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Brian Gill, Lord Gill

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The Right Honourable
Lord Gill
Gill in 2015
Lord President of the Court of Session
Lord Justice General
In office
8 June 2012 – 31 May 2015
Appointed byElizabeth II
DeputyLord Carloway
Preceded byLord Hamilton
Succeeded byLord Carloway
Lord Justice Clerk
In office
November 2001 – 8 June 2012
Appointed byElizabeth II
Preceded byLord Cullen
Succeeded byLord Carloway
Personal details
Born (1942-02-25) 25 February 1942 (age 82)
Glasgow, Scotland
SpouseCatherine Fox
Alma mater
ProfessionAdvocate

Brian Gill, Lord Gill, PC KSG FRSE FRSAMD FRSCM (born 25 February 1942) is a retired Scottish judge and legal academic. He served three years as Lord President and Lord Justice General from 2012 until 2015. Lord 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. He is the author of several works including Agricultural Tenancies, and is general editor of The Scottish Planning Encyclopedia. In 2007–2009, Lord 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

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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.

Career

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As advocate

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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. 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. From 1987 to 1994 he was Keeper of the Advocates' Library and a Trustee of the National Library of Scotland.

As Judge

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Gill was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice in 1994, and was Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission from 1996 until 2001.[5] 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.[5]

In 2005 he applied for the Lord President's position but, controversially, was not appointed. The appointments panel included Lord Hope of Craighead and Sir David Edward.[6] Instead, the panel recommended another candidate, Lord Hamilton, who was duly appointed on 2 December 2005. Within a short time of the appointment, Lord Hamilton was admitted to the Priory Hospital in Glasgow. By 13 June 2006 the Senior Judiciary (Vacancies and Incapacity) (Scotland) Act 2006 was introduced in Bill form so as to enable the Lord President's functions to be passed to the Lord Justice Clerk so that business of the Lord President could be transacted in any further periods of absence. Lord Hamilton's return to work averted an activation of the statutory provisions.

On 11 May 2004 a disastrous explosion at the Stocklines plastics factory in Glasgow occurred. Lord Gill conducted a public inquiry into the accident. He was appointed on 21 January 2008 and reported in July 2009.[7] He was tasked to ascertain the likely causes of the event and to make recommendations to avoid a recurrence elsewhere. He proposed a new safety regime for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) installations.

In June 2012 Lord Gill again applied for the position of Lord President and was appointed.[8] The nomination to the Queen was made by First Minister Alex Salmond who described him as "of great stature and integrity".[9] He was the first Roman Catholic to be appointed to the position of Lord President.[10] Lord Gill retired in May 2015.[11] Since then he has sat on occasion as an acting judge of the United Kingdom Supreme Court.

After the Bench

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Between September 2017 and September 2020 Lord Gill served as a Judicial Commissioner with the Investigatory Powers Commissioner's Office (IPCO) in the exercise of its functions under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.[12][13]

Selected publications

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Crime of fraud: a comparative study Brian Gill (1975)[14]

The Laws of Scotland: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia, title The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland Brian Gill, Raymond J Doherty (1991)[15]

Agricultural Holdings Styles Lord Gill, Alasdair G. Fox (1997)[16]

The Organs of St Columba’s Brian Gill (1998)

The relationship between the Scottish Law Commission and the Scottish Parliament The Hon Lord Gill  (2000)[17]

The Scottish Law Commission – its contribution since devolution The Hon Lord Gill (2001)[18]

An Introduction to the Recording of Church Organs Brian Gill (2011)[19]

The Scottish Planning Encyclopedia edited by The Hon Lord Gill, assisted by Malcolm Thomson, QC (5 volumes Looseleaf)[20]

Two Questions in the Law of Leases Lord Gill at 255 – 278 in Essays in Conveyancing and Property Law in Honour of Professor Robert Rennie (editors Frankie McCarthy, James Chalmers, Stephen Bogle) (2015)[21]

Agricultural Tenancies (4th edition) The Rt Hon. Lord Gill (2016) 2 volumes [22] This book in 2017 won an award for excellence from the Comité Européen de Droit Rural/European Council for Rural Law (CEDR).[23]

Law Library donation

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In July 2019 Lord Gill donated to the Scottish Land Court his extensive collection of agricultural texts and specialist law reports.[24]

Roman Catholic honours and service

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Lord Gill is a Knight of the Pontifical Order of Saint Gregory the Great.[25] The honour was awarded in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI.[26] He is a Patron and life member of the Latin Mass Society,[27] Honorary President of Una Voce Scotland and a former Counsellor of the International Federation Una Voce.[28][29]

Music honours and service

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Lord Gill was Chairman of the Royal School of Church Music Council 2010 - 2018 and became a Fellow in 2018.[30] He was for thirty years Organist and Choirmaster of St Columba’s Roman Catholic Church.[31] He was Governor and Chairman of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama of which he is a Fellow, and from which he received an Honorary Doctorate.[32] He is a Fellow of the Guild of Church Musicians.[33]

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Lord Gill 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.).[11] His name is displayed in the Hall of the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow as being an Honorary Member of the Faculty. Lord Gill is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2004).[34] He is an Elected Life Member of the American Law Institute,[35] and a Fellow of the Society of Writers to the Signet.[36] He is an Honorary Bencher of Lincoln's Inn and of King's Inns, Dublin.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Radical Civil Law Reform Proposed". BBC News. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
  2. ^ "Two new men take the legal helm". HeraldScotland. 14 November 2001. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  3. ^ Findlay, Russell (10 March 2013). "Scotland's top judge summoned to appear before MSPs after trying to block register of interests". Daily Record. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  4. ^ Brian, Gill (1975). "Crime of fraud: a comparative study". hdl:1842/20529. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ a b "Scottish Judicial Appointments". 10 Downing Street. 13 November 2001. Archived from the original on 1 November 2006. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  6. ^ Ian Mitchell The Justice Factory (2013) printed by Amazon, at Chapter 8
  7. ^ ICL Inquiry Report Explosion at Grovepark Mills, Glasgow, July 2009, HC 838 SG/2009/129 The Stationery Office (TSO), Edinburgh.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a75a817ed915d506ee807db/0838.pdf Retrieved 27 September 2024
  8. ^ "Scotland's longest-serving judge is appointed as Lord President". The Herald. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Lord Gill named as new Lord President". BBC News. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  10. ^ First Catholic to become Scotland's most senior judge to retire  Daniel Harkins 7 May 2015 online Scottish Catholic Observer News. https://sconews.co.uk/news/45011/first-catholic-to-become-scotlands-most-senior-judge-to-retire/ Retrieved 27 September 2024
  11. ^ a b "Scotland's most senior judge Lord Gill to retire". The Herald. Glasgow. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  12. ^ "Judicial Commissioners - IPCO". www.ipco.org.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  13. ^ "PM approves appointment of new Judicial Commissioners". GOV.UK. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  14. ^ Annexe Thesis Digitisation Project 2016 Block 8, Edinburgh Research Archive University of Edinburgh
  15. ^ A LexisNexis/Law Society of Scotland joint publication ISBN 9780406048493
  16. ^ published by W. Green ISBN 9780414012400
  17. ^ Scottish Parliament Law Review 6 (May) 4-5
  18. ^ Scottish Parliament Law Review 12 (Feb) 5-6
  19. ^ Published by the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies, Scotland and Northern Ireland (NADFAS)
  20. ^ published Sweet & Maxwell ISBN 9780414011502
  21. ^ Open Book Publishers https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0056 Retrieved 22 September 2024
  22. ^ published W. Green, Sweet & Maxwell ISBN 9780414015012
  23. ^ "Lord Gill | Falcon Chambers". www.falcon-chambers.com. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  24. ^ "Lord Gill donates his agricultural law library to Scottish Land Court". Scottish Legal News. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  25. ^ "Lists of Members". Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  26. ^ "First Catholic to become Scotland's most senior judge to retire - SCO News". sconews.co.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  27. ^ Latin Mass Society Chairman's blog Monday, February 20, 2012 "Patrons for the Latin Mass Society" http://www.lmschairman.org/2012/02/?m=1 Retrieved 23 September 2024
  28. ^ 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/
  29. ^ 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)
  30. ^ RSCM Honorary Awards 1936-2023, compiled by Dr John Henderson FRSCM, Hon Librarian RSCM, 27th October 2023 at page 7. https://www.rscm.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/RSCM-Honorary-Awards-to-2023-updated-August-2024.pdf Retrieved 22 September 2024
  31. ^ Guild of Church Musicians magazine, Laudate, September 2018 at page 16 https://guildofchurchmusicians.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Laudate-96-Sep-2018.pdf Retrieved 22 September 2024
  32. ^ 2008/9 signed accounts of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama https://royal-cons-scotland-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/03/2008-09-signed-accounts.pdf Retrieved 21 September 2024
  33. ^ "Guild of Church Musicians awards presentation". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  34. ^ "Rt Hon Lord Brian Gill". Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  35. ^ Elected Life Membership 187139 https://www.ali.org/members/member/187139/ Retrieved 21 September 2024
  36. ^ "Fellows". The WS Society. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
Legal offices
Preceded by Lord Justice Clerk
2011–2012 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord President of the Court of Session
and Lord Justice General
2012–2015 		Succeeded by
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