Lord Rodger of Earlsferry

Former Justice

Alan Ferguson Rodger, Lord Rodger of Earlsferry (18 September 1944 to 26 June 2011) was appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in October 2001.

Lord Rodger graduated with an MA, LLB from Glasgow University and then did a D.Phil at Oxford. He was a junior research fellow of Balliol and then a fellow of New College (1970-1972). He became a member of the Faculty of Advocates (the Scottish Bar) in 1974, Clerk of Faculty (1976-1979) and a QC in 1985.

He was Home Advocate Depute from 1986 to 1988 before becoming Solicitor General for Scotland (1989-1992) and Lord Advocate (1992-1995). He was made a Life Peer and Privy Councillor in 1992. Lord Rodger was appointed a Court of Session judge in 1995 and Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General of Scotland, in succession to Lord Hope of Craighead, in 1996. He was an Honorary Bencher of Lincoln's Inn.

Lord Rodger wrote many books and articles on Roman and Scots law. These included 'The Courts, the Church and the Constitution' (2008). He was a Fellow of the British Academy and the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a corresponding member of the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften. He became High Steward of the University of Oxford in 2008.

Lord Rodger died on 26 June 2011.