Sir Michael Joseph Patrick Hogan, (15 March 1908 – 27 September 1986) was an Irish lawyer and judge in the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. He served as Chief Justice of Hong Kong for 14 years.

Early life

Hogan was born on 15 March 1908 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland. He was educated at

Belvedere College Belvedere College Society of Jesus, S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a fee-paying voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. Formally established in 1832 at Hardwicke Street in north inner city Dublin, the school was ...

, Dublin (1919–1924), and

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College or Stonyhurst is a co-educational Catholic Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing education for boarding school, boarding and day school, day pupils, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition. It is ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

(1924–1925). He then attended

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 ...

, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Legal and Political Science with First Class Honours and was awarded the gold medal. He then studied for a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

graduating in 1929. He was also a scholar of the college in 1927. He represented Trinity College in athletics, rugby and tennis.

Marriage

He married Patricia Galliford of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in Star of the Sea Church, Steamer Point,

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

, in 1945.

Legal career

He was admitted as a solicitor in Dublin in 1930 and practised with Maxwell and Weldon of Dublin for less than a year. He then moved to

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, where he practised for five years with the firm of Daly & Figgis. In 1936, he qualified as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

at law at the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland () is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Bar of Ireland, commonly c ...

(

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns () is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environments. The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...

). He was appointed Chief

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and was based in Haifa and then Jerusalem in 1937. Soon after, he was appointed

Crown Counsel Crown counsel are lawyers, generally in Common Law jurisdictions, who provide advice to the government and acts as prosecutors in cases. In various jurisdictions their title can vary and they could also be known as the Queen's Advocate, King's Adv ...

in Palestine. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1945, he was appointed

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. He was appointed a

King'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 ...

while in Aden. At the end of 1946, he returned to Jerusalem as

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

and stayed in that position until the termination of the Mandate of Palestine in May 1948. He remained in Palestine to advise the British forces there until they were withdrawn in July 1948. He then acted as a legal adviser to the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

in London. He was appointed

of the

Federation of Malaya Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...

in August 1950 and in December of that year was promoted to

. He briefly acted as

Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

of Malaya when Sir Henry Gurney, High Commissioner for Malaya, was assassinated by Malayan bandits near

Fraser's Hill Fraser's Hill (Malay language, Malay: ) is a hill resort in Raub District, Pahang, Malaysia, on the Pahangese and Selangor, Selangorean sections of the Titiwangsa Mountains. It is about north of Kuala Lumpur. In 1890, Louis James Fraser estab ...

. Hogan 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 1952. He was awarded a CMG in the 1953 New Year Honours. He was appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong in 1955. From 1964, he concurrently held the post of Chief Justice of Brunei. He was appointed as joint commissioner to the Commission of inquiry into the Hong Kong Disturbances in 1966 ( Hong Kong 1966 riots).

Military Appointments

Hogan enlisted as a private in the Kenya Defence Force in 1930 and retired with the rank of captain in 1936. He also served in the Palestine Volunteer Defence Force, Jerusalem from 1940 until it was disbanded in August 1943.

Retirement

Hogan retired to England at the end of 1969 and was seen off at

Queen's Pier Queen's Pier, named after Queen Victoria, was a public pier in front of City Hall in Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong. For three generations it served not only as a public pier in day-to-day use but also as a major ceremonial arrival and ...

on 31 December 1969. His ship sailed from Hong Kong the following morning. His appointment as Chief Justice of Brunei ceased on 13 January 1970. He sat as a member of a number of Courts of Appeal of small members of the British Commonwealth after retirement, including the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas (1975 to 1978) and the Seychelles Court of Appeal. He died on 27 September 1986.Obituary, ''The Times'', 29 September 1986

References

External links

A picture of Hogan swearing in Michael Gass as acting Governor of Hong Kong in 1967 can be foun
here
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hogan, Michael Joseph 1908 births 1986 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin British colonial judges in Asia British King's Counsel Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Bachelor People educated at Stonyhurst College 20th-century King's Counsel Mandatory Palestine judges British colonial attorneys general in Asia Chief justices of Brunei British judges on the courts of Brunei Scholars of Trinity College Dublin People educated at Belvedere College