Professor Stephen Tierney, global distinguished professor of law at the Notre Dame London Law Programme, has been appointed Honorary King's Counsel by His Majesty The King on the nomination of the Lord Justice General and the recommendation of First Minister John Swinney. There are five recipients of this great honor, and this is the first time that it has been conferred in Scotland.

Honorary King’s Counsel is an honorary award unique to the legal profession. The award recognizes individuals who have made a major contribution to the law of Scotland or the legal profession and how it is advanced, outside of practicing as an advocate or solicitor advocate.

Before making nominations to the First Minister, the Lord Justice General consulted other judges, the Lord Advocate, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, and the President of the Law Society of Scotland.

Tierney serves as legal adviser to the House of Lords Constitution Committee and was a commissioner of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland 2015-24. He previously served as Constitutional Adviser to the Scottish Parliament Independence Referendum Bill Committee from 2013 to 2014.

In Notre Dame’s London Law Programme, Tierney teaches comparative federalism and recently took his class to Edinburgh, where they visited the Scottish Parliament and had a tour of famous legal landmarks.

He is also a professor of constitutional theory at the University of Edinburgh Law School.

Tierney teaches and researches on UK and comparative constitutional law and constitutional theory and has published three monographs with Oxford University Press, the most recent, The Federal Contract, in 2022.

Originally published by Arienne Calingo at law.nd.edu on September 20, 2024.