View source for James Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern

{{Short description|British advocate}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Lord Mackay of Clashfern
| honorific-suffix    = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KT|PC|FRSE}}
| image               = Official portrait of Lord Mackay of Clashfern crop 2.jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 2018
| office              = [[Lord Clerk Register]]
| monarch             = [[Elizabeth II]]<br/>[[Charles III]]
| term_start          = 27 April 2007
| term_end            = November 2022
| predecessor         = [[David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss|The Earl of Wemyss]]
| successor           = [[Elish Angiolini|Lady Elish Angiolini]]
| office1             = [[Shadow Lord Chancellor]]
| leader1             = [[John Major]]
| term_start1         = 2 May 1997
| term_end1           = 11 June 1997
| predecessor1        = [[The Lord Irvine of Lairg]]
| successor1          = [[The Lord Kingsland]]
| office2             = [[Lord Chancellor]]<!-- Please do not change to Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain; [[WP:COMMONNAME]] is Lord Chancellor.-->
| primeminister2      = [[Margaret Thatcher]]<br />John Major
| term_start2         = 28 October 1987
| term_end2           = 2 May 1997
| predecessor2        = [[Michael Havers, Baron Havers|The Lord Havers]]
| successor2          = [[The Lord Irvine of Lairg]]
| office3             = [[Lord of Appeal in Ordinary]]
| term_start3         = 1 October 1985
| term_end3           = 28 October 1987
| predecessor3        = [[Ian Fraser, Baron Fraser of Tullybelton|The Lord Fraser of Tullybelton]]
| successor3          = [[Charles Jauncey, Baron Jauncey of Tullichettle|The Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle]]
| office5             = [[Lord Advocate]]
| term_start5         = 5 May 1979
| term_end5           = 16 May 1984
| primeminister5      = Margaret Thatcher
| predecessor5        = [[Ronald King Murray]]
| successor5          = [[Kenneth Cameron, Baron Cameron of Lochbroom|The Lord Cameron of Lochbroom]]
| office6             = [[Member of the House of Lords]]<br />[[Lord Temporal]]
| term_start6         = 11 July 1979
| term_end6           = 22 July 2022<br />[[Life peerage]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1927|7|2|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[Edinburgh]], Scotland
| death_date          =
| death_place         =
| party               = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| spouse              = Elizabeth Hymers (m. 1958)
| alma_mater          = [[University of Edinburgh]]<br />[[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
}}
'''James Peter Hymers Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern''' (born 2 July 1927)<ref name="standrews"/> is a British lawyer. He served as [[Dean of the Faculty of Advocates]], [[Lord Advocate]], and [[Lord Chancellor]] (1987&ndash;1997). He is a former active member of the [[House of Lords]], where he sat as a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]. He retired from the House on 22 July 2022.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lord Mackay of Clashfern |url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/1883/career|website=[[UK Parliament]]|accessdate=22 July 2022}}</ref>
==Early life and education==
Mackay was born in [[Edinburgh]] on 2 July 1927. He won a scholarship to [[George Heriot's School]],<ref name="portraitbio"/> and then studied mathematics and physics at the [[University of Edinburgh]], receiving a joint MA in 1948.<ref name="standrews"/> He taught mathematics for two years at the [[University of St Andrews]] before moving to [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], on a scholarship, from which he obtained a BA in mathematics in 1952.<ref name="standrews"/> He then returned to Edinburgh University where he studied law, receiving an LLB (with distinction) in 1955.<ref name="standrews"/>
==Career==
[[File:James Mackay.jpg|thumb|left|Mackay giving a public lecture at [[London School of Economics|LSE]] in 1989]]
Mackay was elected to the [[Faculty of Advocates]] in 1955.  He was appointed a [[Queen's Counsel]] in 1965.<ref name="standrews"/> He was Sheriff Principal for Renfrew and Argyll from 1972 to 1974.<ref name="standrews"/> In 1973 he became Vice-Dean of the Faculty on Advocates and from 1976 until 1979 served as its [[List of Deans of the Faculty of Advocates|Dean]], the leader of the Scots bar.<ref name="standrews"/>
In 1979, Mackay was appointed [[Lord Advocate]], the senior law officer in Scotland, and was created a [[life peer]] as '''Baron Mackay of Clashfern''', of [[Eddrachillis]] in the District of Sutherland, taking his [[territorial designation]] from his father's birthplace, a cottage beside [[Loch na Claise Fearna]].<ref name="independent_profile"/> After his retirement, Mackay sat in the House of Lords. He was also Commissary to the University of Cambridge until 2016. He is the editor-in-chief of ''[[Halsbury's Laws of England]]'', the major legal work which states the law of England, first published in 1907; the post is usually held by a former Lord Chancellor.<ref name="lexis"/> He is also a senior fellow of [http://www.ttf.org/ The Trinity Forum], a Christian nonprofit organisation that supports the renewal of society through the development of leaders.
==Family and religion==
[[File:National Law School of India University, Bangalore, India - 20130524-04.JPG|thumb|left|upright|A tree planted in the grounds of the [[National Law School of India University]] in [[Bangalore]] by Lord Mackay of Clashfern]]
Mackay is the son of [[railway signalman]] James Mackay (who came from Claisfearn near [[Tarbet, Sutherland|Tarbet]] in [[Sutherland]]) and his wife Janet Hymers.<ref name="standrews"/> Mackay married Elizabeth Gunn Hymers, of [[Halkirk]], in 1958. They have a son, James and two daughters, Elizabeth and Shona.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12262029.lady-mackay-flown-to-hospital-after-breaking-leg-hillwalking/|title = Lady Mackay flown to hospital after breaking leg hillwalking| date=9 June 1998 }}</ref> Mackay was raised a member of the [[Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland]]; as an adult he was an [[elder (religious)|elder]] of the church.<ref name="standrews"/> The church forbids its members to attend [[Catholic]] religious services; nevertheless Mackay attended two Catholic [[funeral mass]]es for members of the judiciary (for [[Charles Ritchie Russell]] in 1986,<ref name="independent_profile"/> and again for [[John Wheatley, Baron Wheatley|John Wheatley]] in 1988).<ref name="standrews"/> Following the second mass Mackay was called before a church synod where he denied that he had broken the church's prohibition of showing "support for the doctrine of Catholicism", saying "I went there purely with the purpose of paying my respects to my dead colleagues."<ref name="latimes"/> The church suspended Mackay from the eldership and from membership.<ref name="standrews"/> The synod met again in Glasgow in 1989 to review the decision; the meeting asked Mackay to undertake not to attend further Catholic services, but he announced "I have no intention of giving any such undertaking as that for which the synod has asked",<ref name="toledoblade"/> and later withdrew from the church. The dispute precipitated a schism, leading to the formation of the [[Associated Presbyterian Churches]]. Mackay did not join the new communion, but {{As of|1993|lc=y}} worshipped with their Inverness congregation.<ref name="independent_profile"/>
As a Presbyterian, Mackay was a firm believer in moderation. At a gathering for the [[Faculty of Advocates]], Mackay had laid on a spread of tea and toast, complete with a tiny pot of honey. One of the lawyers in attendance contemplated the pot and remarked, "I see your Lordship keeps a bee."<ref>{{cite news|author=Jenny McCartney |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/jennymccartney/3558477/How-little-Leo-Blair-was-conceived-is-definitely-too-much-information.html |title=How little Leo Blair was conceived is definitely too much information |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=2008-05-18 |access-date=2017-02-27}}</ref><ref>This jest is also associated with [[Jimmy Shand]] http://logicsrock.blogspot.com/2014/09/i-see-you-keep-bee-and-why-yessers.html.</ref> Mackay is also the Honorary President of the [[Scottish Bible Society]].<ref name="biblesociety"/> He supported the society's programme to send a Bible to every court in Scotland<ref name="biblesociety"/> and wrote in support of "The Bible in Scots Law", a pamphlet it distributed to Scottish lawyers which described the Bible as a "foundational source book for Scotland's legal system".<ref name="biblelaw"/> He is a strict [[Puritan Sabbatarianism|sabbatarian]], refusing to work or travel on a Sunday, or even to give an interview if there is a chance it could be rebroadcast on the sabbath.<ref name="independent_profile"/>
==Honours and arms==
{{Infobox manner of address
| name        = The Lord Mackay of Clashfern
| image       = [[File:Clan member crest badge - Clan Mackay.svg|60px]]
| reference   = His Lordship
| spoken      = Your Lordship
| religious   =
| posthumous  =
| alternative = Sir
}}
Mackay was appointed a [[Knight of the Thistle]] by [[Queen Elizabeth II]] on 27 November 1997.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=24306 |date=28 November 1997 |page=3025 |city=e}}</ref> In 2007 the Queen appointed him to the office of [[Lord Clerk Register]], replacing [[David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss]].<ref name="executive"/> He retired from this office in November 2022, and was succeeded by [[Lady Elish Angiolini]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/about-the-scottish-court-service/scs-news/2023/06/05/new-lord-clerk-register-of-scotland| title= New Lord Clerk Register of Scotland|publisher=[[Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service]]|date=5 June 2023}}</ref> He became a fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] in 1984.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rse.org.uk/fellow/james-mackay-of-clashfern/|title=Lord James Peter Hymers Mackay of Clashfern KT PC QC FRSE – The Royal Society of Edinburgh|work=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|access-date=2018-01-04|language=en-GB}}</ref> In 1989, he was elected honorary fellow of [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].<ref name=Trinity>{{cite web|title=Trinity College, Cambridge – Honorary Fellows|url=http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=204|publisher=Trinity College, Cambridge|access-date=4 March 2014}}</ref> He received an honorary doctorate from [[Heriot-Watt University]] in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.hw.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-graduates.htm|title=Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates|last=|website=www1.hw.ac.uk|access-date=2016-04-04|archive-date=18 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418163907/http://www1.hw.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-graduates.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was awarded an honorary degree (Doctor of Laws) by the [[University of Bath]] in 1994<ref name="bath"/> and by [[Northumbria University]] in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newsroom.northumbria.ac.uk/pressreleases/former-lord-chancellor-honoured-by-northumbria-university-2066847|title=Former Lord Chancellor honoured by Northumbria University|website=Mynewsdesk|date=13 July 2017 }}</ref>
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Baron Mackay of Clashfern Coat of Arms with KT.png|200px]]
|crest = A Dexter Arm couped at the Elbow proper the hand grasping a Pair of Balances Or
|supporters = Dexter:  a Male Figure attired in the Robes of the Lord High Chancellor; Sinister:  a Male Figure attired in the Robes of one of Her Majesty's Counsel learned in the Law in Scotland proper
|escutcheon =  Azure on a Chevron Argent between two Bears' Heads couped Argent muzzled Gules in chief and a Fleece Argent in base a Roebuck's Head erased between two Hands grasping Daggers the points turned towards the buck's head all proper
|motto =  ''Manu Justi'' (With the hand of a just man)<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=2019 |page=3500}}</ref> |orders=[[Order of the Thistle]]|coronet=[[Coronet|Coronet of a Baron]]}}
==References==
{{reflist |refs=
<ref name="standrews">
{{cite web
|url=http://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Mackay.html
|title=James Peter Hymers Mackay
|work=The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
|publisher=School of Mathematics and Statistics, [[University of St Andrews]]
|author=J. J. O'Connor and E. F. Robertson
|date=April 2006
}}
</ref>
<ref name="portraitbio">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/P/6062/artistName/Tom%20Phillips/recordId/52541
|title=James Mackay, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, b. 1927. Judge and Lord Chancellor
|publisher=[[National Galleries of Scotland]]
}}
</ref>
<ref name="lexis">
{{cite web
|url=http://lexisnexis.co.uk/HalsburysLaw/halsburys_laws_about.html
|title=Halsbury's Laws : History
|publisher=[[LexisNexis]]  <!-- LexisNexis is the _publisher_ of this book; this isn't a link to a LexisNexis search -->
}}
</ref>
<ref name="bath">{{cite web
|url=http://www.bath.ac.uk/ceremonies/hongrads/
|title=Honorary Graduates 1989 to present
|publisher=[[University of Bath]]
|work=bath.ac.uk
|access-date=18 February 2012
|archive-date=19 December 2015
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219000643/http://www.bath.ac.uk/ceremonies/hongrads/
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>
<ref name="executive">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/04/27102051
|title=Lord Clerk Register appointed
|publisher=[[Scottish Executive]]
}}
</ref>
<ref name="latimes">
{{cite news
|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-11-06-mn-406-story.html
|title=British Lord Goes to Funerals, Loses Church Post
|newspaper=[[Associated Press]] ([[Los Angeles Times]])
|date=6 November 1988
|access-date=10 July 2012
}}
</ref>
<ref name="toledoblade">
{{cite news
|newspaper=[[Toledo Blade]]
|date=28 May 1989
|page=5
|title=British official quits church over its curbs
}}
</ref>
<ref name="biblesociety">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.scottishbiblesociety.org/events/Bibles%20for%20the%20courts/?t=events_top_story
|title=Bibles for the courts
|publisher=Scottish Bible Society
|date=July 2010
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100829060848/http://www.scottishbiblesociety.org/events/Bibles%20for%20the%20courts/?t=events_top_story
|archive-date=29 August 2010
}}
</ref>
<ref name="biblelaw">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/sln/blogentry.aspx?blogentryref=8351
|title=The Bible in Scots law
|date=22 August 2010
|author=Hector L MacQueen and Scott Wortley
|work=Scots Law News
|publisher=School of Law, University of Edinburgh
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723145440/http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/sln/blogentry.aspx?blogentryref=8351
|archive-date=23 July 2012
}}
</ref>
<ref name="independent_profile">
{{cite news
|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/profile-never-on-a-sunday-the-lord-chancellor-is-a-tireless-legal-reformer-but-only-six-days-a-week-writes-cal-mccrystal-1466948.html
|title=Profile: Never on a Sunday: The Lord Chancellor is a tireless legal reformer, but only six days a week
|newspaper=[[The Independent]]
|date=12 December 1993
|author=Cal McCrystal
}}
</ref>
}}
==External links==
*{{UK Peer links | parliament = james-mackay/26950 | hansard = mr-james-mackay | hansardcurr = 1883 | guardian = | publicwhip = Lord_Mackay_of_Clashfern | theywork = lord_mackay_of_clashfern | record = James-Mackay/1891 | bbc = 26950.stm | journalisted = }}
* [http://www.bonner-rechtsjournal.de/fileadmin/digital/BRJ_SA_01_2012/dateien/assets/seo/page33.html Lord Mackay of Clashfern – Jurist, Reformer und Staatsmann] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084024/http://www.bonner-rechtsjournal.de/fileadmin/digital/BRJ_SA_01_2012/dateien/assets/seo/page33.html |date=4 March 2016 }}
* Merk, "Lord Mackay of Clashfern", Bonner Rechtsjournal, Sonderausgabe 1/2012, S. 28 ff.
* {{NPG name}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Ronald King Murray, Lord Murray|Ronald Murray]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Lord Advocate]]|years=1979–1984}}
{{s-aft|after={{nowrap|[[Kenneth Cameron, Baron Cameron of Lochbroom|The Lord Cameron of Lochbroom]]}}}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Michael Havers, Baron Havers|The Lord Havers]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain]]|years=1987–1997}}
{{s-aft|after=[[The Lord Irvine of Lairg]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[The Lord Irvine of Lairg]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Shadow Lord Chancellor]]|years=1997}}
{{s-aft|after=[[The Lord Kingsland]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss|The Earl of Wemyss]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Lord Clerk Register]]|years=2007–2022}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Elish Angiolini]]}}
|-
{{s-prec|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=[[The Lord Tanlaw]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom|Gentlemen]]|creation=Baron Mackay of Clashfern}}
{{s-fol|after=[[Kenneth Cameron, Baron Cameron of Lochbroom|The Lord Cameron of Lochbroom]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Members of the Order of the Thistle}}
{{Lord Chancellor}}
{{Thatcher Ministry}}
{{Major Ministry}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay of Clashfern, James Mackay, Baron}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Politicians from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Nobility from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of St Andrews]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh School of Law]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) life peers]]
[[Category:Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Knights of the Thistle]]
[[Category:Lord Advocates]]
[[Category:Lord chancellors of Great Britain]]
[[Category:Lords High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland]]
[[Category:Deans of the Faculty of Advocates]]
[[Category:Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People educated at George Heriot's School]]
[[Category:Scottish Presbyterians]]
[[Category:Scottish King's Counsel]]
[[Category:Senators of the College of Justice|Clashfern]]
[[Category:Contributors to Halsbury's Laws of England]]
[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014]]
[[Category:20th-century King's Counsel]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]