Patrick Devlin, Baron Devlin

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Patrick Arthur Devlin, Baron Devlin PC (* 25. November 1905 in Chislehurst ; † 9. August 1992 in Pewsey , Wiltshire ) was a British lawyer who most recently as Lord of Appeal in Ordinary , due to the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 as a Life Peer and Member of the House of Lords .

Life

Attorney and judge in the High Court of Justice

Devlin, son of one of the Northern Irish province Ulster originating father and one from Scotland coming mother, grew up in Aberdeen and graduated after visiting the Stonyhurst College to study law at Christ's College of the University of Cambridge . After completing his studies, he was admitted to the bar ( Inns of Court ) of Gray's Inn in 1929 and then took up a position as a barrister , specializing in particular in commercial law.

In 1948 he became a judge at the High Court of Justice responsible for England and Wales and held this judicial office until 1960. At the same time he was beaten to a Knight Bachelor degree in 1948 and has since been given the suffix "Sir". At the High Court of Justice in 1957, he was presiding judge in the criminal trial of alleged serial killer John Bodkin Adams , who was ultimately acquitted . The trial led to the introduction of the so-called principle of double action into English law, according to which a doctor who inadvertently causes the patient's death in the will to calm his patient's pain should not be charged with murder. Second, due to the enormous public interest at Adam's hearing, the defendant was allowed to seek exclusion from the public. He described his experiences in this process in 1985 in his book Easing the passing: The trial of Doctor John Bodkin Adams , making him the first British judge to write a book about a criminal trial he directed.

In 1959 he also wrote a report on British colonial rule in Nyassaland on behalf of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan .

Lord Justice and Member of the House of Lords

After finishing this judicial activity, he was appointed judge ( Lord Justice of Appeal ) in 1960 at the Court of Appeal , the court of appeal responsible for England and Wales, where he worked until 1961. In addition, he was appointed Privy Councilor in 1960 .

Last Devlin was a Letters Patent of 11 October 1961 precluded the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 as a life peer with the title Baron Devlin , of West Wick in the County of Wiltshire, for a member of the House of Lords in the nobility called and worked until his resignation in 1964 as Lord Judge ( Lord of Appeal in Ordinary ). In 1963 he became a member ( fellow ) of the British Academy .

After his resignation as Lord Judge, he worked from 1964 to 1986 as a judge at the administrative tribunal of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and at the same time between 1964 and 1969 as Chairman of the Press Council. In addition, he was Vice Chancellor ( High Steward ) of the University of Cambridge from 1966 to 1991 .

In the 1980s he was involved with Leslie Scarman, Baron Scarman , who was also a judge at the High Court of Justice, Lord of Appeal and Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, in campaigns that led to the reopening of legal proceedings against the Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven .

Publications

  • Trial by Jury , Stevens & Sons, 1956, 2nd edition 1966
  • The Enforcement of Morals , Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1965, 2nd edition 1968
  • Too proud to fight. Biography of Woodrow Wilson , 1974
  • The Judge , Oxford University Press, 1979, 2nd edition 1981
  • Easing the passing. The trial of Doctor John Bodkin Adams , The Bodley Head, 1985

Web links and sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John Surtees: The Strange Case of Dr. Bodkin Adams: The Life and Murder Trial of Eastbourne's Infamous Doctor and the Views of Those Who Knew Him , 2000, p. 132
  2. ^ Deceased Fellows. British Academy, accessed May 21, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Devlin, Patrick, Baron Devlin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Devlin, Patrick Arthur, Baron Devlin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Chislehurst
DATE OF DEATH August 9, 1992
Place of death Pewsey , Wiltshire