Gerald Ritchie Upjohn, Baron Upjohn,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, PC, DL (25 February 1903 – 27 January 1971) was a British soldier and judge.

Biography

The younger son of William Henry Upjohn KC, he served in the

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WLSH GDS; ), part of the Guards and Parachute Division, Guards Division, is one of the Foot guards, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the World War I, First ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, reaching the rank of

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

. In 1948, he sat with Sir George Lynskey and Sir Godfrey Vick on the Lynskey tribunal. Appointed to the Privy Council in 1960, he was

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) Just ...

from 1960 to 1963. On 26 November 1963 he became 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 ...

and was made additionally a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

by the style title Baron Upjohn, of Little Tey in the County of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. While a

he contributed to a number of significant cases. Three cases of particular importance are

Boardman v Phipps ''Boardman v Phipps'' [1966UKHL 2is a landmark English trusts law case concerning the duty of loyalty and the duty to avoid conflicts of interest. Facts Tom Boardman, Baron Boardman, Mr Tom Boardman was the solicitor of a family trust.See the c ...

9672 AC 46 (giving a powerful dissent), Vandervell v IRC 9672 AC 291 (where he gave a majority speech) and In re Gulbenkian's Settlements 970AC 508. An interesting problem arose on Lord Upjohn's death. The Judicial Committee of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

would ideally sit with an odd number of judges, to ensure a clear decision. Lord Upjohn's death raised the problem of an equally divided Appellate Committee. '' Kennedy v Spratt'' 972AC 83 remained on the docket and Lord Upjohn had already prepared a speech, intending to vote with Lord Reid and

Lord Diplock William John Kenneth Diplock, Baron Diplock, (8 December 1907 – 14 October 1985) was a British barrister and judge who served as a lord of appeal in ordinary between 1968 and until his death in 1985. Appointed to the English High Court in ...

, dismissing the appeal. Lord Reid read Lord Upjohn's speech as a part of his own and in accordance with the presumption in favour of the status quo (semper pracsumitur pro negante), the appeal was dismissed. It has been pointed out that, 'had Lord Upjohn been in favour of allowing the appeal, the application of the principle would have produced a disgruntled appellant whose victory had been snatched from under his nose: it may well be that such manifest injustice would have led to the case being reargued before a reconstituted court.'

Notable cases

As Counsel

* Eaves v. Eaves 939Ch. 1000 *

Re Diplock ''Re Diplock'' or ''Chichester Diocesan Fund and Board of Finance Inc v Simpson'' 944AC 341 is an English trusts law and unjust enrichment case, concerning tracing and an action for money had and received. Facts Various charities, including the ...

948Ch. 465 * Ministry of Health v Simpson

951 Year 951 (Roman numerals, CMLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Berengar II of Italy seizes Liguria, with help from the feudal lord Oberto I. He reorganizes the territorie ...

A.C. 251

As Upjohn J

* Copeland v Greenhalf

952 Year 952 (Roman numerals, CMLII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – At the Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), Reichstag in Augsburg (assembled by King Otto I (Holy Roman ...

Ch 488 * Thompson (WL) Ltd v Robinson (Gunmakers) Ltd, 955Ch 177 * Merricks v. Heathcote Amory 955Ch. 567 * Halsall v Brizell 957Ch 169

In the Court of Appeal

* '' Hong Kong Fir v Kawasaki'' 9622 QB 26; * '' In Re Pauling's Settlement Trusts'' 964Ch. 303 * '' Car and Universal Finance Co Ltd v Caldwell'' 9651 QB 525 * '' Boulting v Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians''

963 Year 963 (Roman numerals, CMLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March 15 – Emperor Romanos II dies at age 39, probably of poison administered by his wife, Emp ...

2 QB 606

In the Privy Council

* Paradise Beach and Transportation Co Ltd v Price-Robinson 968AC 1072

In the House of Lords

* Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent) 9661 WLR 1234 *

Suisse Atlantique Societe d'Armament SA v NV Rotterdamsche Kolen Centrale ''Suisse Atlantique Societe d'Armament SA v NV Rotterdamsche Kolen Centrale'' 9671 AC 361 is a landmark English contract law decision of the House of Lords, concerning the notions of fundamental breach of contract and inequality of bargaining p ...

9671 A.C. 361 *

9672 AC 46 * Vandervell v IRC 9672 AC 291 * Beswick v Beswick 968AC 58 * C Czarnikow Ltd v Koufos or The Heron II 9691 AC 350 * In re Gulbenkian's Settlements 970AC 508 * Pettitt v. Pettitt 970A.C. 777 * Redland Bricks Ltd. v. Morris 970A.C. 652 * '' Bushell v Faith'' 970AC 1099

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Upjohn, Gerald 1903 births 1971 deaths Welsh Guards officers British Army brigadiers of World War II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Upjohn Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Knights Bachelor People from Wimbledon, London Military personnel from the London Borough of Merton