Sir Charles Declan Morgan
PC KC (born January 1952) is a retired judge from Northern Ireland.
Early life
Morgan was born in 1952 and educated at
St Columb's College
St Columb's College ( ga, Coláiste Naomh Colum Cille) is a Roman Catholic boys' grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland and, since 2008, a specialist school in mathematics. It is named after Saint Columba, the missionary monk from County Don ...
in
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
. He then was educated at
Peterhouse, Cambridge
Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...
, and
Queen's University, Belfast
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.
He was called to the
Bar of Northern Ireland
The Bar of Northern Ireland is the professional association of barristers for Northern Ireland, with over 600 members. It is based in the Bar Library, beside the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, together with the Bar Council of Northern Irel ...
in 1976 and became a
Queen's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...
in 1993. Between 2002 and 2004, he was Senior Crown Counsel for
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
He also served for a time as Judge-In-Residence at the School of Law of Queen's University Belfast.
Judicial career
In 2004, Morgan was appointed a judge of the
High Court and
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
. He became Chairman of the Law Reform Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland that same year, and in 2007 was appointed Chairman of the Northern Ireland Law Commission.
In 2007, he was appointed to the Family Division of the Court, and in 2008 moved to hearing cases for judicial review.
On 18 June 2009, it was announced that Mr Justice Morgan would succeed
Sir Brian Kerr as Lord Chief Justice following the latter's appointment as a
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...
.
He was sworn into office on 3 July 2009.
On 10 February 2010, Morgan was sworn of
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council
The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of e ...
.
Personal life
Sir Declan is married with three children.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Declan
1952 births
Northern Ireland King's Counsel
Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
Alumni of Queen's University Belfast
Knights Bachelor
Lord chief justices of Northern Ireland
Living people
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
High Court judges of Northern Ireland