David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead

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The Lord Hope of Craighead
Convenor of the Crossbench Peers
In office
28 September 2015 – September 2019
Preceded byThe Lord Laming
Succeeded byThe Lord Judge
Deputy President of the
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
In office
1 October 2009 – 26 June 2013
Nominated byJack Straw
Appointed byElizabeth II
PresidentThe Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers
Preceded byPosition created
Succeeded byThe Baroness Hale of Richmond
Second Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
In office
21 April 2009 – 1 October 2009
Preceded byThe Lord Hoffmann
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
In office
1 October 1996 – 1 October 2009
Preceded byThe Lord Keith of Kinkel
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Lord Justice General
Lord President of the Court of Session
In office
1989–1996
Preceded byThe Lord Emslie
Succeeded byThe Lord Rodger of Earlsferry
Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde
In office
1998–2013
DeputySir Jim McDonald
Succeeded byThe Lord Smith of Kelvin
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
28 February 1995
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born
James Arthur David Hope

(1938-06-27) 27 June 1938 (age 85)
NationalityBritish
Political partyCrossbencher
SpouseKatharine Mary Kerr
ResidenceEdinburgh
Alma materSt John's College, Cambridge;
University of Edinburgh
ProfessionAdvocate
Military service
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1957–59
RankLieutenant
UnitSeaforth Highlanders

James Arthur David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead, KT, PC, FRSE (born 27 June 1938) is a retired Scottish judge who served as the Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General, Scotland's most senior judge, and later as first Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2009 until his retirement in 2013. He had previously been the Second Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. He served as Convenor of the Crossbench peers in the House of Lords from 2015 to 2019.[1] From October 2015 to December 2023 and continuing, Lord Hope served as remunerated Chief Justice of Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts.[2] [3]

Early life[edit]

A descendant of Charles Hope, Lord Granton, Lord President of the Court of Session from 1811 to 1841, through his third son,[4] David Hope was born on 27 June 1938 to Edinburgh lawyer Arthur Henry Cecil Hope, OBE, WS and Muriel Ann Neilson Hope (née Collie).[5] He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and Rugby School. He completed National Service as an officer with the Seaforth Highlanders, between 1957 and 1959, where he reached the rank of lieutenant.[5][6][7] In 1959 he commenced his studies as an Open Scholar at St John's College, Cambridge where he read Classics. He graduated with a B.A. degree in 1962.[8] He then returned to Scotland and studied at the Faculty of Law of the University of Edinburgh, graduating LL.B. in 1965.[5]

In 1966, Hope married Katharine Mary Kerr, daughter of solicitor Mark Kerr WS, with whom he has twin sons and a daughter.[5]

Hope was admitted as an advocate in 1965 and became a Queen's Counsel in 1978.[9] He served as Standing Junior Counsel in Scotland to the Board of the Inland Revenue from 1974 to 1978, and as an Advocate Depute from 1978 to 1982, prosecuting cases on behalf of the Crown. Between 1985 and 1986, he was Chairman of the Medical Appeal Tribunal and the Pensions Appeal Tribunal. From 1986 to 1989 he was Dean of the Faculty of Advocates.

The Bench and later public life[edit]

In 1989, Hope became a Senator of the College of Justice, taking the judicial title Lord Hope, and was appointed directly from the practising Bar to the offices of Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General. He was made a Privy Counsellor at this time, and was awarded a life peerage in the 1995 New Year Honours.[10] His title was gazetted as Baron Hope of Craighead, of Bamff in the District of Perth and Kinross on 28 February 1995.[11] In 1996, Lord Hope retired as Lord President to become a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary,[12] and was succeeded by Lord Rodger of Earlsferry. On 21 April 2009, he was appointed Second Senior Law Lord, succeeding Lord Hoffmann.[13] On 1 October 2009, Hope became one of the first Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and its first Deputy President. He retired from that position on 26 June 2013.

In November 2014 it was announced that Lord Hope would be appointed as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2015.[14]

Lord Hope's Historical Archives[edit]

In November 2014, Lord Hope donated to the National Library of Scotland 16 boxes containing 90 files spanning the period 1953 - 2014.[15] Access to all these documents is unrestricted. The Inventory references: 1-79 Professional Papers (1-46 Advocate’s Opinions, 1978-1989; 47-55 Dean of Faculty Notes and Draft Letters, 1986-1989; 56-78 Judicial Opinions, 1989-1994; 79 Financial Papers, 1965-1989); 80 Personal Papers, 1959-1962; 81-90 Ephemera, 1953-2014.[16] The first 46 items in the Inventory, Advocate’s Opinions, 1978-1989, were produced under legal professional privilege.

Diaries[edit]

Starting in 2018, Lord Hope's diaries were published in five volumes. These are:

Senior Counsel 1978-1986: Lord Hope's Diaries Volume I[17]

Dean of Faculty 1986-1989: Lord Hope's Diaries Volume II[18]

Lord President 1989-1996: Lord Hope's Diaries Volume III[19]

House of Lords 1996-2009: Lord Hope's Diaries Volume IV[20]

UK Supreme Court. and Afterwards 2009-2015: Lord Hope's Diaries Volume V[21]

The works chronicled his life, experiences and rise to the top, from Senior Counsel to his retirement from the Supreme Court. They contain observations on his judicial colleagues as appears in the Controversies section below.

Controversies[edit]

1989: handling of homosexual judge scandal[edit]

On 22 December 1989 Lord Dervaird, a Scottish judge, resigned from the bench after a mere two years’ service.[22] On 17 January 1990 the press reported that three senior Scottish judges had been questioned by Lord Hope, the Lord President, as to their possible involvement in vice rings or homosexual behaviour.[23] This reportage arose because Lord Hope had called a meeting of newspaper editors at his Edinburgh home in which he detailed the rumours "unattributively" regarding three Court of Session judges (out of a then total of 24 judges).[24] This meeting caused the scandals to be "splashed across the front pages."[25] By December 2016 government papers covering these events had been declassified and were now available to the public. This resulted in human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell demanding an apology from Malcolm Rifkind, the former Scottish Secretary, for his actions in forcing Lord Dervaird from judicial office because of rumours of his being homosexual.[26] Dervaird’s sudden resignation followed almost immediately on a meeting between himself, Rifkind and Lord Hope. Margaret Thatcher, the then prime minister, was informed that Rifkind and Lord Hope considered that Dervaird should be asked to resign. It was this pressure to resign that was the subject of Peter Tatchell's complaint.

2011: accusations of xenophobia and implied breach of judicial oath against the Scottish judiciary[edit]

Lord Hope, then deputy President of the UK Supreme Court, created a sensation in November 2011 by allegedly suggesting that Scottish Judges were clandestinely hostile to cases being reviewed on appeal to the Supreme Court in London. [27] He was reported by Lucy Adams of the Glasgow Herald as saying: "There is [in England and Wales] none of the feeling of antipathy  towards cases being sent to London that lies just below the surface here in Scotland."[28] These words were subsequently described by Lord Hope as misreported or not said at all, despite the journalist publicly offering a recording.[29] The version of the speech Lord Hope approved for posting on the Supreme Court website does not include the contested wording.[30] He maintained in response a complete news blackout at a subsequent speech-giving in Glasgow a month later.[31]

This speech was also described as "an unprecedented counter-attack on the Scottish Government for its assault on the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court earlier this year." [32] The memorial lecture by Lord Hope contains key passages as though hearsay from the mouth of the recently deceased Lord Rodger either as from a private conversation (no public trace of the alleged views being known) or as Lord Hope's anticipation of what Lord Rodger would have said.[33]

2012, 2013: apparent bias on judicial selection panel: Lady Hale[edit]

Despite the serious professional differences and disparaging personal remarks regarding Lady Hale (see below under Lord Hope's anti-women's agenda stance), Lord Hope failed to recuse himself from selection panels for important judicial appointments (1) in 2012 for the position of President of the Supreme Court, and (2) in 2013 on Lord Hope's own retirement for the position of Deputy President of the Supreme Court.[34] For each of these positions a small number of candidates were interviewed, including in both cases Lady Hale, who was a very senior justice whose appointment to the highest court dated from the pre-Supreme Court House of Lords. The UK Commission for Judicial Appointments did not make these specific appointments but in cases where they do appoint, they are obliged to "operate in a way that is fair and transparent."[35]

2019: Lord Hope's anti-women's agenda stance[edit]

Long-standing fundamental differences of opinion and perspective with Supreme Court colleague Lady Hale, the first and at the time only female member of the Court, were revealed by Lord Hope's diaries1996-2009 and following.[36] This provoked a "head on" response from Lady Hale in a major public lecture (at Girton College, Cambridge) in which she defended her view that women were equal to men, deserved the same rights and had a different perspective due to their different life experiences.[37] She responded to Lord Hope's accusation of her having an "agenda": "So why is that ‘an agenda’? Quite simply, because we have not yet achieved the equality we seek in the law, let alone in life."[38] As at 2024 there has been no public apology from Lord Hope, and no public rapprochement on this issue.

2020: allegations by Lord Hope of judicial gerrymandering[edit]

Lord Hope's diaries have been analysed by academic writer Lewis Graham. He highlights three incidents as described by the diary writer as together establishing a "deeply concerning" possibility and pattern of judges being included or excluded from hearing a case based on outcomes to be expected if they were to sit on specific important cases. Graham cites consideration by Hope of excluding Northern Irish Lord Kerr from a devolution case; successful lobbying, according to Lord Hope, by Lord Hoffmann to exclude Lady Hale from a Jamaican death penalty appeal; and Lord Judge asking, according to Lord Hope, to be included on a miscarriage of justice case in order to further his pre-existing views. Whilst accepting that the truth of Lord Hope's account could be doubted, Graham observed that the mere possibility of it being correct "strikes at the heart of judicial neutrality and procedural fairness".[39]

2021: support for trade isolation of "genocidal" regimes[edit]

Lord Hope was lauded by Iain Duncan Smith in his published attack on the Chinese government. Duncan Smith noted Lord Hope's contribution of support in January 2021 to an amendment to the Trade Act 2021 whereby the government would be required to ensure "that the UK does not trade with genocidal regimes. Importantly, with the United Nations having shown itself incapable of making such decisions, the determination of whether genocide has taken place would be made by the High Court of England and Wales."[40]

2023: public stance against Scottish transgender legal changes[edit]

In January 2023 Lord Hope was widely reported for spontaneously intervening publicly against proposals by the Scottish government to liberalise conditions for changes in the legal status of transgender people. [41] [42] Asked about Lord Hope's suggestion that legal challenge to a Westminster government veto would be a waste of money, Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf stated that it was not a waste of money because he was "not prepared to accept a Westminster veto over legislation that was passed by a majority".[43]

Notable cases[edit]

As Deputy President of the Supreme Court

As Lord of Appeal in Ordinary

As Lord President

As Lord Justice General

Honours and Arms[edit]

The Lord Hope of Craighead became Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde in 1998 and was appointed a Fellow in 2000. He stepped down as Chancellor in October 2013.[45] He was awarded an honorary LL.D. by the university in 1993, and by the University of Aberdeen in 1991 and the University of Edinburgh in 1995.

In 2007, he was awarded the David Kelbie Award by the Institute of Contemporary Scotland. He was formerly an Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Aberdeen, and is an honorary member of the Canadian Bar Association (1987) and of The Society of Legal Scholars (1991), an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (2000), and an Honorary Bencher of Gray's Inn (1989) and of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland (1995). He was also, as of 2008, the Honorary President of the Edinburgh Student Law Review.[citation needed]

On St Andrew's Day, 30 November 2009, Lord Hope was appointed to the Order of the Thistle by Queen Elizabeth II.[46]

The Order of the Thistle is the highest chivalric honour in Scotland. In the UK as a whole it is second only to the Order of the Garter amongst chivalric orders. The order honours Scottish men and women who have held public office or who have contributed in some way to national life.[47] Lord Hope represented the Order at the 2023 Coronation.[48]

Coat of arms of David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead
Crest
A broken terrestrial sphere Proper charged with an anchor Gules surmounted by a rainbow Proper.
Escutcheon
Azure on a chevron Or between three bezants a bay leaf between two quill pens Vert.
Supporters
Two blackfaced rams Proper.
Motto
Spes Non Est Fracta (My Hope Is Not Broken)[49]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Lord Hope of Craighead". UK Parliament. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  2. ^ https://www.adgm.com/adgm-courts/judges/lord-david-hope Retrieved 4 March 2024
  3. ^ https://members.parliament.uk/member/2004/registeredinterests Retrieved 4 March 2024
  4. ^ The Secret History of Our Streets, series 2, episode 1- The Moray Estate, Edinburgh, BBC, first broadcast 25 July 2014
  5. ^ a b c d A&C Black (December 2008). "Hope of Craighead". Who's Who (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U20699. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
  6. ^ "No. 41216". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 November 1957. p. 6400.
  7. ^ "No. 41798". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 August 1959. p. 5357.
  8. ^ https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Eagle/Eagle%20Chapters/Fellows%20&%20Members%27%20News/Fellows%27_&_Members%27_News_1990s.pdf Retrieved 17 March 2024
  9. ^ "No. 47612". The London Gazette. 8 August 1978. p. 9503.
  10. ^ "No. 53893". The London Gazette. 30 December 1994. p. 1.
  11. ^ "No. 53972". The London Gazette. 3 March 1995. p. 3449.
  12. ^ "No. 54543". The London Gazette. 4 October 1996. p. 13211.
  13. ^ "No. 59045". The London Gazette. 21 April 2009. p. 1.
  14. ^ "Queen Appoints senior judge as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly". Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  15. ^ "Browse Resources: Papers, mostly professional, of David Hope, Lord Hope of Craighead, with related ephemera. | Archives and Manuscript Catalogue". manuscripts.nls.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  16. ^ https://digital.nls.uk/catalogues/guide-to-manuscript-collections/inventories/acc13568.pdf Retrieved 17 March 2024
  17. ^ ISBN 9781904968887 Published January 2018 Lord Hope (Avizandum Publishing) Scotland
  18. ^ ISBN 9781904968894 Published April 2018 Lord Hope (Avizandum Publishing) Scotland
  19. ^ ISBN 9781904968917 Published August 2018 Lord Hope (Avizandum Publishing) Scotland
  20. ^ ISBN 9781904968962 Published January 2019 Lord Hope (Avizandum Publishing) Scotland
  21. ^ ISBN13: 9781904968007 Published: December 2019 Lord Hope (Avizandum Publishing) Scotland
  22. ^ "Lord Dervaird quits Bench". The Herald. 23 December 1989. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  23. ^ "Bench acts on rumours after Lord Dervaird quits Judges questioned on vice ring claims". The Herald. 18 January 1990. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Homosexual legal network suspected for years: Judges have been". The Independent. 11 September 1992. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  25. ^ "Was Scottish legal scandal a smokescreen for child abuse?". 31 January 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  26. ^ https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/apology-call-for-gay-scandal-that-ended-lord-dervairds-career-1459296 Retrieved 4 March 2024
  27. ^ The impact of Europe on Criminal Justice in Scotland: The role of the UK Supreme Court (The Lord Rodger of Earlsferry Memorial Lecture) 19 November 2011
  28. ^ "'Anti-English sentiment' is threat to legal reform, warns top judge". The Herald. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  29. ^ "The Herald's chief reporter denies Lord Hope's claims of being misquoted as he issues media blackout at event". The Drum. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  30. ^ Court, The Supreme. "Speeches at the Supreme Court". www.supremecourt.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  31. ^ "The Herald's chief reporter denies Lord Hope's claims of being misquoted as he issues media blackout at event". The Drum. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  32. ^ "'Anti-English sentiment' is threat to legal reform, warns top judge". The Herald. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  33. ^ "For obvious reasons I do not wish to put my own views on record, but I can tell you what I think his views would have been." (page 23 of the speech.)
  34. ^ "An insider's account of the 'Brenda agenda' | Opinion | Law Gazette". web.archive.org. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  35. ^ "About us". Judicial Appointments Commission. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  36. ^ February 2020, Joshua Rozenberg3. "An insider's account of the 'Brenda agenda'". Law Gazette. Retrieved 17 March 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  37. ^ https://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2020-05/Transcript-Girton-Visitors-Anniversary-Lecture-2019.pdf
  38. ^ Girton Lecture at page 15
  39. ^ UKCLA (18 June 2020). "Lewis Graham: Lessons from Lord Hope's Diaries: judicial ideology and panel selection". UK Constitutional Law Association. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  40. ^ Duncan Smith, Iain (14 January 2021). "The Government must do more to crack down on trade with China". Telegraph Media Group Limited.
  41. ^ "Gender row legal challenge likely to fail - judge". 18 January 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  42. ^ https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/scottish-governments-chances-of-winning-gender-reform-legal-battle-very-low-former-supreme-court-judge-claims-3991488 Retrieved 14 March 2024
  43. ^ "Westminster to defend block on Scottish gender reform". 4 May 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  44. ^ supremecourt.uk: HM Treasury v Ahmad, etc Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, 27 January 2010
  45. ^ "Lord Smith of Kelvin appointed University of Strathclyde Chancellor" (Press release). University of Strathclyde. 3 May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  46. ^ "No. 59258". The London Gazette. 1 December 2009. p. 20801.
  47. ^ "Announcement of new appointments to the Order of the Thistle, 29 November 2009". Royal Household of the United Kingdom. 29 November 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  48. ^ "Coronation order of service in full". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  49. ^ Debrett's Peerage. 2019. p. 3059.

External links[edit]

Legal offices
Preceded by Lord Justice General and Lord President of the Court of Session
1989–1996
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
1996–2009
Abolished
Preceded by Second Senior Law Lord
2009
Abolished
New creation Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
2009–2013
Succeeded by
Other offices
Preceded by Convenor of the Crossbench Peers
2015–2019
Succeeded by
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
Baron Hope of Craighead
Followed by