Lord Macphail

important changes in the law, including the Family Mediation (Scotland) Act 1995 and the Proceeds of Crime (Scotland) Act 1995. He resumed as a sheriff at Edinburgh in 1995.

In 2001, Cambridge University elected him as its Goodhart Professor of the Science of Law, an appointment which he held for one year, retaining his connection with Cambridge for two further years as assessor in criminal evidence and criminal procedure. On returning from Cambridge in 2002, he was appointed as sheriff principal of Lothian and Borders in Edinburgh and held that office until 2005when he was appointed as a senator of the College of Justice.

In 1987, Lord Macphail completed, for the Scottish Law Commission, a comprehensive study of the law of evidence, which was published in that year. This was soon regarded as authoritative and a revised editionwas published in 1987 by the Law Society of Scotland. 1988 saw the publication of Macphail on Sheriff Court Practice which was immediately recognised

as the definitive work on this subject.

He is also the principal author of the substantial exposition of the Law of Evidence in the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia of the Laws of Scotland. His work on a further book on the law of criminal evidence remains uncompleted. He was a strong supporter of the Scottish Association for the Study of Delinquency and, in recent years, a valued member of Scotland’s Judicial

Studies Committee. His outstanding contribution to the development of the law was recognised when, in 1992, Edinburgh University awarded him the honorary degree ofDoctor of Laws and, in 2005, when he was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Iain Duncan Macphail was born in 1938 and spent his early years in rural Stirlingshire. He was educated first at the local primary school, where his mother was a teacher, then at Falkirk High School and latterly at George Watson’s College. He attended Edinburgh and Glasgow universities, graduating respectively as MA and LLB, and was awarded many prizes in legal subjects.

He passed advocate in 1963 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1990. He had “devilled” to Sir John A Dick QC (as he was to become) to whom he was always grateful for encouraging in him the high ethical principles and careful attention to detail which were to characterise his own legal career.

His practice at the bar embraced both civil and criminal work and he was universally regarded as being able promptly to deliver written pleadings and opinions of high quality and as having the ability to conduct cases in court with clarity and courtesy in a way that earned him the respect both of his colleagues and of the bench.

The inclination towards, and aptitude for, the academic study of law which had manifested itself in his student days was maintained and, while still in practice, he lectured part-time on evidence and procedure in Strathclyde and Edinburgh universities.

I first knew Iain Macphail during his first and my last year in the Law Faculty of Glasgow University. Our friendship developed during his early years at the bar; my clients were able to benefit from his forensic skills and I had the pleasure of enjoying his enlightening company and congenial hospitality after court or consultation. Not long after he was appointed as a sheriff in Glasgow in 1973, I was appointed as a sheriff with jurisdiction in all the courts in Scotland.

It was then that the generous nature of the man was fully revealed. On many occasions Iain would receive a phone call from some remote court at which I, as a novice sheriff, had encountered what was, for me, a difficult problem. Never was I disappointed. Following my own appointment to Glasgow, we were in almost daily contact and I derived much from ourmany discussions and after the Glasgow days his advice and support was still generously tendered when sought. I am not alone in having benefited from Iain’s learned counsel. The law was not Iain Macphail’s only concern. He had extensive interest in the arts, books, music and theatre, travelling widely to experience at close quarters the glories of European culture.

Iain was blessed in his family life. He and Rosslyn were married in 1970 and, with their children, David and Melissa, of whom Iain was immensely proud, enjoyed a fulfilling life together. Iain’s devotion to the law flowed from his determination that justice should be done to all and this issued in his approach to criminal sentencing: firm but compassionate.

His loyalty to his family and friendswas absolute. I believe all these features reflected Iain’s character, imbued as it was with moral and spiritual qualities which, though never flaunted,were fundamental to his nature. Some three years ago he was received into the Catholic Church. Early last year, Iain was suddenly strickenwith a grave illness. He appeared for a while to be on the way to recovery, but the remission proved to be temporary. However, he bore the illnesswith fortitude and good humour and, with his usual devotion to duty,

insisted chamberwork should be delivered to his home. With his characteristic realism and generosity, he was vocal in praising those who attended him in his last days. It is some

consolation forthe legal profession that his books live on. It is perhaps a greater consolation to those who were his friends that they have known such an exceptional man.

Lord MacPhail

Judge;

Born January 24, 1938,

Died October 21, 2009.