William Cullen, Baron Cullen of Whitekirk

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William Douglas Cullen, Baron Cullen of Whitekirk , KT , PC , FRSE (born November 18, 1935 ) is a senior member of the Scottish judiciary . He was Lord Justice General and Lord President of the Court of Session , as well as a Lord of Appeal in the House of Lords until the transfer of these legal functions to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom .

life and career

William Douglas Cullen attended the High School of Dundee and the Universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh . He usually uses his middle name. He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1960 and was Standing Junior Counsel at Her Majesty's Customs and Excise from 1970 to 1973 . In 1973 he was appointed Queen's Counsel ( Queen's Counsel appointed) and was from 1978 to 1981 Advocate Depute .

From 1977 until his appointment as a judge in 1986 Cullen Chairman (was chairman ) of the Medical Appeal Tribunals . He was appointed Senator of the College of Justice , a Judge of the High Court of Justiciary and Court of Session as Lord Cullen in 1986. From 1987 to 1997 he was a member of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and since 1997 the Privy Council . From 1988 to 1990 he directed the public inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster and the 1996 shootings at Dunblane Primary School . From 1994 to 2001 he was the governor of St Margaret's School Edinburgh . Cullen served on the Napier University Committee from 1996 to 2005 .

In October 1999 he was named chairman of the Ladbroke Grove Rail Inquiry . He was Lord Justice Clerk and President of the Second Division of the Inner House from 1997 to 2001, after which he was appointed Lord Justice General and Lord President of the Court of Session . In 1995 he was chairman of a Review of Business of Outer House of Court of Session . He was a Chair of the Ladbroke Grove Rail Inquiry from 1999 to 2001 and Chair of the Review of Fatal Accident Inquiry Legislation from 2008 to 2009 .

In March 2002, Cullen headed the five-judge tribunal at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands that heard Abdel Basit Ali al-Megrahi's failed appeal against his conviction for the Lockerbie attacks.

On July 15, 2005, he announced his resignation with November 2005. On November 24, the Scottish Executive announced that Arthur Hamilton, Lord Hamilton , a member of the Inner House of the Court of Session, will succeed him as Lord Justice General and Lord President of the Court of Session.

Membership in the House of Lords

Cullen was born on 17 June 2003 Life peer as Baron Cullen of White Kirk of Kirk White in East Lothian appointed. On June 24, 2003, it was officially introduced at the House of Lords . The inaugural address in the House of Lords was given by the non-party Cullen, a so-called Crossbencher , on February 12, 2004.

He was one of five additional Lords of Appeal in the House of Lords. After February 7, 2005, he initially did not speak up. Until 2008 he was Lord of Appeal. He spoke there again on February 2, 2012. He has not yet participated in a vote (as of October 2012).

Cullen is only sporadically present on meeting days.

Later career

On June 25, 2005, he was elected President of the Saltire Society to succeed Stewart Sutherland, Baron Sutherland of Houndwood .

Since 2007, Cullen member of the Civil and Commercial Court of Qatar and Chairman ( Chairman ) of the Board of the Signet Accreditation Limited , and since 2000 president of the Scottish voluntary organization Sacro . Cullen is also a member of the Trustee of the Bute House Trust and the Buildings of Scotland Trust .

Honors

On November 30, 2007 it was announced that he would be named Knight of the Thistle . This was done in a ceremony in Edinburgh by Elizabeth II. On September 4, 2009, he became chancellor (July 2, 2008. Chancellor ) of the University of Abertay Dundee .

Cullen has received numerous honorary doctorates . He is an Honorary Doctor of Law (Hon LLD) from the University of Aberdeen (1992), the University of St Andrews (1997), the University of Dundee (2000), the University of Edinburgh (2000) and the Glasgow Caledonian University (also 2000) . In 1995, Heriot-Watt University honored him with an honorary doctorate from the university (Hon DUniv). He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh since 1993, an Honorary Fellow at the Royal Academy of Engineering since 1995, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh since 2006, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh since 2010 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Scottish judge heads train crash inquiry Article on BBC News, September 29, 2000
  2. ↑ Lockerbie bomber loses his appeal Article by Scotsman, March 14, 2002
  3. ↑ Lord Hamilton is new Lord President article in the Journal of the Law Society of Scotland, November 24, 2005
  4. ↑ House of Lords: Members 'expenses Members' expenses on the House of Lords website , accessed August 28, 2011
  5. ↑ Public honor for retired judge article on BBC News July 2, 2008
personal data
SURNAME Cullen, William, Baron Cullen of Whitekirk
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cullen, William Douglas, Baron Cullen of Whitekirk (full name); Cullen, Douglas, Baron Cullen of Whitekirk
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British judge and lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1935