NEWS

Lord Doherty has sat as a judge of the Inner House of the Court of Session in Edinburgh since 2020.  He has been a Senator of the College of Justice since 2010.

The Lord President said: 

“I warmly congratulate Lord Doherty on his appointment today as a Justice of the United Kingdom Supreme Court.  Lord Doherty has had a distinguished career to date, as an advocate and judge.  He will bring to the United Kingdom Supreme Court his substantial experience and knowledge gained as a Senator of the College of Justice, at both first instance and appellate levels.  On behalf of all his judicial colleagues I wish Lord Doherty every success and fulfilment in his new role.”

Speaking on his appointment Lord Doherty said:

“I am thrilled and honoured to be appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court. I look forward very much to working with my fellow Justices and with other colleagues at the Supreme Court and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.”

The President of the Supreme Court, Lord Reed, said:

“I am very pleased that Lord Doherty has been appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court. He is an exceptionally able judge, with sound judgement and long experience of the Scottish legal system. His appointment will add to the strength of the Court.”

Lord Doherty will be sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court in early 2026.

Lord Doherty became a judge of the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary in 2010. He has been a judge of the Lands Valuation Appeal Court since 2011. He was a judge of the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) between 2013 and 2020, and a chairman of the Competition Appeal Tribunal between 2015 and 2020. He was a commercial judge between 2014 and 2020. He became an Inner House judge in 2020, and a judge of the Registration Appeal Court earlier this year. He sat in the recent Judicial Committee of the Privy Council appeal Cable and Wireless Jamaica Ltd v Abrahams [2025] JCPC 44. He was joint editor of Armour on Valuation for Rating from 1990 to 2021, and has been general editor since then. He was recently elected an honorary bencher of Middle Temple. He is married with three adult children.

Raymond Doherty was born in Stirling and went to school in Alloa and Dumfries. He studied law at the University of Edinburgh, Hertford College, Oxford, and Harvard Law School. He was admitted as an advocate in 1984 and was the first recipient of the Lord Reid scholarship. At the Bar he had a predominantly civil practice, with emphases on commercial law, property law, public law, and valuation for rating; but he also practised in many other areas. Between 1990 and 1997 he was a standing junior counsel to UK Government departments. He was elected as Clerk of the Faculty of Advocates in 1990 and held that office until 1995. He took silk in 1997. Between 1998 and 2001 he served as an Advocate-depute (prosecuting counsel).