In memoriam: Sir Gerald Henry Gordon CBE KC

It is with great sadness that Edinburgh Law School announces the passing of former Edinburgh Law School Professor, Sir Gerald Henry Gordon CBE KC.

The Faculty of Advocates has announced the recent passing of Sir Gerald Gordon, after a short illness, and a long and productive life.

Sir Gerald was one of the most influential figures in Scottish criminal law and procedure in the last century. He was Professor of Scots Law at Edinburgh University from 1972 until 1976. The work that he initiated and drove, The Criminal Law of Scotland, one of the first volumes to be published in the prestigious Scottish Universities Law Institute series in 1967, is now in its fourth edition and is regarded as the leading source on Scots criminal law by the courts (where it is frequently cited) and academics alike.

Sir Gerald was the editor of the Scottish Criminal Case Reports and of Renton and Brown’s Criminal Procedure According to the Law of Scotland, and only stepped down from roles in his 90s in 2021. He served as a sheriff from 1976 to 1999 and as a temporary High Court Judge until 2004. He was a member of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission from its inception in 1999 until 2009. He was knighted in 1999, having previously been made a CBE, and was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2002. Sir Gerald is believed to be the only lawyer to hold this distinction.