Sir John Gillen, PC (born 18 November 1947), previously known as The Rt Hon Lord Justice Gillen, and before that as Mr Justice Gillen, is a

Privy Councillor 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 ...

and was one of the Lords Justices of Appeal of Northern Ireland, from September 2014-November 2017.

Education

Gillen attended Cregagh Primary School, then the

Methodist College, Belfast God with us , established = 1865 , type = Voluntary grammar , religion = Interdenominational , principal = Jenny Lendrum , chair_label = Chairwoman , chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth , founder ...

, 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, ...

Career

He 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 ...

in 1970 and became

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 1983. He was appointed as a High Court judge in Belfast, replacing Lord Justice MacDermott, on the latter's retirement. Gillen was sworn in before the then Lord Chief Justice,

Sir Robert Carswell Robert Douglas Carswell, Baron Carswell, PC (born 28 June 1934) is a retired Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. Early life The son of Alan and Nance Carswell was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Pembroke College, Oxford, wh ...

, on 6 January 1999. He was awarded the customary

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 ...

upon his appointment to the High Court. He was appointed to

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 ...

in November 2014. In 2016, an off-duty police officer who was representing himself in a house repossession case against

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

that Gillen was hearing tried to arrest him. The officer was himself arrested, on suspicion of common assault, but was released without charge. The police officer was nevertheless sentenced, by Lord Chief Justice

Sir Declan Morgan 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 in Derry. He then was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and Queen's Universit ...

, to three months jail for

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...

, with the possibility of release after 28 days if he apologised. From 2015 to 2017, he conducted a review of Civil and Family Justice in Northern Ireland.

Personal life

Gillan is married and has two daughters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillen, John Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Lords Justice of Appeal of Northern Ireland Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford 1947 births 21st-century King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Place of birth missing (living people) Living people High Court judges of Northern Ireland