Harvey McGregor

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

QC (25 February 1926 – 27 June 2015) was a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and was Warden of

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, from 1985 to 1996.

Early life

The son of William Guthrie Robertson McGregor and Agnes McGregor (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Reid), McGregor was educated at

Inverurie Academy (The spirit within sustains) , city = Inverurie , county = Aberdeenshire , postcode = AB51 3PX , pushpin_map = Scotland Aberdeenshire#Scotland#United_Kingdom , country ...

, Scarborough High School, and

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

, where he held the Hastings Scholarship and graduated BA in 1951, BCL in 1952, MA in 1955, and DCL in 1983. Before going up to Oxford, McGregor served as a Flying Officer in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

for two years, from 1946 to 1948.

Career

McGregor 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 ...

from the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1955 and became a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

in 1985. He was admitted to the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constitu ...

in 1995.McGREGOR, Harvey
, in ''Who's Who 2008'', A & C Black, 2008, online edition by Oxford University Press, December 2007, accessed 26 August 2008 He was Bigelow teaching Fellow in the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, 1950–1951, Visiting Professor at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

at various times between 1963 and 1969 and at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

from 1998. He was a consultant to the Law Commission, 1966–1973. President,

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

Association of the UK, 1981–2001, and Member of the Academy of European Private Lawyers, from 1994. Independent Chairman,

London Theatre Council London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

and

The Theatre Council ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

(formerly Provincial Theatre Council), from 1992 (and Deputy Chairman, 1971–1992). President,

Oxford Stage Company Headlong is a British touring theatre company noted for making bold, innovative productions with some of the UK’s finest artists. Jeremy Herrin took over the artistic directorship of the company in 2013, and is the current artistic director. Ar ...

, from 1992, and Trustee of the

Oxford Union Society The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

, 1977 to 2004 (Chairman of Trustees, 1994–2004), a Fellow of

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

, 1985 to 1996, and a Trustee of the Migraine Trust since 1999. McGregor was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to law and education. He died at the age of 89 on 27 June 2015.

Selected publications

*''McGregor on Damages'' (12th Edition published 1961 to 20th Edition Published 2017) *''Contract Code'' (1993) *contributor to ''International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law'' (1972) At the ''

Modern Law Review The ''Modern Law Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of Modern Law Review Ltd. and which has traditionally maintained close academic ties with the Law Department of the London School of Economics. ...

'', McGregor was a member of the editorial board since 1986 and was previously a member of the Editorial Committee from 1967. The

Law Commission A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...

, together with the Scots Law Commission, asked McGregor to produce a proposal for the codification and union of the contract law of England and Scotland, which are based in

Common Law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

. He did so in ''Contract Code'' (1993). This work was not adopted by either Law Commission, so McGregor got it published by an Italian University. His proposals include, ''inter alia'', the abandonment of the English doctrine of

consideration Consideration is a concept of English common law and is a necessity for simple contracts but not for special contracts (contracts by deed). The concept has been adopted by other common law jurisdictions. The court in ''Currie v Misa'' declared ...

. Shortly after publication, the European Commission expressed an interest in the "Contract Code" as the basis for an EU-wide law of contract, but eventually chose not to adopt it. Instead, the EU has looked more kindly on a document, "

Principles of European Contract Law The ''Principles of European Contract Law'' (PECL) is a set of model rules drawn up by leading contract law academics in Europe. It attempts to elucidate basic rules of contract law and more generally the law of obligations which most legal syste ...

", created by the self-styled Commission on European Contract Law (a group of leading contract law academics). In the meantime, the EU passed the

Rome I Regulation The Rome I Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations) is a regulation which governs the choice of law in the European Union. It is based ...

Rome II Regulation The Rome II Regulation (EC) N864/2007is a European Union European Union Regulation, Regulation regarding the conflict of laws on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations. From 11 January 2009, the Rome II Regulation created a Harmonisation ...

and the

Rome III Regulation The European Union Divorce Law Pact or Rome III Regulation, formally Council Regulation (EU) No. 1259/2010 of 20 December 2010 implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation is a regulation co ...

, all of which have had a mixed reception in English legal circles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, Harvey 1926 births 2015 deaths People educated at Inverurie Academy Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Wardens of New College, Oxford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Air Force officers British barristers Members of the Faculty of Advocates Academics of the University of Edinburgh People from Argyll and Bute Members of the Inner Temple University of Chicago faculty New York University faculty Rutgers University faculty People educated at Scarborough High School for Boys