Alan Rodger, Baron Rodger of Earlsferry

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Rodger of Earlsferry
PC FBA FRSE
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
In office
1 October 2009 – 26 June 2011
Nominated byJack Straw
Appointed byElizabeth II
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byLord Reed
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
In office
1 October 2001 – 30 September 2009
Preceded byThe Lord Clyde
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Lord Justice General and Lord President of the Court of Session
In office
1 October 1996 – 13 November 2002
Preceded byThe Lord Hope of Craighead
Succeeded byThe Lord Cullen of Whitekirk
Lord Advocate
In office
15 April 1992 – 7 November 1995
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byThe Lord Fraser of Carmyllie
Succeeded byThe Lord Mackay of Drumadoon
Solicitor General for Scotland
In office
14 January 1989 – 15 April 1992
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
John Major
Preceded byPeter Fraser
Succeeded byDonald Mackay
Personal details
Born
Alan Ferguson Rodger

(1944-09-18)18 September 1944
Glasgow, Scotland
Died26 June 2011(2011-06-26) (aged 66)
Clydebank, Scotland
NationalityBritish
RelationsFerguson Rodger (father)
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
New College, Oxford
OccupationJudge
ProfessionAdvocate

Alan Ferguson Rodger, Baron Rodger of Earlsferry PC, FBA, FRSE (18 September 1944 – 26 June 2011) was a Scottish academic, lawyer, and Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

He served as Lord Advocate, the senior Law Officer of Scotland, before becoming Lord Justice General and Lord President of the Court of Session, the head of the country's judiciary. He was then appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (Law Lord) and became a Justice of the Supreme Court when the judicial functions of the House of Lords were transferred to that Court.

Early life and career[edit]

Alan Rodger was born on 18 September 1944 in Glasgow, to Professor T Ferguson Rodger, Professor of Psychological Medicine at the University of Glasgow, and Jean Margaret Smith Chalmers, and educated at the private Kelvinside Academy in the city.[1] He studied at the University of Glasgow, graduating with an MA, and at the University's School of Law, taking an LLB.[1] He then studied at New College, Oxford—under David Daube, Regius Professor of Civil Law—where he graduated with an MA (by decree) and DPhil, and was Dyke Junior Research Fellow at Balliol College, Oxford, from 1969 to 1970 and a Fellow of New College from 1970 to 1972.[1]

He became an advocate in 1974[2] and was Clerk of the Faculty of Advocates from 1976 to 1979. He was a Member of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland from 1981 to 1984, and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1985.[1][2] He was an Advocate Depute from 1985 to 1988 and was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland in 1989, being promoted to Lord Advocate in 1992, and was created a life peer as Baron Rodger of Earlsferry, of Earlsferry in the District of North East Fife on 29 April 1992,[3] and was appointed to the Privy Council.[1][2]

Judicial career[edit]

Rodger was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the High Court of Justiciary and Court of Session, in 1995,[4] He became Lord Justice General and Lord President in 1996. He was appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in 2001, upon the retirement of Lord Clyde. He and nine other Lords of Appeal in Ordinary became Justices of the Supreme Court upon that body's inauguration on 1 October 2009.[5]

Death[edit]

Lord Rodger of Earlsferry died from a brain tumour at a hospice in Clydebank on 26 June 2011, at the age of 66.[6][5] Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who provoked fury after criticising Rodger less than a month earlier,[7] said he had made an "outstanding contribution" to Scottish public life.[6]

Honours[edit]

Lord Rodger of Earlsferry was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1991, and the same year was the Maccabaean Lecturer at the Academy. He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and an Honorary Bencher at Lincoln's Inn in 1992, and an Honorary Bencher of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland in 1998. Hon. Mem., SPTL, subseq. SLS, 1992; Corresp. Mem., Bayerische Akad. der Wissenschaften, 2001. Pres., Holdsworth Club, 1998–99. Hon. Fellow, American Coll. of Trial Lawyers, 2008. He received honorary degrees of Doctor of Laws (LLD) from the Universities of Glasgow (1995), Aberdeen (1999) and Edinburgh (2001).

Lord Rodger of Earlsferry had been the Visitor of St Hugh's College, Oxford, since 2003,[8] High Steward of the University of Oxford since 2008,[9] and an Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow School of Law since July 2009.[2]

Notable judgements[edit]

As Lord Justice General

As Justice of the Supreme Court

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "RODGER OF EARLSFERRY". Who's Who. Oxford University Press. December 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d "Rt Hon Lord Rodger of Earlsferry appointed an Honorary Professor". University of Glasgow. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2009. [dead link]
  3. ^ "No. 52911". The London Gazette. 5 May 1982. p. 7756.
  4. ^ "Lord Advocate becomes a judge". The Herald. Glasgow. 9 November 1995. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  5. ^ a b Johnston, David (2015). "Rodger, Alan Ferguson, Baron Rodger of Earlsferry (1944–2011), judge and jurist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/103857. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ^ a b "Supreme Court judge Lord Rodger of Earlsferry dies". BBC News. 26 June 2011. Archived from the original on 27 June 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  7. ^ Carrell, Severin (1 June 2011). "Alex Salmond provokes fury with attack on UK supreme court". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  8. ^ "St Hugh's College – Law". Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  9. ^ "Oxford University Gazette: Notices: Appointment of High Steward". University of Oxford. 25 September 2008. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2009.

External links[edit]

Legal offices
Preceded by Solicitor General for Scotland
1989–1992 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Advocate
1992–1995 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord President of the Court of Session
and Lord Justice General
1996–2002 		Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by High Steward of the University of Oxford
2008–2011 		Vacant
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