Sir Donald Bruce Murray PC (24 January 1923 – 20 February 2018) was a

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Just ...

of the Supreme Court of Northern Ireland.

Education

Born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

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 ...

, he was educated at

Belfast Royal Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (also known as ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern Ireland ...

and the

Queen's University, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

as well as

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. He died in Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast on 20 February 2018.

Career

Murray 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 1945, the same year he became assistant

parliamentary draftsman Parliamentary counsel are lawyers who prepare drafts of legislation to be passed into law. The terms parliamentary drafter, parliamentary draftsman, legislative drafting officer and legislative counsel are also widely used. These terms are used ...

to the

Government of Northern Ireland A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, a post he held until becoming assistant lecturer in Law at Queen's University in 1951.intelius.com/Donald-Murray
/ref> In 1953, Murray was called to the Northern Ireland Bar, and twelve years later he was admitted to the province's Inner Bar, becoming a bencher of the Inn of Court in 1971. Between 1972 and 1975 he chaired the General Council of the Bar of Northern Ireland, and from 1976 to 1984 he was deputy chairman of the country's Boundary Commission. Having been appointed a Justice of the High Court of Northern Ireland in 1975, Murray was made a judge of the

Restrictive Practices Court The Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1956 ( 4 & 5 Eliz. 2. c. 68) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to enforce competition, and provide an appropriate check on restrictive combines and practices. It required that any agr ...

in 1987, receiving a

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 year. In 1989, he was appointed to the province's Court of Appeal, and was admitted to the Privy Council. For many years Sir Donald was a member of the Board of Governors of

and served as the Warden (Chairman) in 1985.

Personal life

He and Lady Murray, whom he married in 1953, have three grown up children. Murray retired in 1993, and three years later received the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

from his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

Queen's University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Donald 1923 births 2018 deaths Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Academics of Queen's University Belfast Lawyers from Belfast People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy Members of Gray's Inn Lords Justice of Appeal of Northern Ireland High Court judges of Northern Ireland