Sir Anthony James Denys McCowan, PC, QC (12 January 1928 – 3 July 2003) was a British barrister and judge of the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

and

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

best known for trying the case of

Clive Ponting Clive Sheridan Ponting (13 April 1946 – 28 July 2020)Richard Norton-Taylor, "The Ponting Affair", Cecil Woolf, London, 1985, p. 14. was a senior British civil servant and historian. In 1984, he leaked classified documents about the sinkin ...

in 1985. After studying at

Epsom College Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a benevolent institution which provided a boarding school education for sons of poor or deceased members ...

he won a scholarship to study history at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

, where he switched to law, and 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 1951. After gaining a strong practice in criminal, property and personal injury law he was made 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 1972, and was appointed a judge of the

Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

of the

in 1981. In 1989 he became a judge of the

, but only sat for eight years until ill health forced him to retire in 1997. He died on 3 July 2003.

Early life, education and work as a barrister

McCowan was born on 12 January 1928 in Georgetown,

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

(now

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

), the son of a magistrate. He won a scholarship to study at

, starting there in 1940. At Epsom, he won a scholarship to study history at

, before switching to law. In 1951 he helped found the

Bow Group The Bow Group is a UK-based think tank promoting conservative opinion. Founded in 1951, it is the oldest group of its kind, counting many senior Conservative Party MPs and peers among its members. It represents a forum for political debate with ...

and was

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 ...

as an Atkin Scholar. After a

pupillage A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Hong Kong, is the final, vocational stage of training for those wishing to become practising barristers. Pupillage is similar to an apprenticeship, during which ba ...

with Stanley Rees at 1 Crown Office Row, McCowan specialised in criminal, property and personal injury law, practising in London and on the South East Circuit, and became noted for his skill at

cross-examination In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (known as examination-in-chief in Law of the Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Law of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Austra ...

. In 1971, he became 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 ...

, He became a

(QC) in 1972, and leader of the South Eastern Circuit in 1978, having been appointed Deputy Chairman of the East Sussex Quarter Sessions in 1969.McCowan (2005) p. 7

Judge

On 2 June 1981, he was appointed to the

of the

, and received 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 ...

the following month. In 1982 he became a member of the

Parole Board for England and Wales The Parole Board () was established in 1968 under the Criminal Justice Act 1967. It became an independent executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) on 1 July 1996 under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. The Parole Board is gover ...

, and the same year joined the Crown Court Rule Committee. In 1985 he presided over the case of

, a British civil servant who had been charged with violating section 2 of the

Official Secrets Act 1911 The Official Secrets Act 1911 ( 1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 28) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaced the Official Secrets Act 1889 ( 52 & 53 Vict. c. 52). The act was introduced in response to public alarm at reports of wide- ...

after leaking documents about the sinking of the ARA General Belgrano. Ponting's defence (that his actions were in the interests of the state, as they prevented Parliament from being misled) was rejected by McCowan, who summed up in favour of the prosecution, "the public interest is what the government of the day says it is" – nevertheless, the jury found Ponting not guilty. In 1986 McCowan became Presiding Judge of the

South Eastern Circuit The Circuit Court () of Ireland is an intermediate level court of local and limited jurisdiction which hears both civil and criminal matters. On the criminal side the Circuit Court hears criminal matters tried on indictment with a judge and jury ...

. On 3 October 1989, McCowan was appointed to the

Court of Appeal of England and Wales The Court of Appeal (formally "His Majesty's Court of Appeal in England", commonly cited as "CA", "EWCA" or "CoA") is the highest court within the Senior Courts of England and Wales, and second in the legal system of England and Wales only to ...

, and made a

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

. As an Appeals judge he ordered an inquest into the death of

Roberto Calvi Roberto Calvi (13 April 1920 – 17 June 1982) was an Italian banker, dubbed "God's Banker" () by the press because of his close business dealings with the Holy See. He was a native of Milan and was chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed ...

, nicknamed God's Banker, and in 1991 was part of the panel that heard the appeal of the

Maguire Seven The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were two groups of people, mostly Northern Irish, who were wrongly convicted in English courts in 1975 and 1976 of the Guildford pub bombings of 5 October 1974 and the Woolwich pub bombing of 7 November 1974. ...

. The same year he was made Senior Presiding Judge of England and Wales, a position he held until ill-health forced him to resign in 1995. He resigned from the Bench two years later, and died on 3 July 2003.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCowan, Anthony 20th-century English judges English barristers Knights Bachelor Members of Gray's Inn Queen's Bench Division judges 1928 births 2003 deaths Lord justices of appeal Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford 20th-century King's Counsel People educated at Epsom College Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom