Sir John Douglas May, PC (28 June 1923 – 15 January 1997) was a British

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

judge appointed by the British Government to investigate the miscarriages of justice related to the Maguire Seven and other miscarriages linked to IRA bombing offences.

Life and career

May was educated at Clifton College and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, where he was a Scholar. During World War II, he served with the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

. 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 ...

by the Inner Temple in 1947 and took silk in 1965. He was appointed to the High Court and assigned to the Queen's Bench Division in 1972, receiving the customary knighthood. In 1982, he was made 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) Justice ...

and made a Privy Counsellor, serving until 1989.

Maguire Seven inquiry

On 20 October 1989 following the quashing of the Guildford Four convictions, May was appointed to chair an inquiry into both that case and the related case of the Maguire Seven. On 12 July 1990, the Home Secretary David Waddington published the interim report, ''Interim Report on the Maguire Case: The Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the convictions arising out of the bomb attacks in Guildford and Woolwich in 1974''. The report criticised the trial judge

Lord Donaldson of Lymington John Francis Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington, (6 October 1920 – 31 August 2005) was a senior British judge who served as Master of the Rolls for ten years, from 1982 to 1992. He is best known in some circles for his role as presiding ...

. It unearthed improprieties in the handling of scientific evidence that were relevant to the other cases and declared the convictions unsound and recommended referral back to the Court of Appeal. The scientific work in examining the failings of the original forensic work leading to the convictions was undertaken by the "West" Committee led by Professor Thomas Summers West CBE FRS and the findings published in 1992 in Sir John May's report to the House of Commons entitled the Second Maguire report.

RARDE scientific tests

The Inquiry found that RARDE scientists Walter Elliott and Douglas Higgs had lied and suppressed evidence at the trials of Judith Ward and the Maguire Seven. The terms of reference of the initial inquiry were expanded, as a result, to include *The preparation of court evidence by expert witnesses *The advance disclosure of scientific findings *The authorisation of prosecutions based on scientific evidence *Home Office assessment of scientific evidence after miscarriage claims

Royal Commission on Criminal Justice

On 14 March 1991, the inquiry became the

Royal Commission on Criminal Justice The Royal Commission on Criminal Justice, also known as the Runciman Commission, was established in London on 14 March 1991 by the Home Secretary for the purpose of examining the English system of criminal justice and make recommendations as to cha ...

covering the systemic problems uncovered earlier. The commission was chaired by Viscount Runciman of Doxford.

Judgments

*'' Wheeler v JJ Saunders Ltd'' 994EWCA Civ 32 - case on nuisance which amended the precedent set by '' Gillingham Borough Council v Medway (Chatham) Dock Co Ltd''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:May, John 20th-century English judges 1923 births 1997 deaths People educated at Clifton College Public inquiries in the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Lords Justices of Appeal Queen's Bench Division judges Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Members of the Inner Temple