Sir Donald Bruce Murray PC (24 January 1923 – 20 February 2018) was a

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Justice ...

of the Supreme Court of Northern Ireland.

Education

Born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

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 was educated at

Belfast Royal Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern ...

and the

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

as well as

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. He died in Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast on 20 February 2018.

Career

Murray was

Called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1945, the same year he became assistant parliamentary draftsman to the

Government of Northern Ireland The government of Northern Ireland is, generally speaking, whatever political body exercises political authority over Northern Ireland. A number of separate systems of government exist or have existed in Northern Ireland. Following the partitio ...

, a post he held until becoming assistant lecturer in Law at Queen's University in 1951.intelius.com/Donald-Murray
/ref> In 1953, Murray was called to the Northern Ireland Bar, and twelve years later he was admitted to the province's Inner Bar, becoming a bencher of the

Inn of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They ha ...

in 1971. Between 1972 and 1975 he chaired the General Council of the Bar of Northern Ireland, and from 1976 to 1984 he was deputy chairman of the country's

Boundary Commission A boundary commission is a legal entity that determines borders of nations, states, constituencies. Notable boundary commissions have included: * Afghan Boundary Commission, an Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission, of 1885 and 1893, delineated the no ...

. Having been appointed a Justice of the High Court of Northern Ireland in 1975, Murray was made a judge of the

Restrictive Practices Court The Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1956 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to enforce competition, and provide an appropriate check on restrictive combines and practices. It required that any agreement between companies ...

in 1987, receiving a

knighthood 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 church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

the following year. In 1989, he was appointed to the province's Court of Appeal, and was admitted to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. For many years Sir Donald was a member of the Board of Governors of

and served as the Warden (Chairman) in 1985.

Personal life

He and Lady Murray, whom he married in 1953, have three grown up children. Murray retired in 1993, and three years later received the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...

from his alma mater Queen's University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Donald 1923 births 2018 deaths Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Academics of Queen's University Belfast Lawyers from Belfast People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy Members of Gray's Inn Lords Justice of Appeal of Northern Ireland High Court judges of Northern Ireland