Paul Cullen, Lord Pentland

Last updated

Joyce Nicol
​
(m. 1983)​
The Right Honourable
Lord Pentland
Lord Pentland 2015.jpg
Senator of the College of Justice
Assumed office
5 November 2008
ChildrenStuart (1989), Richard (1992), Lindsey (1994)
Alma mater University of Edinburgh
Profession Advocate
Website Scottish Courts Service

Paul Benedict Cullen, Lord Pentland, PC [1] (born 11 March 1957) is a former Solicitor General for Scotland, a Senator of the College of Justice (a judge of the country's Supreme Courts) and former Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission.

Contents

Early life

Born in Gosforth, Northumberland, he was educated at St Augustine's High School, Edinburgh and at the School of Law of the University of Edinburgh. [2]

Cullen was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1982, devilling for Alan Rodger QC. [3] He tutored part-time at the Faculty of Law at the University of Edinburgh from 1982 to 1986, when he was elected Clerk of the Faculty of Advocates, serving until 1991. He was Standing Junior Counsel to the Department of the Environment in Scotland from 1988 to 1991 and appointed an Advocate Depute in 1992, becoming a Queen's Counsel in 1995. A member of the Conservative Party, he became Solicitor General for Scotland, the junior Law Officer in Scotland, in 1995, when Donald Mackay succeeded Lord Rodger of Earlsferry as Lord Advocate, the senior Law Officer. He held this post until the Labour election victory in 1997, when he was succeeded by Colin Boyd, who later became Lord Advocate. [4]

He was the Chairman of the public inquiry into the Gilmerton Limestone Emergency in 2001–2002, and has been Chairman of the Appeal Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and of the Police Appeals Tribunal. [4] [5] In 2003, The Scotsman named him the seventieth highest earner in Scotland, and third highest earner at the Bar, after Richard Keen QC (who was sixty-first with earnings of £600,000 and a former Dean of the Faculty) and Michael Jones, Lord Jones (who was fifty-fifth with earnings of £750,000). [6] He was involved in a number of high-profile cases, including the Countryside Alliance challenge to the Scottish fox-hunting ban, judicial review connected to the Stockline Plastics factory explosion, and the first two appeals to the Inner House of the Court of Session under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the first such appeal to the House of Lords. [5]

Political career

Cullen contested the Eastwood constituency at the 1997 general election for the Conservative Party, but finished in second place to Jim Murphy of the Labour Party. All Conservative Party representation was wiped out from Scottish constituencies at that election. Cullen served as Vice-President of the Edinburgh South Conservative Association from 1997 until he took the bench in 2008. He represented the Scottish Conservative Party on the Consultative Steering Group in 1998-99 which helped prepare procedures for the new Scottish Parliament. He was appointed Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel of the Scottish Conservatives in 2000.

The Bench

In November 2008, Cullen was appointed as a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the High Court of Justiciary and Court of Session, the Supreme Courts of Scotland. [2] [4] He took the judicial title, Lord Pentland. [7] In 2010 he was appointed as a member of the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber). He has also served as an Intellectual Property judge.

Lord Pentland was appointed as Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission on 1 January 2014 for a period of five years until 31 December 2018. He was appointed to the First Division of the Inner House of the Court of Session in July 2020, and to the Privy Council in September 2020.

Personal life

Cullen is married to Joyce Nicol, former Chairman of Brodies LLP (1983), with whom he has two sons and a daughter. He plays tennis and bridge, and is a member of the New Club.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynda Clark, Baroness Clark of Calton</span>

Lynda Margaret Clark, Baroness Clark of Calton, known as Lady Clark of Calton, is a Scottish judge. She was formerly the Labour Member of Parliament for Edinburgh Pentlands. She was Advocate General for Scotland from the creation of that position in 1999 until 2006, whereupon she became a Judge of the Court of Session in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Cullen, Baron Cullen of Whitekirk</span> Scottish jurist and advocate

William Douglas Cullen, Baron Cullen of Whitekirk, is a former senior member of the Scottish judiciary. He formerly served as Lord Justice General and Lord President of the Court of Session, and was an additional Lord of Appeal in the House of Lords prior to the transfer of its judicial functions to the Supreme Court.

Edinburgh Law School

Edinburgh Law School, founded in 1707, is a school within the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom dedicated to research and teaching in law. It is located in the historic Old College, the original site of the University. Two of the twelve currently sitting Supreme Court of the United Kingdom justices are graduates of Edinburgh, including the current President and Deputy President.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Mackay, Baron Mackay of Drumadoon</span>

Donald Sage Mackay, Baron Mackay of Drumadoon, PC was a British judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and a Lord Advocate, the country's senior Law Officer. He was also one of five additional Lords of Appeal in the House of Lords, where he sat as a crossbencher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Hardie, Baron Hardie</span>

Andrew Rutherford Hardie, Baron Hardie, is a former Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and a former Lord Advocate, the country's senior Law Officer. He led the prosecution team in the preparation of the original Lockerbie bombing trial, but resigned as Lord Advocate shortly before the trial commenced in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Rodger, Baron Rodger of Earlsferry</span> Scottish judge (1944-2011)

Alan Ferguson Rodger, Baron Rodger of Earlsferry was a Scottish academic, lawyer, and Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

Arthur Campbell Hamilton, Lord Hamilton,, is a Scottish judge and served as Lord Justice General and Lord President of the Court of Session from November 2005 until 8 June 2012, succeeding Lord Cullen.

John Beckett, Lord Beckett is a Scottish lawyer who was appointed in 2016 as a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Court of Session.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Mulholland, Lord Mulholland</span> Scottish lawyer, Lord Advocate

Francis Mulholland, Lord Mulholland, is a Scottish judge who has been a Senator of the College of Justice since 2016. He previously served from 2011 to 2016 as Lord Advocate, one of the Great Officers of State of Scotland and the country's chief Law Officer, and as Solicitor General, the junior Law Officer.

Kenneth Hilton Osborne, Lord Osborne PC was a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, sitting in the High Court of Justiciary and the Inner House of the Court of Session. Appointed in 1990, he was Scotland's longest-serving judge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Woolman, Lord Woolman</span> Scottish legal academic

Stephen Errol Woolman, Lord Woolman,, is a Scottish legal academic, and a retired Senator of the College of Justice.

William Austin Nimmo Smith is a former Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, sitting in the High Court of Justiciary and the Inner House of the Court of Session. He retired from this position on 30 September 2009.

Derek Robert Alexander Emslie, Lord Kingarth is a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, sitting in the High Court of Justiciary and the Inner House of the Court of Session. He is the son of former Lord President George Emslie, Baron Emslie, and younger brother of fellow judge Nigel Emslie, Lord Emslie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Reed, Baron Reed of Allermuir</span> President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

Robert John Reed, Baron Reed of Allermuir, is a British judge who has been President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom since January 2020. He was the principal judge in the Commercial Court in Scotland before being promoted to the Inner House of the Court of Session in 2008. He is an authority on human rights law in Scotland and elsewhere; he served as one of the UK's ad hoc judges at the European Court of Human Rights. He was also a Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Sutherland, Lord Carloway</span> Scottish advocate and judge

Colin John MacLean Sutherland, Lord Carloway, is a Scottish advocate and judge who has served as the Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General since 2015. He was previously Lord Justice Clerk from 2012 to 2015 and has been a Senator of the College of Justice since 2000.

Matthew Gerard Clarke, Lord Clarke, PC (born was a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, sitting in the High Court of Justiciary and the Inner House of the Court of Session.

Iain Alexander Scott Peebles, Lord Bannatyne was a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the High Court of Justiciary and Court of Session in Scotland from 2008 until 2020.

Alexander Morrison Philip, Lord Philip, is a Scottish lawyer and former Senator of the College of Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duncan Menzies, Lord Menzies</span>

Duncan Adam Young Menzies, Lord Menzies, is a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland. He was appointed to the Outer House of the Court of Session in 2001, and the Inner House in 2012.

William Ian Stewart, Lord Allanbridge was a Scottish lawyer, judge and politician, who served as Solicitor General for Scotland, the country's junior Law Officer from 1972 to 1974, and as a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, from 1977 to 1995.

References

  1. ↑ "Privy Council appointment: 20 August 2020". GOV.UK. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 "New judges appointed". Scottish Government. 5 November 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
  3. ↑ "Lord Advocate becomes a judge". The Herald . Glasgow. 9 November 1995. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Biographies - The Hon Lord Pentland". Scottish Court Service . Retrieved 24 August 2009.
  5. 1 2 "Paul Cullen QC". Legal 500. Retrieved 24 August 2009.[ dead link ]
  6. ↑ "Who earns what - part 2: NUMBERS 75 TO 51". The Scotsman . 18 September 2003. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
  7. ↑ "Court Shorts: Judge's wig rigmarole". The Scotsman . 2 February 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
Legal offices
Preceded by Solicitor General for Scotland
1995-97		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.