Sir Michael Joseph Patrick Hogan, (15 March 1908 – 27 September 1986) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

lawyer and judge in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. He served as Chief Justice of Hong Kong for 14 years.

Early life

Hogan was born on 15 March 1908 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland. He was educated at

Belvedere College Belvedere College S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school has numerous alumni in the arts, politics, sports, science, and business. History Belvedere owes its origin ...

, Dublin (1919–1924), and

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College is a co-educational Catholic Church, Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition, on the Stonyhurst, Stonyhurst Estate, Lancashire, England. It occupies a Grade I listed building. Th ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

(1924–1925). He then attended

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 ...

, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Legal and Political Science with First Class Honours and was awarded the gold medal. He then studied for a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

graduating in 1929. He was also a scholar of the college in 1927. He represented Trinity College in athletics, rugby and tennis.

Marriage

He married Patricia Galliford of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

in Star of the Sea Church, Steamer Point,

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

, in 1945.

Legal career

He was admitted as a solicitor in Dublin in 1930 and practised with Maxwell and Weldon of Dublin for less than a year. He then moved to

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, where he practised for five years with the firm of Daly & Figgis. In 1936, he qualified as a

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 ...

at law at the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...

(

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...

). He was appointed Chief

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

and was based in Haifa and then Jerusalem in 1937. Soon after, he was appointed

Crown Counsel Crown counsel are lawyers, generally in Common Law jurisdictions, who provide advice to the government and acts as prosecutors in cases. In various jurisdictions their title can vary and they could also be known as the Queen's Advocate, King's Advo ...

in Palestine. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in 1945, he was appointed

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. He was appointed a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

while in Aden. At the end of 1946, he returned to Jerusalem as Solicitor General and stayed in that position until the termination of the Mandate of Palestine in May 1948. He remained in Palestine to advise the British forces there until they were withdrawn in July 1948. He then acted as a legal adviser to the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

in London. He was appointed Solicitor General of the

Federation of Malaya The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Empire, British Straits Settlements, P ...

in August 1950 and in December that year was promoted to

. He briefly acted as

Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

of Malaya when Sir Henry Gurney,

High Commissioner for Malaya In 1896, the post of High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States was created; the High Commissioner represented the British Government in the Federated Malay States, a federation of four British protected states in Malaya. The High Commis ...

, was assassinated by Malayan bandits near

Fraser's Hill Fraser's Hill is a hill resort located on the Titiwangsa Mountains, Titiwangsa Ridge in Raub District, Pahang, Malaysia. It is about north of Kuala Lumpur. In 1890, Louis James Fraser established the area as a tin mining community known as Pa ...

. Hogan was made 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 1952. He was awarded a CMG in the

1953 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1953 for the United Kingdom were announced on 30 December 1952, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1953. This was the first New Year Honours since the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. The ''Honours list'' ...

. He was appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong in 1955. From 1964, he concurrently held the post of Chief Justice of Brunei. He was appointed as joint commissioner to the Commission of inquiry into the Hong Kong Disturbances in 1966 (

Hong Kong 1966 riots The 1966 Hong Kong riots, also known as the 1966 Star Ferry riots, were a series of disturbances that took place over three nights on the streets of Kowloon, Hong Kong in the spring of 1966. The riots started as peaceful demonstrations against th ...

Military Appointments

Hogan enlisted as a private in the Kenya Defence Force in 1930 and retired with the rank of captain in 1936. He also served in the Palestine Volunteer Defence Force, Jerusalem from 1940 until it was disbanded in August 1943.

Retirement

Hogan retired to England at the end of 1969 and was seen off at

Queen's Pier Queen's Pier, named after Queen Victoria, was a public pier in front of City Hall in Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong. For three generations it served not only as a public pier in day-to-day use but also as a major ceremonial arrival and d ...

on 31 December 1969. His ship sailed from Hong Kong the following morning. His appointment as Chief Justice of Brunei ceased on 13 January 1970. He sat as a member of a number of Courts of Appeal of small members of the British Commonwealth after retirement, including the

Court of Appeal of the Bahamas The basis of the Bahamian Law and legal system lies within the English Common Law tradition. Judge, Justices of the Supreme Court, Registrar general, Registrars and Magistrates are all appointed by The Governor-General of the Bahamas, Governor-Gen ...

(1975 to 1978) and the Seychelles Court of Appeal. He died on 27 September 1986.Obituary, ''The Times'', 29 September 1986

References

External links

A picture of Hogan swearing in Michael Gass as acting Governor of Hong Kong in 1967 can be foun
here
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hogan, Michael Joseph 1908 births 1986 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin British colonial judges in Asia British Hong Kong judges British King's Counsel Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Bachelor People educated at Stonyhurst College 20th-century King's Counsel Mandatory Palestine judges British colonial attorneys general in Asia Chief justices of Brunei British judges on the courts of Brunei Scholars of Trinity College Dublin People educated at Belvedere College