1983 in Scotland

Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – George Younger

  Law officers

• Lord Advocate – Lord Mackay of Clashfern
• Solicitor General for Scotland – Peter Fraser

  Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Emslie
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Wheatley
• Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Elliott

  Events

• 11 May – Aberdeen F.C. beat Real Madrid 2–1 to win the European Cup Winner's Cup.
• 21 May – Aberdeen beat Rangers 1-0 to win the Scottish Cup.
• 30 September – Megget Reservoir officially opened.
• 5 October – Harviestoun Brewery established.
• 24 October – Dennis Nilsen goes on trial at the Central Criminal Court in London accused of six murders and two attempted murders. He confesses to murdering "15 or 16" young men.
• 4 November – Dennis Nilsen is sentenced to life imprisonment.
• 20 December – Aberdeen beat European Cup Winners Hamburg 2-0 to become the first Scottish club to win the UEFA Super Cup.
• Brae oilfield production begins.
• Glasgow Central Mosque built.

  Births

• 1 January – Mark Beaumont, adventurer
• 8 February – Ashley Mulheron, actress and television presenter
• 14 March – Anas Sarwar, Labour politician
• 15 March – Sean Biggerstaff, actor
• 8 June – Allan Dick, field hockey goalkeeper
• 22 August – Julie Kilpatrick, field hockey player
• 20 September – Freya Ross, née Murray, long-distance runner
• 30 September – Louise Munn, field hockey defender
• 25 November – Kirsty Crawford, Scottish singer-songwriter and actress

  Deaths

• 5 July – Alec Cheyne, international footballer
• August – Winifred Rushforth, psychoanalyst
• 26 August – Major-General Douglas Wimberley, soldier

  The arts

• 17 February – release of Bill Forsyth's film Local Hero.
• 6 September – ITV broadcasts the Scottish Television-produced police procedural Killer, set in Glasgow, pilot for the series Taggart.
• 21 October – Burrell Collection opened in Glasgow.
• Alternative rock band Del Amitri is formed in Glasgow.
• Alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain is formed in East Kilbride.
• Folk rock band The Proclaimers is formed by twins Craig and Charlie Reid of Auchtermuchty.
• Gael Turnbull publishes his poems From the Language of the Heart: Some Imitations from the Gaelic of Sine Reisideach in Glasgow.