[2][3] In 1993, he was appointed along with James Friel, Senior Procurator Fiscal of North Strathclyde, to conduct an investigation into allegations of corruption amongst a so-called Magic Circle in the Scottish justice system, comprising homosexual members of the judiciary, legal profession and police.
Concerns had been raised by Linlithgow MP Tam Dalyell with Lothian and Borders Chief Constable Sir William Sutherland.
[2][3][4][5] In 1995 he was appointed by Michael Forsyth, the Secretary of State for Scotland, to conduct a local inquiry with the terms of reference: "To inquire into the question whether Monklands District Council have failed to comply with the duty imposed on them by section 7 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 to make appointments to paid office or employment on merit, and to report thereon.
In 2002, he was one of five judges who heard the appeal of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands.
[3] He was promoted to the First Division of the Inner House in 2005, at which time he was appointed a member of the Privy Council, affording him the style, The Right Honourable.