Hillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal Crowd collapses and crushes, human crush during a association football, football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-fina ...
is seen today as a "debacle".
Early life
Stuart-Smith was educated at
Radley College
Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, an ...
and at
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th centur ...
.
Stuart-Smith was called to the bar by
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 Wa ...
in 1952 and was made a
Bencher
A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...
1978. He was appointed
Queen's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
in 1970, and as judge of the High Court of Justice (Queen's Bench Division) in 1981. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 1987, and retired in 2000. He later served as President of the Court of Appeal of Gibraltar from 2007, and as Justice of the Court of Appeal of Bermuda from 2004.
Hillsborough Report
In retirement Sir Murray was appointed to re-examine Lord Taylor's report into the
Hillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal Crowd collapses and crushes, human crush during a association football, football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-fina ...
, together with the wider question of whether the inquest process had been satisfactory. Sir Murray broadly concluded that there were no problems with the way that the inquiry had been handled. Lord Falconer later stated "I am absolutely sure that Sir Murray Stuart-Smith came completely to the wrong conclusion". Falconer added: "It made the families in the Hillsborough disaster feel after one establishment cover-up, here was another."
There was massive criticism of the Stuart-Smith inquiry, including outrage after the judge quipped during a meeting with families: “Have you got a few of your people or are they like the Liverpool fans, turn up at the last minute?”
Criminologist Professor Phil Scraton has remained highly critical of the Stuart-Smith scrutiny, describing it as a "debacle". Speaking in October 2012, Scraton said the findings of the Hillsborough Independent Panel – which disclosed that 41 of the 96 who died had the potential to survive had there been a more effective response to the emergency – showed "just how wrong he (LJ Stuart-Smith) was."
English contract law
English contract law is the body of law that regulates legally binding agreements in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the industrial revolution, it shares a heritage with countrie ...
case, concerning implied terms and unfair terms under the
Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977
The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977c 50 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulates contracts by restricting the operation and legality of some contract terms. It extends to nearly all forms of contract and one of its most impo ...
constructive trust
A constructive trust is an equitable remedy imposed by a court to benefit a party that has been wrongfully deprived of its rights due to either a person obtaining or holding a legal property right which they should not possess due to unjust enr ...
001 001, O01, or OO1 may refer to:
*1 (number), a number, a numeral
*001, fictional British agent, see 00 Agent
*001, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian fire brigade (until 1986)
*AM-RB 001, the code-name for the Aston Martin Valkyrie ...
QB 541, liability of a bank on a forged cheque.
* , another case on the
Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977
The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977c 50 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulates contracts by restricting the operation and legality of some contract terms. It extends to nearly all forms of contract and one of its most impo ...
.
* , part payments of debt.
Family
Sir Murray is the father of
Jeremy Stuart-Smith
Sir Jeremy Hugh Stuart-Smith (born 18 January 1955), styled the Rt Hon Lord Justice Stuart-Smith, is an English judge who has been a Lord Justice of Appeal since 2020.
Origins and education
He is the son of Sir Murray Stuart-Smith (a former Lor ...
, also a judge, and the landscape architect and garden designer