Key Figures

Lord Sutherland (Ranald Iain Sutherland)

Presiding judge

Lord Sutherland has been a judge since 1985. He sits in the first division of the Inner House, which acts mainly as a court of appeal in civil matters. A graduate of Edinburgh University, he was admitted to the Scottish Bar, the Faculty of Advocates, in 1956, and appointed a QC in 1969. He is currently the Scottish representative to the International Association of Judges.

Lord Coulsfield (John Taylor Cameron)

Judge

Lord Coulsfied became a judge in 1987 and now sits in the second division of the Inner House, which acts mainly as a court of appeal in civil matters. He also sits in the Lands Valuation Appeal Court. After studying at Oxford and Edinburgh, he was admitted to the Scottish Bar, the Faculty of Advocates, in 1960. He was appointed a QC in 1973, serving as an advocate depute, criminal prosecutor, from 1977 to 1979. He has served as chairman of the Medical Appeals Tribunal for Scotland and as Scottish judge on the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

Lord MacLean (Ranald Norman Munro MacLean)

Judge

Lord MacLean has been a judge since 1990 after being appointed a QC in 1977. After studying at Cambridge, Edinburgh and Yale, he was admitted to the Scottish Bar, the Faculty of Advocates, in 1964. He served as an advocate depute, criminal prosecutor, between 1972 and 1975, and was home advocate depute, or most senior advocate depute, between 1979 and 1982. He has served on a variety of boards including the Scottish Legal Aid Board.

Lord Abernethy (John Alastair Cameron)

Additional judge

Lord Abernethy became a judge in 1992. A graduate of Oxford and Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College, he was called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1963 and the Scottish Bar, the Faculty of Advocates, in 1966. He was made a QC in 1979 and vice-dean of the faculty from 1983 to 1992. Between 1972 and 1975 he was an advocate depute, criminal prosecutor. He has also served as standing junior counsel to the Department of Energy, standing junior counsel to the Scottish Development Department, legal chairman of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals for Scotland, and as president of the tribunals.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi

Convicted bomber

Born April 1, 1952, in Tripoli, Libya, Al-Megrahi was found guilty on January 31, 2001, of killing 270 people in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. He was educated in the United States and speaks English well. He worked as chief of airline security for the Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta at the time of the bombing. U.S. authorities have said Al-Megrahi, former director of the Center for Strategic Studies in Libya, was also a Libyan intelligence agent. Since 1991, he has lived under armed guard and relies on a small pension from the Libyan airlines. Married, he has two children.

Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah

Cleared bombing suspect

Born April 4, 1956, in Suq el Juma'a, Libya, Fhimah was found not guilty on January 31, 2001, in the bombing Pan Am Flight 103. He had been charged with murder. He worked as station manager for Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta at the time of the bombing. U.S. authorities have said he was also a Libyan intelligence officer. Since 1991, he has lived under armed guard and his wife has been working to support the family. He has five children.

Colin Boyd

Lead prosecutor

Head of the prosecution team, Boyd is the Lord Advocate, or chief prosecutor, for Scotland, a position he assumed in February. He was also Scotland's solicitor general from May 1997 to February. He studied at Manchester University and earned a law degree from the University of Edinburgh. He was a solicitor in private practice before being called to the Scottish Bar in 1983. Married, he has three children.

Kamal Maghur

Lead defense lawyer

Maghur is the head of the defense team. He has been a practicing lawyer since earning a law degree in Cairo, Egypt, in 1957. He has been a judge on the Libyan appeals court and supreme court and has served as ambassador to the United Nations, Canada, France, China, among other countries. He also served as the petroleum minister, foreign minister and president of OPEC, the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Moammar Gadhafi

Libyan leader

Born in September 1942, Gadhafi is devoted to Islam and pan-Arab causes. Libya has been on the U.S. State Department's terrorist list since 1979. Gadhafi became the Libyan leader in 1969 after deposing King Idris I. He used Libya's oil money to support Palestinian guerrillas against Israel, and he opposes peace between Arabs and Israelis. Within Libya, Gadhafi began a cultural and social revolution blending Arab nationalism with aspects of a welfare state.