David Brand, Lord Brand

David William Robert Brand, Lord Brand (21 October 1923 – 14 April 1996) was a British lawyer and judge. He had a conservative outlook on life, and as a judge he had a reputation for both speedy decisions and severe sentences. found the office of advocate-depute most satisfying and in accordance with the best traditions of Scottish law and practice. It is misleading to describe our system as adversarial. The duty of prosecuting counsel is not to obtain a conviction, but to present the Crown case fully and fairly before the jury. He should not hesitate to abandon a prosecution if it becomes clear that a conviction would not be warranted.

Brand took silk in 1959, However, after the passage of the Community Service by Offenders (Scotland) Act 1978 Brand was the first High Court judge in Scotland to impose a community service order instead of a prison sentence. a crucial test case on marital rape. Brand and Emslie, sitting with Lord Allanbridge upheld a High Court ruling by Lord Mayfield that a man should stand trial for the alleged rape of his wife. The marital rape exemption in English law was abolished two years later,

In October of that year, sitting with Lord Justice General Lord Hope and Lord Ross, he heard an appeal against Lord McCluskey's postponement of sentencing of a convicted rapist to hear the views of the victim. Brand with Lord Murray and Lord Allanbridge zero-rated the Value-Added Tax (VAT) on biscuits supplied in a tin box.