Public Law

The Regius Professorship of Public Law was created in 1707, leading to the foundation of Edinburgh University's Faculty of Law.

Creation of the Chair

Some controversy surrounds the creation of the Regius Professorship. It resulted from a sign-manual issued by Queen Anne, which amended the terms of an annual grant of £300 awarded by her predecessor William III. The grant had hitherto funded twenty bursaries in theology to supply ministers for the many vacancies in the Church of Scotland following the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688. Anne's sign-manual stated that this purpose had now been met, and that it would be of greater public benefit to employ £150 from the grant to endow a chair of 'Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations'. The number of theology bursaries was reduced to five, and Charles Erskine, 1680-1763 was appointed to the newly created Chair.

For some of the University's historians, such as Andrew Dalzel (1742-1806) and Roger L. Emerson, the creation of the Professorship was essentially a cynical means of creating a sinecure for Charles Erskine who enjoyed much influence at Court. Dalzel points to the protest raised by the Town Council of Edinburgh and to the fact that Erskine was immediately granted leave of absence to pursue his studies abroad. Erskie, in fact, appears to have used his salary as a means of qualifying himself for the Scottish Bar, eventually rising to the position of Solicitor-General, Lord Advocate, Judge, and Lord Justice Clerk. Another historian Sir Alexander Grant (1826-1884) is a little more inclined to believe that the Chair was a deliberate first step towards the creation of a law faculty. He argues that it was consistent with the programme of reforms initiated by Principal William Carstares (1649-1715) which aimed to remodel Edinburgh University along European lines. These reforms would lead in 1708 to the abolition of the regenting system and the creation of the Faculty of Arts. Grant notes too the growing desire for a Scottish law school which would prevent the need for Scots to study abroad at centres such as Leiden, Groningen, Utrecht, or Halle if they wished to practise law. There was certainly a strong argument for instituting a chair in a discipline that was popular among Scottish students, but which they had hitherto been forced to go abroad to study.

1707-1832

Whatever the intentions behind the creation of the Chair, it was soon treated as something of a sinecure, and, for over a century, the teaching of Public Law was intermittent. The Chair was the most richly endowed in the university and was essentially bought and sold. The Lord Advocate of Scotland would confer the appointment upon any person willing to buy out the existing professor. It became a means of rewarding politically useful lawyers when judgeships or other forms of legal patronage were unavailable. Moreover, the study of Public Law was not necessary for graduation, so there was little student demand for teaching.

Nonetheless, two of the early professors, in particular, appear to have taught extensively. Robert Bruce (1718-1785) lectured regularly to large classes but demitted his post in 1764 when he became a Lord of Session. Allan Maconochie (1748-1816), who lectured even after being appointed judge, revitalized the teaching of Public Law through adapting the Scottish Enlightenment ideas of Adam Smith. He abandoned the Grotian approach to natural law for a Smithian emphasis on the historical evolution of law, based in the feelings and the development of social institutions.

Maconochie's successor, Robert Hamilton, however, does not seem to have taught at all, and, on his death in 1831, the Chair fell into abeyance for over 30 years.

1862-

On Hamilton's death the Crown made no new appointment to the Chair, which accordingly dropped out of existence until it was

revived by the Commissioners of 1858-1862, who ordained that " the Professor of Public Law shall deliver a course of not less than forty lectures on International Law during the Winter Session of the University yearly, and to the Professorship shall be attached a salary of ;^2 5o to be annually voted by Parliament." On the iSth May 1862 a Commission of Queen Victoria appointed (8) James Lorimer; and his class, being necessary for the LLB. degree, has been well attended ever since. In 1881 the Senatus Academicus successfully pleaded before the Court of Session that jCtS^ P^r annum of Bishops' rents should be restored to the salary of the Chair in addition to the Parliamentary vote.

By then the chair had become principally a means of rewarding a useful lawyer whose needs could not be met with legal patronage of another sort.

Professors of Public Law

• 1707 - Charles Erskine (1680-1763)
• 1734 - William Kirkpatrick (1705-1778)
• 1735 - George Abercromby (1705-1800)
• 1759 - Robert Bruce (1718-1785)
• 1764 - James Balfour (1705-1795)
• 1779 - Allan Maconochie (1748-1816)
• 1796 - Robert Hamilton (1763-1831)

From 1831, the Chair lay in abeyance until it was reconstituted in 1862.

• 1862 - James Lorimer (1818-1890)
• 1890 - Sir Ludovic James Grant (1862-1936)
• 1922 - William Wilson (1884-1945?)
• 1945 - Archibald Hunter Campbell (1902-1989)
• 1972 - Sir Donald Neil MacCormick (1941-2009)
• 2008 - Neil Walker (1960- )

Sources

• Alexander Bower, The History of the University of Edinburgh. 3 vols. Edinburgh, 1817-1830.
• John W. Cairns and Hector L. MacQueen, Learning and the Law: A Short History of Edinburgh Law School [[1], accessed 14 July 2015]
• Andrew Dalzel, History of the University of Edinburgh from its Foundation, 2 vols (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1862)
• Roger L. Emerson, Academic Patronage in the Scottish Enlightenment: Glasgow, Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008)
• Sir Alexander Grant, The Story of the University of Edinburgh during its First Three Hundred Years, 2 vols (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1884)

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