Jim Milligan

Born: 10 May, 1934, in Edinburgh.

Died: 7 March, 2005, in Glasgow, aged 70.

JIM Milligan was one of the most respected judges in Scotland and continued a family tradition of serving in high office in the Scottish courts. He was a proud upholder of the best qualities of a Scottish advocate and, when he became a judge, was scrupulously fair-minded and patient. He had a crystal-clear mind and an excellent grasp of the law. He is remembered by colleagues and friends as a generous and kind-hearted man who gave of his time and energies to help many causes in Scotland.

Of the many cases over which he presided, perhaps the most famous was the 1992 claim brought by Anton Gecas, who ran a guesthouse in Newington, Edinburgh, for defamation of character against Scottish Television. STV had made a documentary that alleged Lithuanian Gecas had taken part in the killing of civilians in his home country during the Second world War.

Milligan, despite wide public coverage of the case, insisted that the due process of the law be heard in full and in strict order. This entailed a week’s hearing in Lithuania - attended by correspondents of the national newspapers. Indeed it was the first time that a civil case of the Scottish courts had been held outside Scotland. In the end Milligan found that it had been proved that Gecas had been a platoon commander in a police battalion and was responsible for the deaths of 30,000 civilians. "I am clearly satisfied," he pronounced in his judgment, "that Gecas committed war crimes against innocent civilians."

It was undoubtedly Milligan’s most important case and he conducted it, as always, with much dignity and respect for the law.

James George Milligan was the son of a distinguished Lord Advocate. He attended St Mary’s School in Melrose, and then Rugby. He enjoyed the outdoors from an early age and often visited a family home at Heriot just outside Edinburgh. He read law, first at Oxford, then at Edinburgh University. Milligan was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1959 and was the first pupil of James Mackay (now Lord Mackay of Clashfern). Lord Mackay told The Scotsman: "I was a touch over-awed to have as my first pupil the son of the Lord Advocate. We became, however, lifelong friends, and our families grew up in Dick Place: we shared many happy and joyous times together."

Milligan served on the Scottish Home and Health Department and as an advocate-depute (1971-78). He took Silk in 1972. His career at the Bar involved specialist periods as chairman of the Medical Appeal Tribunal (1979-88) and on the Valuation of Ratings Panel. Milligan was never given to high flights of oratory: rather his case was delivered in a reasoned, deliberate fashion, with the facts put to the court with complete confidence and lucidity.

Milligan and his first wife, Betty, (daughter of Lord Migdale and a descendant of the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie), not only enjoyed a happy home life, but also, over many years, fostered children from all over Scotland. Lord Mackay remembers, with obvious pleasure, the care and devotion the Milligans gave to all their children. "They were treated as one of the family, and both Jim and Betty loved them all. They were integrated into the Milligan home in Dick Place and stayed in touch after they moved on. Jim was always available to offer advice and was so pleased to watch their progress as they grew up.

"Jim and Betty made a most valuable gift to those young people and it was all done in a typically generous and unselfish manner. Jim was like that. He was self-effacing, quiet and modest, but a man of stature, intellectual bearing and much charm.

"One of the last times I saw him was at the wedding of his son Colin in Inverness-shire last year. The pleasure that wedding gave Jim was totally apparent. He was in sparkling form and happy to be among so many friends. It is a good memory to have of him."

Milligan worked hard on behalf of the child-protection charity the RSSPCC, and was its most active chairman from 1978-92. He also supported the Edinburgh charity Children 1st. He was a keen member of Muirfield and had played tennis regularly until recently. His daughter Louise recalls that he played a "canny game of bridge but was a lethal competitor when playing table tennis."

A tragedy befell Milligan in the week before Christmas 1982. His wife, returning home from a charity function, was killed in a car crash. Milligan was bereft but gave unselfishly of his love and support to his family.

He came of a distinguished legal family; two of his children are practising advocates and another will soon complete his training.

In 1985 Milligan married Cynthia Ashworth, and she and his two sons and three daughters from his first marriage survive him.