Lauded by the left and the right

James Mackay was known to be a brilliant lawyer and Presbyterian elder long before he became Lord Advocate of Scotland (1979-84) and then Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (1987-97). He was, in the words of a past president of the Law Society of Scotland: “not only an outstanding man in his profession, but one of the most brilliant Scottish scholars of all time.”

Mackay, who also happened to be a family friend, died in July of this year, a few days after turning 99. “James did not quite attain his century, but he was a man in a century,” said Rt. Rev. Dr. Angus Morrison, quoting a legal colleague of Lord Mackay’s. Morrison gave a eulogy at Mackay’s funeral in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh on July 23.

Above the partisan fray

As lord chancellor, Mackay had powers that American presidents could only dream of, including being personally responsible for appointing judges at all levels of the judiciary. Although a member of the governing Conservative cabinet, as legal journalist Joshua Rozenberg points out, “he was far from conservative in some of his decisions.” He appointed the first Black Queen’s counsellors practising at the English bar in 1988, and in 1991 he appointed the first Black woman Queen’s counsellor, even though at 35 she thought she wasn’t ready. She went on to become attorney general in a future Labour government (2007-10) and Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, from 2016-2025, the first woman to hold either position. Mackay also appointed other judges, based on merit, whose politics were “far left of his own.” 

He considered it inappropriate to use his considerable power and influence to appoint judges based on religious or political considerations, as is often done in the highly politicised Supreme Court nomination process in the United States. Once during a panel discussion with chief justices of Canada and the United States, he observed that in America judges are selected based on their opinions, whereas in the United Kingdom they are selected based on their ability to form an opinion once they have heard all the evidence. 

Although he retired as lord chancellor, Mackay continued to be active in the House of Lords. He “took ‘early’ retirement at the age of 95,” as Morrison put it. When not quite four years later, his death was announced, an audible sigh went round the House, and several tributes were paid to him. Politicians and public media of the right (e.g. The Telegraph) and the left (e.g. The Guardian), as well as The Times and the BBC, mourned his passing and lauded his life’s work. I cannot think of a comparable North American legal or political figure of whom something similar might be said.

A man of faith

To those who knew him, James Mackay was a model of Christian humility, love and grace. In his tribute, Morrison described his friend’s “consistently kind, gentle manner, his warmth, the twinkle in his eyes, and the smile around his lips.” 

Once, my wife Margaret asked him for some parting advice as he was carrying our suitcases, running to catch our train in Edinburgh. He replied, “Acknowledge him in all thy ways and he shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:4, KJV). 

Another favourite text of Mackay’s was Micah 6:8, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (KJV).

Readers of Christian Courier may not readily associate Margaret Thatcher’s government with these qualities, but she clearly thought her lord chancellor exhibited them. I will let her have the last word. In a May 31, 1989 interview with the Glasgow Herald, she said that she could not think of anyone she knew who was a better man, adding that “What forms his whole life is to try to use his talents to the glory of God.” She stated that when he would be “no longer with us,” there would be “a massive guard of honour by the whole heavenly host in the next world! There really will, because he has been such a marvellous example.”