Robert Lowry, Baron Lowry
Encyclopedia
Sir Robert Lynd Erskine Lowry, Baron Lowry PC (NI)
, often known as Robbie Lowry, (30 January 1919 – 15 January 1999) was a Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
and a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
. On 18 July 1979, in the early months of the Thatcher
Government, he was created Baron Lowry, of Crossgar in the County of Down.
and Attorney General
for Northern Ireland
William Lowry
. His mother was niece of Sinn Féin
activist, Robert Wilson Lynd
. He attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution
and Jesus College, Cambridge
where he read Classics
, achieving a double first.
in Tunisia, followed by the Royal Irish Fusiliers
before becoming a Major in 1945.
He has since held the title of Honorary Colonel
for
in 1947. He was a High Court Judge in Northern Ireland from 1964 until he became Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
in 1971, when he was also made a Northern Ireland Privy Counsellor
.
Prior to the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973
coming into force, Lowry excluded confessions made by IRA
suspects in Army
detention on the grounds that they were not made voluntarily. The introduction of the Act reduced the scope of what was inadmissible.
Lord Lowry did not exclude self-incriminating evidence alone as insufficient to convict upon, and in R v. Gorman he found that the Northern Ireland Act 1972 s. 1, by retrospectively validating the conferment of powers of arrest under the regulations, rendered lawful the otherwise unlawful arrest and subsequent detention of Gorman. Lord Lowry clearly did not have regard to Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights
(ECHR).
In 1975, Lowry was appointed by Merlyn Rees to chair the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
, an unsuccessful attempt to replace the collapsed Sunningdale Agreement
.
In 1977, John Hume
challenged a regulation under the Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1922
which allowed any soldier to disperse an assembly of three or more people. Lowry held that the regulation was ultra vires
under Section 4 of the Government of Ireland Act 1920
which forbade the Parliament of Northern Ireland
from making laws in respect of the Army.
Lowry presided over some of the Diplock court cases. He also presided over the supergrass
trial in 1983 where Kevin McGrady
, a former IRA member, gave evidence which led to the conviction of seven out of ten defendants. As a result Lowry became an IRA target, narrowly missing death on at least three occasions. In 1982, having just survived a hail of IRA bullets, he proceeded to give a planned lecture at Queen's University, Belfast.
He was an honorary Bencher
King's Inns
, Dublin and Middle Temple
and he was a Law Lord.
Privy Council of Northern Ireland
The Privy Council of Northern Ireland was a formal body of advisors to the sovereign and was a vehicle for the monarch's prerogative powers in Northern Ireland. It was modelled on the Privy Council of the United Kingdom....
, often known as Robbie Lowry, (30 January 1919 – 15 January 1999) was a Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is the head of the judiciary in Northern Ireland, presiding over the Courts of Northern Ireland. The present Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is Sir Declan Morgan...
and a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the House of Lords of the United Kingdom in order to exercise its judicial functions, which included acting as the highest court of appeal for most domestic matters...
. On 18 July 1979, in the early months of the Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
Government, he was created Baron Lowry, of Crossgar in the County of Down.
Early life
His father was former Ulster Unionist Member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
for Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
William Lowry
William Lowry
William Lowry PC KC was an Irish barrister, judge, Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament and Attorney General for Northern Ireland-Career:...
. His mother was niece of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
activist, Robert Wilson Lynd
Robert Wilson Lynd
Robert Wilson Lynd was an Irish writer, an urbane literary essayist and strong Irish nationalist.-Life and career:He was born in Belfast and educated at Royal Belfast Academical Institution, studying at Queen's University...
. He attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution
Royal Belfast Academical Institution
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution, is a Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Locally referred to as Inst, the school educates boys from ages 11–18...
and Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
where he read Classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
, achieving a double first.
Military
During the Second World War, he fought with the Royal Inniskilling FusiliersRoyal Inniskilling Fusiliers
The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was a Irish infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment of Foot...
in Tunisia, followed by the Royal Irish Fusiliers
Royal Irish Fusiliers
The Royal Irish Fusiliers was an Irish infantry regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th Regiment of Foot and the 89th Regiment of Foot in 1881. The regiment's first title in 1881 was Princess Victoria's , changed in 1920 to The Royal Irish Fusiliers...
before becoming a Major in 1945.
He has since held the title of Honorary Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
for
- 38th Irish Infantry Brigade38th (Irish) Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)The 38th Infantry Brigade was a British Army unit formed initially after the start of World War I, without the title 'Irish'.-History:...
- 5th Battalion and 7th Battalion - Royal Irish RangersRoyal Irish RangersThe Royal Irish Rangers was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army.-Creation:...
- 5th (Volunteer) Battalion
Law
He was admitted to the Bar of Northern IrelandBar of Northern Ireland
The Bar of Northern Ireland, or Northern Irish Bar, is the association of barristers for Northern Ireland, comprising as at September 2007 just under 600 members....
in 1947. He was a High Court Judge in Northern Ireland from 1964 until he became Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is the head of the judiciary in Northern Ireland, presiding over the Courts of Northern Ireland. The present Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is Sir Declan Morgan...
in 1971, when he was also made a Northern Ireland Privy Counsellor
Privy Council of Northern Ireland
The Privy Council of Northern Ireland was a formal body of advisors to the sovereign and was a vehicle for the monarch's prerogative powers in Northern Ireland. It was modelled on the Privy Council of the United Kingdom....
.
Prior to the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973
Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973
The Northern Ireland Act 1973 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which abolished the death penalty for murder in Northern Ireland, and established the Diplock courts in which terrorist offences were tried by a judge without a jury. It has mostly been repealed, the anti-terrorism...
coming into force, Lowry excluded confessions made by IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
suspects in Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
detention on the grounds that they were not made voluntarily. The introduction of the Act reduced the scope of what was inadmissible.
Lord Lowry did not exclude self-incriminating evidence alone as insufficient to convict upon, and in R v. Gorman he found that the Northern Ireland Act 1972 s. 1, by retrospectively validating the conferment of powers of arrest under the regulations, rendered lawful the otherwise unlawful arrest and subsequent detention of Gorman. Lord Lowry clearly did not have regard to Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights
European Convention on Human Rights
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...
(ECHR).
In 1975, Lowry was appointed by Merlyn Rees to chair the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was an elected body set up in 1975 by the UK Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland....
, an unsuccessful attempt to replace the collapsed Sunningdale Agreement
Sunningdale Agreement
The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The Agreement was signed at the Civil Service College in Sunningdale Park located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973.Unionist opposition, violence and...
.
In 1977, John Hume
John Hume
John Hume is a former Irish politician from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and was co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize, with David Trimble....
challenged a regulation under the Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1922
Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1922
The Civil Authorities Act 1922, often referred to simply as the Special Powers Act, was an Act passed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland shortly after the establishment of Northern Ireland, and in the context of violent conflict over the issue of the partition of Ireland...
which allowed any soldier to disperse an assembly of three or more people. Lowry held that the regulation was ultra vires
Ultra vires
Ultra vires is a Latin phrase meaning literally "beyond the powers", although its standard legal translation and substitute is "beyond power". If an act requires legal authority and it is done with such authority, it is...
under Section 4 of the Government of Ireland Act 1920
Government of Ireland Act 1920
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 was the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which partitioned Ireland. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill or as the Fourth Home Rule Act.The Act was intended...
which forbade the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
from making laws in respect of the Army.
Lowry presided over some of the Diplock court cases. He also presided over the supergrass
Supergrass (informer)
Supergrass is a slang term for an informer, which originated in London. Informers had been referred to as "grasses" since the late-1930s, and the "super" prefix was coined by journalists in the early 1970s to describe those informers from the city's underworld who testified against former...
trial in 1983 where Kevin McGrady
Kevin McGrady
Kevin McGrady is a former Provisional IRA member who became an informer in 1982 following his conversion to Born again Christianity...
, a former IRA member, gave evidence which led to the conviction of seven out of ten defendants. As a result Lowry became an IRA target, narrowly missing death on at least three occasions. In 1982, having just survived a hail of IRA bullets, he proceeded to give a planned lecture at Queen's University, Belfast.
He was an honorary Bencher
Bencher
A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can be elected while still a barrister , in recognition of the contribution that the barrister has made to the life of the Inn or to the law...
King's Inns
King's Inns
The Honorable Society of King's Inns , is the institution which controls the entry of barristers-at-law into the justice system of Ireland...
, Dublin and Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
and he was a Law Lord.
Personal life
Lord Lowry married twice:- Mary Martin (d. 1987), in 1948, with whom he had three daughters (Sheila, Anne and Margaret).
- Barbra Calvert, Lady Lowry QC, in 1994 (daughter of Albert Parker CBE).