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The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior Judge in Scotland, behind the Lord President of the Court of Session.

The holder has the title in both the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary and is in charge of the Second Division of Judges in the Court of Session. The office is one of the Great Offices of State in Scotland.

Originally clericus justiciarie or Clerk to the Court of Justiciary, the counterpart in the criminal courts of the Lord Clerk Register, the status of the office increased over time and the Justice-Clerk came to claim a seat on the Bench by practice and custom. This was recognised by the Privy Council of Scotland in 1663 and the Lord Justice-Clerk became the effective head of the reformed High Court of Justiciary in 1672 when the court was reconstituted.

The Lord Justice Clerk now rarely presides at criminal trials in the High Court, with most of his time being spent dealing with civil and criminal appeals and appeals against the grant or refusal of bail.

partial list

• William de Camera - Justice-Clerk to David II (1324-71)
• Adam Forester
• 1426: James de Lawedre (d. after 1459)
• 1478: William Halket of Belsico
• 1491: Richard Lawson of Heirigs
• 1507: James Henderson of Fordel
• 1513: James Wishhart of Pittarrow
• 1524: Nicholas Crawfurd of Oxengangs
• 1537: Adam Otterurn of Reidhall
• 1537: Thomas Scot of Pitgorn
• 1539: Thomas Bellenden of Auchole
• 1540: Henry Balneaves
• 1547: Sir John Bellenden of Auchnole & Broughton (d.1576)
• 1577: Sir Lewis Bellenden of Auchnole & Broughton (d.1591)
• 1591: Sir John Cockburn of Ormiston, Lord Ormiston (d.1623)
• 1625: Sir George Elphinston of Blythswood
• 1634: Sir James Carmichael of the Ilk
• 1637: Sir John Hamilton of Orbiston
• 1651: Sir Robert Murray
• 1663: Sir John Home, of Renton, Lord Renton
• 1671: Sir James Lockhart of Lee
• 1674: Sir William Lockhart of Lee
• 1675: Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie, Lord Craigie
• 1680: Richard Maitland, 4th Earl of Lauderdale
• 1684: Sir James Foulis of Colinton, Lord Colinton
• 1688: Sir John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair
• 1690: Sir Alexander (or George) Campbell of Cessnock, Lord Cessnock
• 1692: Sir Adam Cockburn of Ormiston, Lord Ormiston
• 1699: Sir John Maxwell of Pollok, Lord Pollok
• 1702: Roderick Mackenzie of Prestonhall, Lord Prestonhall
• 1704: Sir William Hamilton of Whitelaw, Lord Whitelaw
• 1705: Sir Adam Cockburn of Ormiston, Lord Ormiston
• 1710: Sir James Erskine of Grange, Lord Grange
• 1714: Sir Adam Cockburn of Ormiston, Lord Ormiston
• 1735: Andrew Fletcher, Lord Milton
• 1748: Charles Erskine, Lord Tinwald
• 1763: Sir Gilbert Eliot of Minto, Lord Minto
• 1766: Sir Thomas Miller of Barskimming, Lord Glenlee
• 1787: Robert Macqueen of Braxfield, Lord Braxfield
• 1799: Sir David Rae, Lord Eskgrove
• 1804: Charles Hope of Granton
• 1811: David Boyle of Shewalton
• 1841: John Hope
• 1858: John Inglis of Glencorse, Lord Glencorse
• 1867: George Patton, Lord Glenalmond
• 1869: James Moncreiff of Tullibole
• 1888: Sir John Hay Athole Macdonald, Lord Kingsburgh
• July 1, 1915: Charles Scott Dickson
• October 17, 1922: Robert Munro, Lord Alness
• October 2, 1933: Craigie Mason Aitchison
• June 10, 1941: Thomas Mackay Cooper
• October 13, 1947: George Reid Thomson
• September 25, 1962: William Grant
• 1972: John Thomas Wheatley
• 1985: Donald MacArthur Ross, Lord Ross
• 1997: William Cullen, Lord Cullen of Whitekirk
• 2001: Brian Gill, Lord Gill

For listings to 1637 (may be wanting) refer The Staggering State of the Scots' Statesmen, by Sir John Scot of Scotstarvet, Director of Chancery, Edinburgh, 1754, p.183.

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