Alexander Mackenzie Stuart, Baron Mackenzie-Stuart
Encyclopedia
Alexander John Mackenzie Stuart, Baron Mackenzie-Stuart (18 November 1924 – 1 April 2000) was a Scottish
advocate
and judge
. He was the first judge from a United Kingdom jurisdiction to sit on the European Court of Justice
in Luxembourg
, later becoming its President.
; his father was a King's Counsel and Professor
of Scots Law
at Aberdeen University. Mackenzie Stuart attended Fettes College
, before studying at Cambridge University
.
, becoming commissioned in Royal Engineers
and went up to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
, on the War Office
Engineering Course, followed by service, mainly building bridges, in Northern Europe. In his speech on retirement from the Court of Justice in 1988, he spoke of the indelible effect at an impressionable age of seeing the ashes of the Ruhr
. After a staff post in Burma and a spell dismantling mines on the Northumbria
n coast, he returned to Cambridge where he took first class honours in Part II of the Law Tripos
, followed by an LL.B.
with distinction at Edinburgh
.
in 1951 and quickly acquired a substantial practice, being appointed as Queen's Counsel
in 1963. In those days there was no specialisation and he was equally at home in the realms of trusts (on which his father had written the standard textbook), taxation and estate duty (as Counsel to the Revenue) and coal-mining accidents.
In due course, he was appointed Sheriff
of Aberdeen
and it was not long before he was appointed a Senator
of the College of Justice
, with the judicial title Lord Mackenzie Stuart. He was then appointed, with effect from January 1973, as a Judge of the European Court. The Prime Minister
and Foreign Secretary agreed that one of the posts in Luxembourg - Judge or Advocate General
- would go to a Scots lawyer. Mackenzie-Stuart’s taste for European law had been whetted by his wife who studied for an LL.M.
with Professor John Mitchell
, and he was asked at an early stage whether he would like to be Advocate General. The judgeship was meanwhile offered to senior lawyers in London.
in Luxembourg. The Mackenzie-Stuarts moved to Luxembourg and set up home in a farming village where they quickly became part of its life. They worked hard to build up the spirit of the embryo British community and his wife, Anne, became a driving force in the European School
. The Court of Justice was dominated by Robert Lecourt
.
With Jean-Pierre Warner
, the Advocate General, Mackenzie-Stuart worked to overcome suspicions and engineer the synchromesh of potentially incompatible legal systems which has continued to work ever since. In reality, the work of the European Court touches very little on the historical differences between the common law
and the civil law
, and much more on the modern problems of ensuring cross-frontier freedom to trade and to work, market regulation and fair competition.
had joined in 1981, followed by Spain
and Portugal
in 1986, taking the number of official languages from six to nine.
The Court building ("the rusty Palais" opened in 1972) was already too small and some of the translators were working in prefabricated huts. Through quiet persistence with judges, staff, Community institutions and national governments, the President ensured that the work got done, a new building was planned and the foundations were laid for a new court structure, involving the creation of a Court of First Instance
.
on 18 October 1988 as Baron Mackenzie-Stuart, of Dean
in the District of the City of Edinburgh (his Peerage
, unlike his surname and Scottish judicial title, was hyphenated).
shone in her own right as chairperson of the Parent-Teacher Association of the European School in Luxembourg.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
advocate
Advocate
An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
and judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
. He was the first judge from a United Kingdom jurisdiction to sit on the European Court of Justice
European Court of Justice
The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, later becoming its President.
Early life
Jack Mackenzie Stuart, as he was widely known, was born in AberdeenAberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
; his father was a King's Counsel and Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Scots Law
Scots law
Scots law is the legal system of Scotland. It is considered a hybrid or mixed legal system as it traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. With English law and Northern Irish law it forms the legal system of the United Kingdom; it shares with the two other systems some...
at Aberdeen University. Mackenzie Stuart attended Fettes College
Fettes College
Fettes College is an independent school for boarding and day pupils in Edinburgh, Scotland with over two thirds of its pupils in residence on campus...
, before studying at Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
.
Early career
In 1942, Mackenzie Stuart joined the British ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, becoming commissioned in Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
and went up to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England.The college was founded in 1596 and named after its foundress, Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex. It was from its inception an avowedly Puritan foundation: some good and godlie moniment for the mainteynance...
, on the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
Engineering Course, followed by service, mainly building bridges, in Northern Europe. In his speech on retirement from the Court of Justice in 1988, he spoke of the indelible effect at an impressionable age of seeing the ashes of the Ruhr
Ruhr
The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet...
. After a staff post in Burma and a spell dismantling mines on the Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
n coast, he returned to Cambridge where he took first class honours in Part II of the Law Tripos
Tripos
The University of Cambridge, England, divides the different kinds of honours bachelor's degree by Tripos , plural Triposes. The word has an obscure etymology, but may be traced to the three-legged stool candidates once used to sit on when taking oral examinations...
, followed by an LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
with distinction at Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh School of Law
The University of Edinburgh School of Law, founded in 1707, is a school within the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, dedicated to research and teaching in law. Known today as Edinburgh Law School, it is located in the historic Old College, the original site of the University...
.
QC and Sheriff
Mackenzie Stuart was admitted to the Faculty of AdvocatesFaculty of Advocates
The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary...
in 1951 and quickly acquired a substantial practice, being appointed as Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1963. In those days there was no specialisation and he was equally at home in the realms of trusts (on which his father had written the standard textbook), taxation and estate duty (as Counsel to the Revenue) and coal-mining accidents.
In due course, he was appointed Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
and it was not long before he was appointed a Senator
Senator of the College of Justice
The Senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of Senator: Lords of Session ; Lords Commissioner of Justiciary ; and the Chairman of the Scottish Land Court...
of the College of Justice
College of Justice
The College of Justice is a term used to describe the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies.The constituent bodies of the supreme courts of Scotland are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, and the Accountant of Court's Office...
, with the judicial title Lord Mackenzie Stuart. He was then appointed, with effect from January 1973, as a Judge of the European Court. The Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
and Foreign Secretary agreed that one of the posts in Luxembourg - Judge or Advocate General
Advocate General
An Advocate General is a senior law officer of a country or other jurisdiction, usually charged with advising the courts or Government on legal matters.-India:In India, an Advocate General is a legal adviser to a state government...
- would go to a Scots lawyer. Mackenzie-Stuart’s taste for European law had been whetted by his wife who studied for an LL.M.
Master of Laws
The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister. The University of Oxford names its taught masters of laws B.C.L...
with Professor John Mitchell
John Mitchell
-Politics:*John Mitchell *John Mitchel , Irish nationalist*John N. Mitchell , United States Attorney General and Watergate conspirator*John Mitchell , United States Congressman from Pennsylvania...
, and he was asked at an early stage whether he would like to be Advocate General. The judgeship was meanwhile offered to senior lawyers in London.
European Court of Justice
Mackenzie-Stuart was unexpectedly offered the post of Judge at the European Court of JusticeEuropean Court of Justice
The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
in Luxembourg. The Mackenzie-Stuarts moved to Luxembourg and set up home in a farming village where they quickly became part of its life. They worked hard to build up the spirit of the embryo British community and his wife, Anne, became a driving force in the European School
European School
The European Schools are co-educational schools providing nursery, primary and secondary. They are established to provide free education for children of personnel of the European Institutions and leading to the European Baccalaureate. Other children may be admitted subject to the availability of...
. The Court of Justice was dominated by Robert Lecourt
Robert Lecourt
Robert Lecourt was a French politician and lawyer, judge and the fourth President of the European Court of Justice.Lecourt was born in Pavilly, Seine-Maritime...
.
With Jean-Pierre Warner
Jean-Pierre Warner
Sir Jean-Pierre Frank Eugene Warner QC GCOM was a jurist who served as the first British Advocate-General of the European Court of Justice after Britain's entry into the European Community in 1972...
, the Advocate General, Mackenzie-Stuart worked to overcome suspicions and engineer the synchromesh of potentially incompatible legal systems which has continued to work ever since. In reality, the work of the European Court touches very little on the historical differences between the common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
and the civil law
Civil law (legal system)
Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...
, and much more on the modern problems of ensuring cross-frontier freedom to trade and to work, market regulation and fair competition.
President of the Court of Justice
He was later elected by the College of Judges as the seventh President of the Court - an office he neither sought nor wanted. He took over the Presidency at a difficult time. By failing to nominate new judges, some governments were holding up the work of the Court whose workload was growing exponentially. GreeceGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
had joined in 1981, followed by Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in 1986, taking the number of official languages from six to nine.
The Court building ("the rusty Palais" opened in 1972) was already too small and some of the translators were working in prefabricated huts. Through quiet persistence with judges, staff, Community institutions and national governments, the President ensured that the work got done, a new building was planned and the foundations were laid for a new court structure, involving the creation of a Court of First Instance
Court of First Instance
The General Court is a jurisdictional instance of the Court of Justice of the European Union. From its inception on 1 January 1989 to 30 November 2009, it was known as the Court of First Instance .-Competence:...
.
Later life
In recognition of his contribution to the work of the Court of Justice and to Community law he was created a Life PeerLife peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
on 18 October 1988 as Baron Mackenzie-Stuart, of Dean
Dean Village
Dean Village is a former village immediately northwest of Edinburgh, Scotland city centre. It was known as the "Water of Leith Village" and was a successful grain milling hamlet for more than 800 years. At one time there were no fewer than eleven working mills there, driven by the strong currents...
in the District of the City of Edinburgh (his Peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
, unlike his surname and Scottish judicial title, was hyphenated).
Family
His wife, the former Anne Millar (died 2008), was known for her legendary parties, both in Edinburgh and Luxembourg. The Mackenzie Stuarts had four daughters, all of whom survived both their parents. Anne Mackenzie-StuartAnne Mackenzie-Stuart
Anne, Lady Mackenzie-Stuart, MA, LLB, LLM was a Scottish pro-European Union activist....
shone in her own right as chairperson of the Parent-Teacher Association of the European School in Luxembourg.
External links
- European Court of Justice Official site