Brian Gill, Lord Gill Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
Lord Gill
Office:Lord President of the Court of Session
Lord Justice General
Term Start:8 June 2012
Term End:31 May 2015
Deputy:Lord Carloway
Predecessor:Lord Hamilton
Successor:Lord Carloway
Appointer:Elizabeth II
Office2:Lord Justice Clerk
Term Start2:November 2001
Term End2:8 June 2012
Appointer2:Elizabeth II
Predecessor2:Lord Cullen
Successor2:Lord Carloway
Birth Date:25 February 1942
Birth Place:Glasgow, Scotland
Spouse:Catherine Fox
Profession:Advocate

Brian Gill, Lord Gill, KSG (born 25 February 1942) is a retired Scottish judge and legal academic. He served as Lord President and Lord Justice General from June 2012 until May 2015. Gill previously served as Lord Justice Clerk from 2001 to 2012, and as Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission from 1996 to 2001. As an advocate, he practised principally in agricultural law and is the author of The Law of Agricultural Holdings in Scotland. In 2007–2009, Gill undertook a far-reaching review of the civil courts system in Scotland,[1] recommending a shift of much of the workload of the Court of Session to Scotland's local sheriff courts.

Education

Gill was born in Riddrie, in northeast Glasgow, and educated at St Aloysius' College, an independent Jesuit school in the city.[2] [3] He studied at the School of Law of the University of Glasgow (M.A., LL.B.), where he was a member of the Glasgow University Union and Dialectic Society, and at Edinburgh where he gained his PhD in 1975[4] and lectured in the Faculty of Law from 1964 until 1977. He was awarded Honorary Degrees by Glasgow University in 1998 (LL.D.), Edinburgh University in 2007, and the University of Abertay, Dundee, in 2008 (LL.D.).[5]

Career

He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1967 and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1981. He was called to the English Bar (Lincoln's Inn) in 1991. Lord Gill was an Advocate Depute from 1977 to 1979, and standing Junior Counsel to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1974–77), the Home Office (1979–81) and the Scottish Education Department (1979–81). He has been a member of the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Scottish Valuation Advisory Council and Deputy Chairman of the Copyright Tribunal. Gill was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice in 1994, and was Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission from 1996 until 2001.[6] Lord Gill was appointed Lord Justice Clerk and President of the Second Division of the Inner House of the Court of Session in November 2001.[6]

From 1987 to 1994 he was Keeper of the Advocates' Library and a Trustee of the National Library of Scotland. He is the author of The Law of Agricultural Holdings in Scotland.

He retired as Lord President in May 2015.[5] Since then he has sat on occasion as an acting judge of the United Kingdom Supreme Court.

Roman Catholic honours and service

Lord Gill is a Knight of the Pontifical Order of Saint Gregory the Great.[7] He is Patron and life member of the Latin Mass Society, Honorary President of Una Voce Scotland and a former Counsellor of the International Federation Una Voce.[8] [9]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Radical Civil Law Reform Proposed . 30 September 2009 . . 30 September 2009.
  2. "Two new men take the legal helm". HeraldScotland. 14 November 2001. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  3. Web site: Findlay . Russell . 2013-03-10 . Scotland's top judge summoned to appear before MSPs after trying to block register of interests . 2023-09-26 . Daily Record . en.
  4. Brian. Gill. 1975. Crime of fraud: a comparative study. 1842/20529. en.
  5. News: Scotland's most senior judge Lord Gill to retire . . Glasgow . 7 May 2015 . 30 July 2016.
  6. Web site: Scottish Judicial Appointments . 13 November 2001. . 29 August 2012 . http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20061101012618/number10.gov.uk/page2750 . 1 November 2006.
  7. Web site: 2021-08-03 . Lists of Members . 2024-08-13 . Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain . en-GB.
  8. THE LITURGICAL AFTERMATH OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL The Right Honorable Lord Gill in Issue 7 (2019) Gregorius Magnus https://latinmasssociety.org.nz/tag/vatican-ii/
  9. Afterword by The Right Hon Lord Gill at page 361 in UNA VOCE The History of the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce 1964-2003 Leo Darroch, Gracewing Ltd (2019)