James Arthur David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead (born 27 June 1938) is a retired Scottish judge who served as the Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General, Scotland's most senior judge, and later as first Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2009 until his retirement in 2013. He had previously been the Second Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. He is the Chief Justice of Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts.
He has published 5 volumes of his diaries, archived his papers at the National Library of Scotland, and been involved in numerous controversies. He continues in private practice as an arbitrator. His other appointments have included Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and Convenor of the Crossbench peers in the House of Lords.
Background and personal
Background A descendant of Charles Hope, Lord Granton, Lord President of the Court of Session from 1811 to 1841, through his third son,The Secret History of Our Streets, series 2, episode 1- The Moray Estate, Edinburgh, BBC, first broadcast 25 July 2014 David Hope was born on 27 June 1938 to Edinburgh lawyer Arthur Henry Cecil Hope, OBE, WS and Muriel Ann Neilson Hope (née Collie). He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and Rugby School. He completed National Service as an officer with the Seaforth Highlanders, between 1957 and 1959, where he reached the rank of lieutenant. In 1959 he commenced his studies as an Open Scholar at St John's College, Cambridge where he read classics. He graduated with a B.A. degree in 1962.https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Eagle/Eagle%20Chapters/Fellows%20&%20Members%27%20News/Fellows%27_&_Members%27_News_1990s.pdf Retrieved 17 March 2024 He then returned to Scotland and studied at the Faculty of Law of the University of Edinburgh, graduating LL.B. in 1965.
Personal In 1966, Hope married Katharine Mary Kerr, daughter of solicitor Mark Kerr WS, with whom he has twin sons and a daughter. Lord Hope of Craighead resides in Edinburgh and in 2014 appeared in a television documentary programme about Moray Place.The Secret History of Our Streets - Moray Place, Edinburgh. The Moray Feu, BBC. 2 Parts, broadcast July 2014.
Career before the UK Bench Hope was admitted as an advocate in 1965 and became a Queen's Counsel in 1978. He served as Standing Junior Counsel in Scotland to the Board of the Inland Revenue from 1974 to 1978, and as an Advocate Depute from 1978 to 1982, prosecuting cases on behalf of the Crown. Between 1985 and 1986, he was Chairman of the Medical Appeal Tribunal and the Pensions Appeal Tribunal. From 1986 to 1989 he was Dean of the Faculty of Advocates. He is an Honorary Bencher of Gray's Inn.
The Bench in the UK In 1989, Hope became a Senator of the College of Justice, taking the judicial title Lord Hope, and was appointed directly from the practising Bar to the offices of Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General. He was made a Privy Counsellor at this time, and was awarded a life peerage in the 1995 New Year Honours. His title was gazetted as Baron Hope of Craighead, of Bamff in the District of Perth and Kinross on 28 February 1995. In 1996, Lord Hope of Craighead retired as Lord President to become a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, and was succeeded by Lord Rodger of Earlsferry. On 21 April 2009, he was appointed Second Senior Law Lord, succeeding Lord Hoffmann. On 1 October 2009, Hope became one of the first Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and its first Deputy President. He retired from that position on 26 June 2013.
Positions after retirement from UK Bench
Private practice Lord Hope of Craighead, having retired from the Bench in the UK, became available privately as a practising arbitrator. In October 2013 he joined Brick Court chambers in London as an arbitrator. Additionally he joined Terra Firma chambers in Edinburgh as an arbitrator from June 2023.
Abu Dhabi From October 2015 to December 2023 and continuing, Lord Hope of Craighead served as remunerated Chief Justice of Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts.https://www.adgm.com/adgm-courts/judges/lord-david-hope Retrieved 4 March 2024 In 2024 in the House of Lords Register of Interests he declared an income of £257,000 for the period 1 January – 31 December 2023 for performing his duties.
Honorary positions In November 2014 it was announced that Lord Hope of Craighead would be appointed as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2015. This position ceased to be occupied by him after 27 May 2016.Listed under Category 10: Non-financial interests (b) in the Register of Interests, House of Lords, Lord Hope of Craighead, Amended version of entry as at 17 August 2024.
He served as Convenor of the Crossbench peers in the House of Lords from 2015 to 2019.
On 20 March 2024, Lord Hope, as an independent peer successfully moved in the House of Lords an amendment of his own to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill whereby implementation of the legislation would be delayed pending the decision of a proposed panel of experts tasked with deciding whether Rwanda satisfied certain safeguarding criteria. The amendment was removed by the House of Commons on Monday 15 April 2024 but reinstated in substance once again by the House of Lords on Wednesday 17 April 2024. Speaking on the BBC radio programme "Today" on 18 April 2024, Lord Hope of Craighead defended his intervention on the basis that he was seeking to correct a defect in the legislation.
Lord Hope of Craighead's Historical Archives In November 2014, Lord Hope of Craighead donated to the National Library of Scotland 16 boxes containing 90 files spanning the period 1953 - 2014. Access to all these documents is unrestricted. The Inventory references: 1-79 Professional Papers (1-46 Advocate's Opinions, 1978–1989; 47-55 Dean of Faculty Notes and Draft Letters, 1986–1989; 56-78 Judicial Opinions, 1989–1994; 79 Financial Papers, 1965–1989); 80 Personal Papers, 1959–1962; 81-90 Ephemera, 1953–2014.https://digital.nls.uk/catalogues/guide-to-manuscript-collections/inventories/acc13568.pdf Retrieved 17 March 2024 The first 46 items in the Inventory, Advocate's Opinions, 1978–1989, were produced under legal professional privilege.
Diaries Starting in 2018, Lord Hope of Craighead's diaries were published in five volumes. These are:
Senior Counsel 1978–1986: Lord Hope's Diaries Volume I Published January 2018 Lord Hope (Avizandum Publishing) Scotland
Dean of Faculty 1986–1989: Lord Hope's Diaries Volume IIPublished April 2018 Lord Hope (Avizandum Publishing) Scotland
Lord President 1989–1996: Lord Hope's Diaries Volume III Published August 2018 Lord Hope (Avizandum Publishing) Scotland
House of Lords 1996–2009: Lord Hope's Diaries Volume IV Published January 2019 Lord Hope (Avizandum Publishing) Scotland
UK Supreme Court and Afterwards 2009–2015: Lord Hope's Diaries Volume V Published: December 2019 Lord Hope (Avizandum Publishing) Scotland
The works chronicled his life, experiences and rise to the top, from Senior Counsel to his retirement from the Supreme Court. They contain observations on his judicial colleagues and disclose information as to panel deliberations, as appears in the Controversies section below.
Controversies
On 22 December 1989, Lord Dervaird, a Scottish judge, resigned from the bench after two years of service. On 17 January 1990, the press reported that three senior Scottish judges had been questioned by Lord Hope, the Lord President, as to their possible involvement in vice rings or homosexual behaviour. This reportage arose because Lord Hope had called a meeting of newspaper editors at his Edinburgh home, where he detailed the rumours "unattributively" regarding three Court of Session judges (out of a total of 24 at the time). This meeting caused the scandals to be "splashed across the front pages." By December 2016, government papers covering these events had been declassified and were now available to the public. This resulted in human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell demanding an apology from Malcolm Rifkind, the former Scottish Secretary, for his actions in forcing Lord Dervaird from judicial office because of rumours of his being homosexual.https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/apology-call-for-gay-scandal-that-ended-lord-dervairds-career-1459296 Retrieved 4 March 2024
In 2011, Lord Hope of Craighead, then Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court, allegedly suggested that Scottish Judges were somewhat hostile to cases being reviewed on appeal to the Supreme Court in London.The impact of Europe on Criminal Justice in Scotland: The role of the UK Supreme Court (The Lord Rodger of Earlsferry Memorial Lecture) 19 November 2011 Lucy Adams of the Glasgow Herald reported him as saying: "There is [in England and Wales] none of the feeling of antipathy towards cases being sent to London that lies just below the surface here in Scotland." These words were subsequently described by Lord Hope as misreported or never said, despite the journalist publicly offering a recording. The version of the speech Lord Hope of Craighead approved for posting on the Supreme Court website does not include the contested wording. He maintained, in response, a complete news blackout at a subsequent speech-giving in Glasgow a month later. This speech was also described as "an unprecedented counter-attack on the Scottish Government for its assault on the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court earlier this year."
Lord Hope of Craighead's diaries have been analysed by academic writer Lewis Graham. He highlights three incidents as described by the diary writer, together establishing a "deeply concerning" possibility and pattern of judges being included or excluded from hearing a case based on the expected outcomes if they were to sit on it. Graham cites consideration by Hope of excluding Northern Irish Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore from a devolution case; and successful lobbying, according to Lord Hope of Craighead, by Lord Hoffmann to exclude Baroness Hale of Richmond from a Jamaican death penalty appeal. Additionally, Lord Judge asked, according to Lord Hope of Craighead, to be included in a miscarriage of justice case to further his pre-existing views. While accepting that the account of Lord Hope of Craighead could be doubted, Graham observed that the possibility of it being correct "strikes at the heart of judicial neutrality and procedural fairness".
In 2023, Lord Hope of Craighead introduced an amendment to the Public Order Bill at the report stage, designed to affect policing around abortion clinics. The amendment was adopted by the Conservative government. Police were to intervene where there was "serious disruption". The amendment widely defined this as any activity that "prevents or would hinder to more than a minor degree the individuals or the organisation from carrying out their daily activities."