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 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, 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, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

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 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 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, on 6 January 1999. He was awarded the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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. The concept of a knighthood ...

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

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...

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

, 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