Reginald Walter Michael "Mickey" Dias Bandaranaike QC (3 March 1921 – 17 November 2009) was a barrister, academic and author of leading works on jurisprudence and the law of tort. He was the first Law

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, Director of Studies and Professor of Jurisprudence.

Early life and education

Born in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

(now Sri Lanka) on 3 March 1921 to the Dias family which had strong connections to the law. His father was Dr

Felix Reginald Dias Bandaranaike II Justice Felix Reginald Dias Bandaranaike II ( si, ෆෙලික්ස් රෙජිනල්ඩ් ඩයස් බණඩාරනායක) (17 January 1891 – 26 October 1951) was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) judge and lawyer. He was a Puisn ...

Puisne Justice A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

, and his mother was "Princess" Joy De Livera. The Dias family included

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Harry Dias Bandaranaike Justice Sir Harry Dias Bandaranaike (22 August 1822 - 24 June 1901) was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) barrister and judge. He was the first Sinhalese and native acting Chief Justice and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. He was an Un ...

, Judge of the Supreme Court and Acting Chief Justice,

Felix Reginald Dias Bandaranaike I Justice Felix Reginald Dias Bandaranaike I ( si, ෆෙලික්ස් රෙජිනල්ඩ් ඩයස් බණඩාරනායක; 26 July 1861 – 30 January 1947) was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) judge and lawyer. He was a Judge of the ...

(grandfather), Judge of the Supreme Court. His half brother was

Felix Dias Bandaranaike Felix R. Dias Bandaranaike ( Sinhala:ෆීලික්ස් ඩයස් බණඩාරනායක) (5 November 1930 – 26 June 1985) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, who served as Cabinet Minister of Finance, Parliamentary Secret ...

who later served as the Minister of Justice and Minister of Finance of Ceylon. Dias was educated at

Royal Preparatory School Royal Preparatory School (also known as ''Royal Primary School'' or ''Royal Junior School'') was a preparatory school in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Its grounds and buildings now form the primary school of the Royal College Colombo. Histor ...

and later at

Royal College Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

. He attended the

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

and in 1939, entered Trinity Hall,

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, like his father and grandfather before him. At Cambridge he took a starred first class in all three years of the Law Tripos, another in the LLB in 1943, and won the George Long Prizes for Jurisprudence and Roman Law. During this time he represented the university against Oxford at tennis in all four years winning a blue in tennis.

War service

While at Cambridge, Dias served in the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...

and after graduating he joined 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 ...

, where he was served in the

Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

as a

tail gunner A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun or aut ...

flying in bombers equipped with Leigh Lights and played tennis at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

for the RAF.

Career

Whilst serving in the RAF, he passed the exams and was called to the Bar in 1944 at 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 ...

. Following demobilisation, he returned to Cambridge, where he supervised in Law for Trinity Hall and later served as a lecturer at

University College Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

(1949–51) before returning to Cambridge in 1951 as a lecturer in law at Trinity Hall. He continued to work from Trinity Hall until elected by

, as their first Law Fellow in 1955 going on to hold office as president from 1988 to 1991 and serving as secretary to the Faculty Board of Law, as a member of the General Board and the Council of the Senate, and as Senior Proctor 1987–88. He was elected an honorary

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 ...

of the Inner Temple in 1992 and appointed an honorary silk as 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 2002.

Legal scholarship

His research was mainly in the fields of Roman law, jurisprudence and the law of tort. He is best known for his work ''Dias on Jurisprudence'', his work as editor (from 1961) and, subsequently, general editor (from 1975 to 1995) of the leading practitioners' work Clerk and Lindsell on Torts. A particular concept favoured by Dias was Hohfeld's analysis of " jural corelatives" and "jural opposites"; namely that, for instance, rights and duties were corelatives (and not opposites).

Family

He met Norah Hunter Crabb, then serving in the

WAAF WAAF may refer to: * w3af, (short for web application attack and audit framework), an open-source web application security scanner * Women's Auxiliary Air Force, a British military service in World War II ** Waaf, a member of the service * WAAF (AM ...

, whom he married in 1947. Norah died in an aircraft accident in 1980. They had a daughter Julia Dias who graduated from Cambridge attending Trinity Hall and was later appointed QC.

References

External links

Obituary of R.W.M. Dias
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dias, Mickey Sinhalese academics British legal scholars British barristers British legal writers Honorary King's Counsel Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Members of the Inner Temple Fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge Academics of Aberystwyth University People from Colombo Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge British people of Sri Lankan descent 1921 births 2009 deaths Sri Lankan barristers Sinhalese writers British Home Guard soldiers 20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers 21st-century Sri Lankan lawyers Royal Air Force airmen Sri Lankan emigrants to the United Kingdom