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Donald MacArthur Ross, Lord Ross, PC, FRSE (born 29 March 1927) is a former Lord Justice Clerk;[1] the second most senior judge in Scotland.

Personal life

He was born in Dundee and educated at the High School of Dundee and the University of Edinburgh. Lord Ross is married with two daughters and six grandchildren.

Career

He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates and became a King's Counsel in 1964. He has been Sheriff of Ayr and Bute (1972 to 1973),[2] Dean of the Faculty of Advocates (1973 to 1976),[3] and a Senator of the College of Justice on 17 November 1976.[4] He served as Lord Justice Clerk[5] from 1985 until 1997.

Ross also received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1988[6]

In 1990 and 1991 he was Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. He is an elder at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh.

In 1997-2001 was Chairman of the Judicial Studies Committee for Scotland. He became a Privy Counsellor in 1985 and was elected fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1988, where he was Vice-President from 1999 until 2002. He is currently the Honorary President of The Dundee High School Old Boys' Club.

He sentenced paedophile Bill Kelly, who pleaded guilty to 14 charges of indecent sexual assault on children, to a custodial sentence of 12 months as he deemed the victims to "not have suffered long term damage".[7]

References

  1. ^ Robertson, Lynne (13 February 1997). "Lord Ross warns that judges should stay out of politics Unease over crime speech". The Herald. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  2. ^ "SHERIFFS (SCOTLAND)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 21 May 1974. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  3. ^ 'ROSS, Rt Hon. Lord', Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 Retrieved 18 Oct 2017
  4. ^ "Page 1621 | Issue 19991, 3 December 1976 | Edinburgh Gazette | the Gazette".
  5. ^ "Hep' C victims 'should get cash'". BBC News. 6 November 2002. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  6. ^ "Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates". www1.hw.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  7. ^ "Football abuse victim claims he was trafficked from Scotland to paedophile Barry Bennell". Channel 4 News. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
Legal offices Preceded byLord Wheatley Lord Justice Clerk 1985–1997 Succeeded byLord Cullen


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