Sir Frederick Paul Girvan PC (born 20 October 1948) is a retired Northern Irish judge. He was educated at

Larne Grammar School Larne Grammar School is a co-educational voluntary grammar school located in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1886 by Sir Edward Coey and John Crawford, it has around 760 Student, pupils and 50 teaching staff. History The sch ...

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 ...

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

( BA) and

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 ...

. He was

knighted 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 ...

on his appointment as a Justice of the High Court of Northern Ireland, 1995. Sworn of

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...

on 25 January 2007 on his appointment as 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 Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland. In July 2006 he delivered a judgment in Downes (Re), Application for Judicial Review,

006 Alec Trevelyan is a fictional character who is the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film ''GoldenEye,'' portrayed by actor Sean Bean. Bean's likeness was also used as the model for Alec Trevelyan in the 1997 video game '' GoldenEye 007' ...

NIQB 77; http://www.bailii.org/nie/cases/NIHC/QB/2006/77.html criticising the appointment of Mrs Bertha McDougall as Interim Victims Commissioner. The judgment was criticised by the former Secretary for State for Northern Ireland,

Peter Hain Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain, (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...

, in his memoir ''Outside In''. In March 2012 the Attorney-General of Northern Ireland began proceedings against Hain and the publishers alleging contempt of court
alleging contempt of court
although these were subsequently dropped. He retired in 2015.

Background

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 ...

: NI, 1971 *Junior Crown Counsel, NI, 1979–1982 *

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 ...

(NI), 1982 *Chancellor,

Diocese of Armagh (Church of Ireland) The Diocese of Armagh is the metropolitan diocese of the ecclesiastical province of Armagh, the Church of Ireland province that covers the northern half (approximately) of the island of Ireland. The diocese mainly covers counties Louth, T ...

, 1999–present *Chairman: Council of Law Reporting for NI, 1994–2001 *Law Reform Advisory Committee for NI, 1997–2004 (Member since 1994) *Hon. Bencher,

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 ...

, 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Girvan, Paul Living people 1948 births People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Knights Bachelor Members of Gray's Inn Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Anglicans from Northern Ireland People from Larne Lords Justice of Appeal of Northern Ireland People educated at Larne Grammar School High Court judges of Northern Ireland