He was born in Edinburgh on 21 February 1913[1] the son of John Mair Hunter QC.
He studied law at both New College, Oxford and Edinburgh University.
[1] In September 1939 as an officer in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve he was called up prior to the onset of the Second World War serving on the mine-layer Menestheus.
In October 1961 he was elected a Senator of the College of Justice under the title of Lord Hunter.
A decided hard-liner he spoke out against what he called the "sociological nonsense" of excusing crime due to poor social backgrounds.