lord justice-general

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lord justice-general. Scottish legal post. From the 15th cent. the lord justice-general was recognized as the supreme judge of criminal cases in Scotland, superseding the post of justiciar. The office, usually held by peers, was hereditary in the Argyll family from 1514 until 1628. Though the office continued to be held by noblemen after the reorganization of courts in 1672, the effective work was done by the lord justice clerk in the High Court of Judiciary. In 1830 the Court of Session Act declared that after the death of the existing office-holder, the 3rd duke of Montrose, the office of lord justice-general would be merged with that of the lord president of the Court of Session.

Richard A. Smith

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