Daniel Joseph Brennan, Baron Brennan, (born 19 March 1942) is a British

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 ...

and

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

Early life and background

Brennan was educated at

St. Bede's Grammar School St. Bede's Grammar School, in Heaton, West Yorkshire, Heaton, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, was a Roman Catholic boys' Secondary school. The school merged with St Joseph's Catholic College, Bradford, St. Joseph's Catholic College in Septem ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

, and graduated with a Bachelor of Law degree from

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, where subsequently he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in 2000.

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 ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1967. A member of Matrix Chambers, he specialises in personal injury and medical work, commercial law, international business issues, public and private international law, and international arbitration. He became a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1985, and he is a Deputy High Court Judge and a

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

in the

Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...

, a former member of the

Criminal Injuries Compensation Board The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is an executive agency of the UK Government. The Authority, established in 1996 and based in Glasgow, administers a compensation scheme for injuries caused to victims of violent crime in Engla ...

and ex-Chairman of the Personal Injuries Bar Association. Lord Brennan is the Bar representative on the Council of the

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA in 2018 had a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associati ...

. He is also a member of the bars of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. In 2000, ''The Lawyer Magazine'' described him as Barrister of the Year. Lord Brennan is Chair of the APPG on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, which is a cross-party grouping of MPs and Peers with

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

focussed on discussing issues relating to the legal profession and the reform of the law and constitution. He has an environmental, product liability and medical negligence practice involving multi-party actions such as the insurance claims from the Paddington rail crash, the

combined oral contraceptive pill The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be Oral administration, taken orally by women. It is the oral form of combi ...

litigation and, in the past, the local residents' claims arising from the

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...

development scheme, the HIV/haemophiliac claims against the UK government and the

Herald of Free Enterprise MS ''Herald of Free Enterprise'' was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry which capsized moments after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on the night of 6 March 1987, killing 193 passengers and crew. The eight-deck car and passenger ferry was ow ...

disaster. Most recently he has appeared in the '

designer baby A designer baby is an embryo or fetus whose genetic makeup has been intentionally selected or altered, often to exclude a particular gene or to remove genes associated with disease, to achieve desired traits. This process usually involves pre ...

' appeal in 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 ...

. He was created Baron Brennan, of Bibury in the County of Gloucestershire on 2 May 2000 and is former President of the

Catholic Union of Great Britain The Catholic Union of Great Britain is an association of Roman Catholic laypeople in England, Wales, and Scotland. It works with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Scotland. The member ...

. In 2006 Lord Brennan was appointed Delegate for Great Britain and Ireland of the

Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (; ), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Order of the Constantinian Angelic Knights of Saint George, is a dynastic order of knighthood ...

in succession to Anthony Bailey. On 19 November 2007 Brennan collapsed in the House of Lords shortly after concluding a speech on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. He was given a heart massage in the House of Lords by, among others,

Ara Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham Ara Warkes Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham (; born 7 May 1960) is an Armenian-British surgeon, academic, and politician. Lord Darzi is an academic surgeon and holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College London, specialising in the ...

, the health minister. He had urged the creation of a National Bioethics Commission. Lord Brennan spent time recovering at

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, together with Guy's Hospital, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospita ...

, London. On 3 December 2007, Lord Brennan again became unwell in the Chamber of the House of Lords. Having been fitted with a pacemaker at St Thomas' Hospital, he was thanking peers and staff who had been involved in the occasion when he was last taken ill when he fell back in his seat.

Personal life

In 1968 he married a Spanish national, Pilar Sánchez Moya, with whom he has four sons.

Affiliations

Lord Brennan is the chairman of the board of directors of the

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

-based think-tank Global Financial Integrity.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Daniel Brennan, Baron 1942 births Living people Labour Party (UK) life peers Alumni of the University of Manchester English King's Counsel English barristers Members of Gray's Inn Members of Matrix Chambers English Roman Catholics Irish barristers Members of the Bar of Northern Ireland 20th-century King's Counsel People educated at St. Bede's Grammar School Life peers created by Elizabeth II