Lord Emslie

Born: 6 December, 1919, in Glasgow Died: 21 November, 2002, in Edinburgh, aged 82

GEORGE Carlyle Emslie, Scotland’s senior judge between 1972 and 1989, was a man of formidable precision of mind and bearing which reflected the distinguished military background which might well have become his career.

An outstanding figure in more ways than one, with his clipped moustache and imposing bearing earning him the nickname "Gentleman George", the Lord Justice-General of Scotland and Lord President of the Court of Session left his mark on the Scottish legal scene through his efforts on behalf of his profession as well as his striving for justice and for public confidence in the justiciary.

Although he himself fathered a legal dynasty (two of his three sons followed him to the Bar and the Bench), he was the first in his family to go into law. His father, Alexander Emslie, was a manager with the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company in Glasgow and when, in 1980, he was conferred with the title Baron Emslie of Potterton, it was an acknowledgement of his great-grandfather, who had farmed at Potterton, a few miles north of Aberdeen.

He was educated at Glasgow High School and Glasgow University, but his studies were interrupted by the Second World War. Joining the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1940, he served in North Africa, Italy, Greece and Austria, was mentioned in dispatches and commissioned as a brigade major at a notably early age. No-one would have been surprised if he had made the army his career; however, he returned to complete his studies at Glasgow University and was called to the Bar in 1948.

He took silk in 1957, was Sheriff of Perth and Angus from 1963-66, and became Dean of the Faculty of Advocates in 1965. One of his most high-profile court appearances in these early years was on behalf of the Duke of Argyll during his proceedings against the Duchess in the infamous "headless man" divorce case of 1963.

He took his place on the Bench in 1970, and in 1972 became the first judge, rather than the Lord Advocate of the day, to be appointed Lord President of the Court of Session for more than a century, after Norman Wylie, QC, stepped aside in favour of him.

Lord Emslie felt strongly that not only should justice be done, but it should be seen to be done. He once said that "people who come to court should feel that they have had an absolutely fair hearing which they can understand ... It is very wrong for law courts to patronise people. They should be conducted in a polite, good-tempered way.

"There must be a sense of occasion about a trial but it must not baffle people with technicalities."

His imposing presence could give the impression of a law lord even without him donning wig and robes - someone once claimed that the crowd parted for him as he left Easter Road after a Hibs match. However, while there were those who found him aloof, he also had the reputation of being friendly and helpful to court staff.

During his time as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates he strove to improve the Faculty’s public standing and to improve relations between the Bar and the press. As Lord President of the Court of Session, one of his first steps was to improve facilities for journalists covering the court.

Among historic decisions he made as leader of the Appeal Court was in the Glasgow rape case of 1982, when he allowed the successful private criminal prosecution of three youths by a woman after the Crown had decided not to proceed. He also made an important ruling on special defences, saying that the law had "gone off the rails" and was forcing accused to establish self-defence or alibi. "That was wholly inconsistent with the principle that the accused is innocent until the Crown has established his guilt," he said at the time. "We waited for an opportunity and put the record straight."

Another landmark judgment was that a husband could be charged with the rape of his wife, while he also laid down that self-induced intoxication could not support a defence of insanity or diminished responsibility.

In an interview with The Scotsman on his retirement, he said he regarded Scots law as being in a healthy state and believed our criminal law to be "infinitely superior to criminal law in England because it has not been stuffed into statutes. It is much more flexible. We would not have got into the kind of mess that has emerged from the so-called Guildford Four."

However, he did worry that many people were denied access to the courts because of costs, commenting on the wide gap between those who can and those who cannot afford to go to litigation.

He was greatly admired for his ability to deliver impeccably-phrased appeal court judgments, apparently off the top of his head, and in his own book, he led from the front, setting the tone for others on the Bench: "I think it is very important that the lead comes from the top. The discipline of the profession is really dictated very much by the example the President sets."

His other interests included golf and birdwatching. In 1989, when he retired several years earlier than he need have done, he remarked that it was time for himself and his wife to rediscover what private life was like. Also, he said, the government white paper on law reform was getting under way and he felt it would be better for the same person to see the process through from start to finish. "The other trivial reason," he added, "is that I always thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to retire before I had the number 70 on my back."

On this occasion, his summing up was understated: "I was always fascinated by the law," he remarked. "I thought I was quite good at it."

Predeceased by his wife, Ann, in 1998, Lord Emslie is survived by his three sons, Nigel, Derek and Richard.