to 1992 he was Temporary Sheriff and from 1989 to 1995 he was a member of the Board of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority .

In 1995 he replaced Thomas Dawson, Lord Dawson as Solicitor General for Scotland when he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Scotland , later that year he succeeded Alan Rodger, Baron Rodger of Earlsferry as Lord Advocate , as Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General .

Membership in the House of Lords

Mackay was named Life Peer as Baron Mackay of Drumadoon, of Blackwaterfoot in the District of Cunninghame on December 13, 1995 , and became a member of the Privy Council in 1996 .

From 1995 to 1997 he was Government Spokesperson for Legal Affairs and for Home and Scottish Affairs. From 1997 to 2000 he was responsible for internal affairs. From 1997 to 1999 he was with the Lord Advocate's Department .

Before the Scottish devolution in 1999, the Lord Advocate was a political appointment, so after the Tories were defeated in the 1997 general election, Mackay was replaced by Andrew Hardie, Baron Hardie of the Labor Party . Between May 1997 and March 2000 he combined his role as Senior Counsel with an active role in the House of Lords as opposition spokesman on Scotland and constitutional issues.

As a senior judge, he was disqualified from participation.

  • Session period April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002: 14 days
  • Session period April 1, 2002 to March 31, 2003: 12 days
  • Session period April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2004: 13 days
  • Session period April 1, 2004 to March 31, 2005: 10 days
  • Session period April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006: 5 days
  • Session period April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007: 8 days
  • Session period April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008: 11 days
  • Session period April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009: 10 days
  • Session period April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010: 5 days
  • Session period April 1, 2010 to June 30, 2010: no details of days
  • Session period July 1, 2010 to September 30, 2010: no details of days
  • Session period October 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010: no details of days
  • Meeting period January 1, 2011 to March 31, 2011: no details of days

In the period up to his disqualification in 2009, he was sporadically present on meeting days.

Mackay was appointed Judge of the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary , Scotland's highest court , in March 2000 . Mackay was also one of five members of the House of Lords, with the twelve Lords of Appeal in Ordinary authorized to form the body of the House dealing with legal matters under pp. 5 & 25 of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 . In October 2009 the legal functions of the House of Lords were transferred to the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom under Part 3 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 , with the twelve Lords of Appeal in Ordinary as the first judges. During ss. 38 and 39 other judges were allowed to belong to this, Mackay was excluded by his position as acting judge of the Outer House of the Court of Session of both.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b New Judge Appointments Publication on the Scottish Government website, March 14, 2000
  2. ^ House of Lords: Members 'expenses Members' expenses on the House of Lords website ; Retrieved December 10, 2012