Sir Bernard Joseph Maxwell MacKenna (12 September 1905 – 20 October 1989), known as Sir Brian MacKenna, was an Irish-born British barrister and judge. He was a High Court, sitting in 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 ...

, from 1961 to 1977.

Biography

Born in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, MacKenna became a ward of chancery at a young age after the death of his father. He was educated at

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a Catholic voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814. It features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel '' A Portrait of the Artist ...

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

, in Germany, and at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he was secretary of the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest unive ...

. Having opted to set up practice in London instead of Dublin, MacKenna 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 ...

by 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 association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in January 1932 and joined the Western Circuit. After

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 James Tucker, he joined the chambers of

Walter Monckton Walter Turner Monckton, 1st Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, (17 January 1891 – 9 January 1965) was a British lawyer and politician. Early years Monckton was born in the village of Plaxtol in north Kent. He was the eldest child of paper manu ...

, with whom MacKenna worked closely. 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 1950 and elected a Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple in 1958. MacKenna was appointed to the High Court in 1961 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 ...

. As a judge, he was critical of harsh sentencing, and in retirement was active within the Howard League. He produced a report, ''Justice in Prison'', in 1983, for the League. He died in 1989, having never married. After his death, his large personal library was auctioned by

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

in 1998.

Selected cases

* ''

Ready Mixed Concrete (South East) Ltd v Minister of Pensions and National Insurance ''Ready Mixed Concrete (South East) Ltd v Minister of Pensions and National Insurance'' 9682 QB 497 is a UK labour law case concerning the definition of a contract of service, rather than a contract for services. The distinction is important beca ...

968 Year 968 ( CMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperor Nikephoros II receives a Bulgarian embassy led by Prince Boris (the son of Tsar Peter I of Bulgaria), wi ...

2 QB 497 * '' Lambert v Co-operative Insurance Society Ltd''

975 Year 975 ( CMLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor John I raids Mesopotamia and invades Syria, using the Byzantine base at Antioch to pres ...

2 Lloyd's Rep 485

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacKenna, Brian British King's Counsel Knights Bachelor Queen's Bench Division judges Members of the Inner Temple Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of University College Dublin 1905 births 1989 deaths People educated at Clongowes Wood College