John Francis Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington

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John Francis Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington , PC , ( October 6, 1920 - August 31, 2005 ) was an English judge and Master of the Rolls from 1982 to 1992 . Among other things, he chaired the controversial trials against the Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven .

Career as a judge

After successfully completing his studies, Donaldson was admitted to the bar in 1946 and worked in various law firms, mainly focusing on tort law and commercial law . In 1961 he was appointed Crown Attorney and in 1966 he was the youngest member ever to become a judge on the High Court of Justice and was beaten to a Knight Bachelor . In the meantime, Donaldson was the first President of the National Industrial Relations Court (NIRC) , a national court for labor law .

In 1979 Donaldson became Lord Justice of Appeal , i.e. Lord Judge at the Court of Appeal , and thus automatically a member of the Privy Council . Three years later, in 1982, he was promoted to Master of the Rolls and remained so until he retired in 1992.

In 1988 he was promoted to Life Peer with the title Baron Donaldson of Lymington, of Lymington in the County of Hampshire .

criticism

John Donaldson was particularly criticized for his role in the trials of the Guildford Four in 1975 and the Maguire Seven in 1976. In the opinion of trial observers, Donaldson had insufficiently informed the members of the jury of inconsistencies in the evidence and statements available and thus contributed to one of the greatest judicial errors in British legal history. In 1991 he also accused the then British Home Secretary Kenneth Baker of disregarding the court because the Home Office carried out the deportation of a Zairian despite the ongoing process .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary of the BBC (Eng.)
  2. ^ P. Victory: Justice and Truth - the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven
  3. ↑ Obituary on guardian.co.uk
personal data
SURNAME Donaldson, John Francis, Baron Donaldson of Lymington
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English peer and judge
DATE OF BIRTH October 6, 1920
DATE OF DEATH August 31, 2005