John Francis Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington, PC (6 October 1920 – 31 August 2005) was a British barrister and judge who served as Master of the Rolls for ten years, from 1982 to 1992. He was the first (and only) President of the short-lived National Industrial Relations Court from 1971 to 1974.
He was born at 6 King Street, St Marylebone, London, the son of Malcolm Donaldson (1884-1973), consultant gynaecologist, and his first wife, Evelyn Helen Marguerite, née Gilroy. His father was a Harley Street-based gynaecologist.
Donaldson was called to the Bar in 1946 as a Harmsworth Scholar at the Middle Temple. He joined the chambers of Sir Henry Willink, QC at 3 Essex Court and built a successful tort and commercial practice. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1961, and became a High Court judge when he was appointed to the Queen's Bench Division and knighted in 1966 at the age of 45. He remained the youngest High Court judge for a number of years.
He became the first (and last) President of the National Industrial Relations Court (NIRC, also known as the Industrial Relations Tribunal) from its formation by Ted Heath's Conservative government in 1971 under the Industrial Relations Act 1971 until it was abolished in 1974. The trades unions, pointing to his Tory inclinations in his youth, nicknamed him "Black Jack", and 181 Members of Parliament (MPs) signed a House of Commons motion calling for his dismissal.
In his various roles, Donaldson was involved in many high-profile cases from the 1970s onwards. He presided over the trials of the Guildford Four in 1975 and the Maguire Seven in 1976, and was later criticised in Sir John May's interim report of his inquiry into the miscarriages of justice. The inquiry by Sir John May into the injustice suffered by the Maguires said that Mr Justice Donaldson, as he was then, had failed to appreciate that the sudden emergence of new evidence on the last day of the trial removed the whole basis of the prosecution case. He also allowed inadmissible evidence to be presented to the jury, the report added.[3] At the trials, he achieved notoriety for declaring in his closing remarks that he wished the men had been indicted for high treason, which still carried the death penalty, rather than for murder, which by then no longer carried the death penalty.[4] These remarks bore an uncanny resemblance to the words of another leading judge of the era, Sir Nigel Bridge, who commented in a similar IRA-based miscarriage of justice, the Birmingham Six trial, that he wished that he could still hang murderers.
Donaldson refused to prevent newspapers from publishing the Spycatcher memoir of Peter Wright in 1988, against government policy; and he ruled in 1991 that the then Home Secretary, Kenneth Baker was in contempt of court over an extradition case, in which a man was deported to Zaire while the case was still pending, contrary to a court order.
After retiring as a judge in 1992, he wrote reports regarding two maritime accidents involving the grounding of oil tankers and subsequent spills of crude oil: the grounding of the MV Braer off the Shetland Islands in January 1993, in which 85,000 tonnes of oil escaped; and the grounding of the Sea Empress at the entrance to Milford Haven in February 1996, and subsequent escape of more than 70,000 tonnes of oil off the Pembrokeshire coast.[citation needed]
Coat of arms of John Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington
Crest
A Sealion erect Sable Scales Fins and Tail Or holding a Lymphad also Or the Mainsail displaying the Arms, viz. Sable two Bars Or in chief three Petasi Argent winged Gold each mast ensigned by a Cross Formy Gules
Escutcheon
Sable two Bars Or in chief three Petasi argent winged Gold
Motto
Pro Libertate Per Leges (For liberty through the Law)[14]
Referencesedit
^"John Francis Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
^"Former judge Lord Donaldson dies". BBC News. 1 September 2005.
^"Lord Donaldson of Lymington". www.telegraph.co.uk.
^Lee, Simon (2 September 2005). "Obituary: Lord Donaldson of Lymington". the Guardian.
^. The Independent. 9 September 2005. Archived from the original on 12 November 2005.
^"The Times & The Sunday Times". www.thetimes.co.uk.
^"Parker v British Airways Board [1982] Q.B. 1004". Sterling Law QLD.
^"Ronex Properties Ltd v John Laing Construction Ltd summary". Sterling Law QLD.
^Great Britain. England. Court Of Appeal, Civil Division (30 July 1992). "Re T (Adult: Refusal of Medical Treatment)". The All England Law Reports. [1992]4: 649–670. PMID 11648226 – via PubMed.
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John Francis Donaldson Baron Donaldson of Lymington PC 6 October 1920 31 August 2005 was a British barrister and judge who served as Master of the Rolls for ten years from 1982 to 1992 He was the first and only President of the short lived National Industrial Relations Court from 1971 to 1974 The Right HonourableThe Lord Donaldson of LymingtonPCMaster of the RollsIn office 30 July 1982 1 October 1992MonarchElizabeth IIPreceded byThe Lord DenningSucceeded bySir Thomas BinghamLord Justice of AppealIn office 1979 1982Personal detailsBornJohn Francis Donaldson 1920 10 06 6 October 1920Died31 August 2005 2005 08 31 aged 84 UKSpouseMary Donaldson Baroness Donaldson of Lymington nee Dorothy Mary Warwick EducationCharterhouse SchoolAlma materTrinity College CambridgeOccupationQC jurist Contents 1 Early and private life 2 Legal career 3 In retirement 4 Judgments 5 Arms 6 ReferencesEarly and private life editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed March 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message He was born at 6 King Street St Marylebone London the son of Malcolm Donaldson 1884 1973 consultant gynaecologist and his first wife Evelyn Helen Marguerite nee Gilroy His father was a Harley Street based gynaecologist Donaldson attended first Charterhouse and then Trinity College Cambridge He served as chairman of the Federation of University Conservative and Unionist Associations and harboured ambitions of representing the Conservative Party as a Member of Parliament He was an Independent Ratepayers Councillor for the County Borough of Croydon from 1949 to 1953 After graduating with a lower second class degree in 1941 he joined the war effort as a commissioned officer in the Royal Signals He then served with the Guards Armoured Divisional Signals both domestically and in North West Europe until the end of the war in 1945 He served in the military government of Schleswig Holstein and was demobbed as a lieutenant colonel aged 25 He married Dorothy Mary Warwick later known as Dame Mary Donaldson in 1945 having met her at Middlesex Hospital where she was working as a nurse She later became the first woman to be a Member of the City of London Court of Common Council the first female Alderman the first female Sheriff and finally in 1983 the first female Lord Mayor of London Together they had two daughters and a son his wife predeceased him in October 2003 1 Legal career editDonaldson was called to the Bar in 1946 as a Harmsworth Scholar at the Middle Temple He joined the chambers of Sir Henry Willink QC at 3 Essex Court and built a successful tort and commercial practice He was made a Queen s Counsel in 1961 and became a High Court judge when he was appointed to the Queen s Bench Division and knighted in 1966 at the age of 45 He remained the youngest High Court judge for a number of years He became the first and last President of the National Industrial Relations Court NIRC also known as the Industrial Relations Tribunal from its formation by Ted Heath s Conservative government in 1971 under the Industrial Relations Act 1971 until it was abolished in 1974 The trades unions pointing to his Tory inclinations in his youth nicknamed him Black Jack and 181 Members of Parliament MPs signed a House of Commons motion calling for his dismissal Two months after Margaret Thatcher was elected in 1979 he became a Lord Justice of Appeal and was sworn of the Privy Council He replaced Lord Denning as Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England in 1982 becoming the presiding officer of the civil division of the Court of Appeal where he pushed forward modernisation efforts including the introduction of skeleton arguments in civil appeals clarification needed judgments being handed down rather than read and enhanced case management Donaldson decided in O Kelly v Trusthouse Forte plc 1983 ICR 728 Donaldson s early reforms would later be overtaken by the Civil Procedure Rules introduced by a later Master of the Rolls Lord Woolf On 15 February 1988 he was elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer as Baron Donaldson of Lymington of Lymington in the County of Hampshire 2 In his various roles Donaldson was involved in many high profile cases from the 1970s onwards He presided over the trials of the Guildford Four in 1975 and the Maguire Seven in 1976 and was later criticised in Sir John May s interim report of his inquiry into the miscarriages of justice The inquiry by Sir John May into the injustice suffered by the Maguires said that Mr Justice Donaldson as he was then had failed to appreciate that the sudden emergence of new evidence on the last day of the trial removed the whole basis of the prosecution case He also allowed inadmissible evidence to be presented to the jury the report added 3 At the trials he achieved notoriety for declaring in his closing remarks that he wished the men had been indicted for high treason which still carried the death penalty rather than for murder which by then no longer carried the death penalty 4 These remarks bore an uncanny resemblance to the words of another leading judge of the era Sir Nigel Bridge who commented in a similar IRA based miscarriage of justice the Birmingham Six trial that he wished that he could still hang murderers Donaldson refused to prevent newspapers from publishing the Spycatcher memoir of Peter Wright in 1988 against government policy and he ruled in 1991 that the then Home Secretary Kenneth Baker was in contempt of court over an extradition case in which a man was deported to Zaire while the case was still pending contrary to a court order In retirement editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed April 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message After retiring as a judge in 1992 he wrote reports regarding two maritime accidents involving the grounding of oil tankers and subsequent spills of crude oil the grounding of the MV Braer off the Shetland Islands in January 1993 in which 85 000 tonnes of oil escaped and the grounding of the Sea Empress at the entrance to Milford Haven in February 1996 and subsequent escape of more than 70 000 tonnes of oil off the Pembrokeshire coast citation needed In the 2000 01 session of Parliament he presented a private member s bill in the House of Lords the Parliament Acts Amendment Bill which would have had the effect of confirming the legitimacy of the Parliament Act 1949 to address concerns raised by legal academics as to whether the use of the Act was valid 5 The bill was not passed and Donaldson supported the legal action by the Countryside Alliance to overturn the Hunting Act 2004 which was passed under the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 clarification needed citation needed Donaldson died on 31 August 2005 6 7 8 9 10 Judgments editThe Angel Bell 1979 2 Lloyd s Rep 491 Parker v British Airways Board 1982 Q B 1004 11 Ronex Properties Ltd v John Laing Construction Ltd 1983 Q B 398 12 Re T Adult Refusal of Treatment 1993 Fam 95 13 O Kelly v Trusthouse Forte plc 1983 ICR 728Arms editCoat of arms of John Donaldson Baron Donaldson of Lymington Crest A Sealion erect Sable Scales Fins and Tail Or holding a Lymphad also Or the Mainsail displaying the Arms viz Sable two Bars Or in chief three Petasi Argent winged Gold each mast ensigned by a Cross Formy Gules Escutcheon Sable two Bars Or in chief three Petasi argent winged Gold Motto Pro Libertate Per Leges For liberty through the Law 14 References edit John Francis Donaldson Baron Donaldson of Lymington thepeerage com Retrieved 28 March 2016 No 51247 The London Gazette 22 February 1988 p 2095 Obituary Lord Donaldson of Lymington 1 September 2005 via news bbc co uk A Great British Injustice The Maguire Story BBC Parliament Acts Amendment Bill H L Archived from the original on 15 April 2005 Former judge Lord Donaldson dies BBC News 1 September 2005 Lord Donaldson of Lymington www telegraph co uk Lee Simon 2 September 2005 Obituary Lord Donaldson of Lymington the Guardian Lord Donaldson of Lymington The Independent 9 September 2005 Archived from the original on 12 November 2005 The Times amp The Sunday Times www thetimes co uk Parker v British Airways Board 1982 Q B 1004 Sterling Law QLD Ronex Properties Ltd v John Laing Construction Ltd summary Sterling Law QLD Great Britain England Court Of Appeal Civil Division 30 July 1992 Re T Adult Refusal of Medical Treatment The All England Law Reports 1992 4 649 670 PMID 11648226 via PubMed Life Peerages D cracroftspeerage co uk Legal officesPreceded byThe Lord Denning Master of the Rolls1982 1992 Succeeded bySir Thomas Bingham Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John Donaldson Baron Donaldson of Lymington amp oldid 1171926442, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
