'Robert Dundas, Lord Arniston', the elder (
1685 –
1753) was a
Scottish judge.
The second son of
Robert Dundas (d. 1726) he served as
Solicitor General for Scotland from 1717 to 1720 and as
Lord Advocate from 1720 to 1725. He was Dean of the
Faculty of Advocates from 1721.
He was
Member of Parliament for
Midlothian from 1722 to 1727, 1727 to 1734 and 1734–7; He was chief adviser of
Lord Ilay's opponents. He was
Lord President of the Court of Session from 1748 to 1753. In 1728 he reintroduced into Scottish juries the possible verdicts of ''guilty'' or ''not guilty'' as against ''proven'' or ''
not proven''.
Part of a remarkable Scottish legal and political dynasty, his father
Robert Dundas had been an MP and judge, as were his son
Robert Dundas (1713–1787) and grandson
Robert Dundas (1758–1819).