About Derek P. Auchie

Derek Auchie is an academic, tribunal judge, mediator and arbitrator based in Scotland.

Mr. Auchie began his legal career as a litigation lawyer in the Scottish civil and criminal courts before moving into academia in 2002. He founded and developed an online LL.M. degree program in dispute resolution. That program became the largest in the university.

In 2012, Mr. Auchie moved to the ancient University of Aberdeen to its School of Law, a top five UK law school. There he developed another online LLM in Dispute Resolution, covering negotiation, mediation and arbitration. He teaches dispute resolution in two other courses at the undergraduate level.

Mr. Auchie has also worked with others to develop an International Arbitration Summer School at the University of Aberdeen, involving some leading international arbitrators in hands-on, practical arbitration classes, taking a case from start to finish over a period of two-weeks. Mr. Auchie is part of the University of Aberdeen’s Mediation Team, helping to resolve staff disputes. He has been appointed in arbitrations, both as a sole arbitrator and as chair of a panel.

Since 2005, he has been a part-time Tribunal Judge, chairing over 350 hearings relating to mental health detention applications and the education of children with additional support needs. He is a Fellow of the world-leading Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and is a Member of the CIArb Faculty and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

In 2017, Mr. Auchie was appointed as In-House Convener for the Health and Education Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland. Under the direction of the Chamber President, he deals with, among other tasks, development of policy and practice and advising other judges on procedure. He leads on all judicial training in the Chamber and decides permission to appeal applications.

Litigation Practice

Mr. Auchie has experience in a broad range of civil and criminal cases including:

• Personal injury
• Debt
• Contract disputes
• Fatal accident inquiries
• Mental health detention applications
• Immigration Law
• Employment Law
• Traffic commissioner inquiries
• Housing cases
• Summary and solemn (serious) criminal defense work
• Appeals (Sheriff, Sheriff Principal, Court of Session, High Court & Judicial Committee of the Privy Council)
• Family cases (divorce, adoption, child protection)
• Property cases

Mr. Auchie has chaired hearings as a Tribunal Judge in over 350 cases, running the judicial process, asking questions of witnesses, chairing the deliberation process, and drafting decision reasons. He also resolves all procedural issues and for one Tribunal, manages cases to the hearing stage.

Mediation Practice

Mr. Auchie has been appointed as co-mediator in a number of cases as part of the University of Aberdeen’s Mediation Team, dealing with disputes between academic and non-academic members of staff at all levels in the university. He teaches mediation to first year law students, involving them in role-playing and practical exercises during tutorials.

Arbitration Practice

Mr. Auchie has been appointed as arbitrator in both domestic and non-UK arbitrations. He teaches both the law and the practice of international arbitration at undergraduate and Masters levels. He has presented at conferences and has taught and researched arbitration law in the U.S. He has secured accreditation for two Masters courses from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and has worked with the Scottish Bar (Faculty of Advocates) on an initiative to teach international arbitration law and practice to a number of its members.