Lord Cullen
The Review was led by Lord Cullen.
Lord Cullen was called to the Scottish Bar in 1960 and became a Queen's Counsel in 1973, serving as an Advocate depute (Crown Counsel) from 1978 to 1981. In 1986 he was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice. He held office as the Lord Justice Clerk from 1997 until 2001, when he became Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General of Scotland. He retired from the latter offices in 2005.
He conducted public inquiries into the Piper Alpha disaster, the shootings at Dunblane Primary School and the Ladbroke Grove rail crash.
He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1997, a life peer in 2003 and a Knight of the Thistle in 2007. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by a number of universities. He is a former chairman of the Cockburn Association (Edinburgh Civic Trust), and a former member of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, and of the University Court of Napier University. He is the President of SACRO, and of the Saltire Society, and the chairman of the board of The Signet Accreditation Limited.
In The Report, Lord Cullen said:
"In this report I set out my conclusions and recommendations arising from my Review of fatal accident inquiry legislation. I gratefully acknowledge the assistance which I have received from the strong response to the consultation. My aim has been to set out practical measures for a system for inquiry into fatalities that is effective, efficient and fair."
Secretary to the Review
Andrew Mackenzie, a solicitor on secondment from Government Legal Services Scotland, was appointed by Lord Cullen to be Secretary to the Review of Fatal Accident Inquiry Legislation.