Born on 18 December 1938,[1] MacLean was educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh, where he was Head of School.
He was Chairman of a committee established by the Secretary of State for Scotland to review the sentencing and treatment of serious sexual and violent offenders including those with personality disorders in 1999.
Although the conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi at the trial was widely criticised, MacLean believes the verdict was right.
"I have no doubt, on the evidence we heard, that the judgments we made and the verdicts we reached were correct", he told The Scotsman newspaper on 31 January 2006.
As for Megrahi's application to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC), MacLean believes that the SCCRC will refer the case back for further appeal: "They can't be working for two years without producing something with which to go to the court", he suggested to The Scotsman.