David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead

A descendant of Charles Hope, Lord Granton, Lord President of the Court of Session from 1811 to 1841 through his third son,[2] David Hope was born on 27 June 1938 to Edinburgh lawyer Arthur Henry Cecil Hope, OBE, WS and Muriel Ann Neilson Hope (née Collie),[3] and 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 lieutenant.[3][4][5] 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. He then returned to Scotland and studied at the Faculty of Law of the University of Edinburgh, graduating LL.B. in 1965.[3]

In 1966, Hope married Katharine Mary Kerr, daughter of solicitor Mark Kerr WS, with whom he has twin sons and a daughter.[3]

Hope was admitted as an advocate in 1965 and became a Queen's Counsel in 1978.[6] 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, and from 1986 to 1989 was Dean of the Faculty of Advocates.

In 1989, Hope became a Senator of the College of Justice, taking the judicial title Lord Hope, and was appointed directly to the offices of Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General, Scotland's highest judge. He was made a Privy Counsellor at this time, and was awarded a Life peerage in the 1995 New Year Honours,[7] his title being gazetted as Baron Hope of Craighead, of Bamff in the District of Perth and Kinross on 28 February 1995.[8] In 1996, The Lord Hope of Craighead retired as Lord President to become a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary,[9] and was succeeded by The Lord Rodger of Earlsferry. On 21 April 2009, he was appointed Second Senior Law Lord, succeeding Lord Hoffmann.[10] 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.

In November 2014 it was announced that Lord Hope would be appointed as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2015.[11]

Starting in 2017, Lord Hope's diaries were published in five volumes by Avizandum Publishing. The works chronicled his life and experiences, from Senior Counsel to his retirement from the Supreme Court. The later editions evoked minor controversy over remarks relating to Lady Hale's appointment to the Court,[12] and for revealing certain information about how cases were decided behind the scenes, something one commentator described as "deeply concerning".[13]

Hope was lauded by Iain Duncan Smith for his contribution of support in January 2021 to an amendment to the Trade Act 2021 whereby the government would be required to ensure "that the UK does not trade with genocidal regimes. Importantly, with the United Nations having shown itself incapable of making such decisions, the determination of whether genocide has taken place would be made by the High Court of England and Wales."[14]

As Deputy President of the Supreme Court

• R (E) v Jewish Free School [2009] UKSC 1 - discrimination in school admissions on religious grounds
• R (L) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2009] UKSC 3 - criminal records checks and right to respect for private and family life
• BA (Nigeria) v Secretary of State [2009] UKSC 7 - right of appeal against deportation orders
• Gisda Cyf v Barratt [2010] UKSC 41 - employment contracts as against general contracts
• Cadder v HM Advocate [2010] UKSC 43 - police detention of suspects
• HJ and HT v Home Secretary [2010] UKSC 31 - homosexuality in asylum claims
• HM Treasury v Ahmed [2010] UKSC 2 - strikes Treasury Orders related to UNSC 1267 Committee[15]
• Jones v Kaney [2011] UKSC 13 - immunity from suit of expert witnesses
• Fraser v HM Advocate [2011] UKSC 24 - role of the UK Supreme Court in Scots criminal law

As Lord of Appeal in Ordinary

• R v Woollin [1999] 1 AC 82 - indirect intention
• Lubbe v Cape Plc [2000] 1 WLR 1545 - tortious liability of shareholders
• Bruton v London and Quadrant Housing Trust [2000] 1 AC 406 - rights of landlords and tenants
• White v White [2001] 1 AC 596 - distribution of property on divorce
• DGFT v First National Bank plc [2001] UKHL 52 - unfair contractual terms and the construction of unreviewable core terms
• Wilson v First County Trust Ltd (No 2) [2003] UKHL 40 - impact of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 on pawnshop dealers' human rights
• Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd [2004] UKHL 22 - right to privacy and confidentiality
• Chester v Afshar [2004] UKHL 41 - patients' right to give fully informed consent
• Archibald v Fife Council [2004] UKHL 32 - reasonable adjustments for the disabled
• Jackson v Royal Bank of Scotland [2005] UKHL 3 - remoteness
• Re Spectrum Plus Ltd [2005] UKHL 41 - definition of "floating charge"
• Jackson v Attorney General [2005] UKHL 56 - fox hunting ban
• J & H Ritchie Ltd v Lloyd Ltd [2007] UKHL 9 - Sale of Goods Act 1979, section 35 and measure of damages for poor quality after repair
• Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17 - beneficial interest in the family home on divorce
• The Achilleas [2008] UKHL 48 - remoteness
• Austin v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2009] UKHL 5 - kettling of protestors
• Chartbrook Ltd v Persimmon Homes Ltd [2009] UKHL 38 - influence of pre-contractual negotiations on construction

As Lord President

• Sharp v Thomson 1997 SC(HL) 66 - Scots property law
• West v Secretary of State for Scotland 1992 SC 385 - Scots judicial review

As Lord Justice General

• Jamieson v HM Advocate 1994 JC 88 - rape and consent
• Ross v HM Advocate 1991 JC 210 - automatism

The Lord Hope of Craighead became Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde in 1998 and was appointed a Fellow in 2000. He stepped down as Chancellor in October 2013.[16] He was awarded an honorary LL.D. by the university in 1993, and by the University of Aberdeen in 1991 and the University of Edinburgh in 1995.

In 2007, he was awarded the David Kelbie Award by the Institute of Contemporary Scotland. He was formerly an Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Aberdeen, and is an honorary member of the Canadian Bar Association (1987) and of The Society of Legal Scholars (1991), an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (2000), and an Honorary Bencher of Gray's Inn (1989) and of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland (1995). He is also, as of 2008, the Honorary President of the Edinburgh Student Law Review.

On St Andrew's Day, 30 November 2009, Lord Hope was appointed to the Order of the Thistle by Queen Elizabeth II.[17]

The Order of the Thistle is the highest chivalric honour in Scotland. In the UK as a whole it is second only to the Order of the Garter amongst chivalric orders. The order honours Scottish men and women who have held public office or who have contributed in some way to national life.[18] Lord Hope represented the Order at the 2023 Coronation.[19]

Coat of arms of David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead

Crest A broken terrestrial sphere Proper charged with an anchor Gules surmounted by a rainbow Proper. Escutcheon Azure on a chevron Or between three bezants a bay leaf between two quill pens Vert. Supporters Two blackfaced rams Proper. Motto Spes Non Est Fracta (My Hope Is Not Broken)[20]

• Media related to David Hope at Wikimedia Commons