John Callan: Difference between revisions
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CALLAN, John Bartholomew, K.C. |
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'''Sir Thomas Murray Thorp''' [[New Zealand Order of Merit|KNZM]] (born 1925) is a retired [[New Zealand]] judge. |
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(1882–1951). |
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Justice of the Supreme Court. |
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From 1963 to 1979, he was the Crown Solicitor in Gisborne. He sat as a judge in the [[High Court of New Zealand]] from 1979 until 1996, the year he was knighted. |
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John Bartholomew Callan was the son of John Bartholomew Callan, the founder of the Dunedin legal firm of Callan and Gallaway, and spent practically the whole of his professional life at the Bar in Dunedin. He was born on 15 August 1882, five years after his family's arrival in New Zealand from Australia. The Callans were kinsmen of a notable Australian legal family, the Gavan Duffys, with whom John Bartholomew Callan, senior, emigrated to Victoria in 1859, the departure being not unconnected with the Young Ireland troubles of 1848. In fact, Charles Gavan Duffy, from whom Mr Justice Callan was descended, was tried for sedition and treason-felony as a result of his part in the Young Ireland movement. But he lived to be knighted K.C.M.G. by Her Majesty, to become Premier of Victoria and an eminent Australian statesman. His son became Chief Justice of Australia and his grandson, a cousin of Mr Justice Callan, is at present a puisne Judge in Victoria. Callan was educated at the Christian Brothers School in Dunedin and commenced his law studies before the Law Faculty came into being. His principal coach was the late Professor Garrow, author of some of the best-known legal textbooks published in New Zealand. After graduating B.A. and LL.B. at the University of Otago, he entered his father's office and became a partner in the firm when his father was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1907. He continued to practise in Dunedin until he took silk in 1933, when he moved on to Wellington. In the following year he was appointed to the Supreme Court Bench. By general consent he was regarded as one of the leaders of a strong Bar in Dunedin, and his elevation to the Bench was considered by many to be a tardy recognition of his fitness and qualification for judicial work. |
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He has served as chairman of the National Parole Board and has sat as a member of the Court of Appeal. |
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Callan was eminently suited to hold a judgeship – he had deep scholarship, a keen intellect, and a profound knowledge of the law. He was thoroughly schooled in legal principles and, as a man of the world, was equipped by nature and character to deal with the affairs of men of the world. Yet, withal he was of a gentle, kindly, and considerate temperament. The courageous independence of thought and action which he displayed at the Bar stood him in good stead on the Bench, where he attracted immediate attention by the masterly control he always exercised over his Court, by the apt and lucid language of his judgments, and by his skill in dealing with and directing the course of business in Chambers – the Cinderella of judicial procedure. Moreover, throughout his career he was a leader among members of his profession. For 10 years he was Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago and a member of the Council of Legal Education, and in the last years of his life his judicial detachment was relieved by the ease with which he could move among and mix with his fellow men, both lay and professional. As he arrested the attention of the Bench when at the Bar, so he compelled the admiration of the Bar and the public from the Bench. He died in Auckland on 21 February 1951 at the age of 69, an outstanding Judge of the New Zealand Bench. |
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Since retiring as a judge, he has written reports into some controversial matters. |
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On 10 July 1913, at the North-East Valley Roman Catholic Church, Dunedin, Callan married Margaret Elizabeth, daughter of James Dugald Mowatt, a Dunedin stationer, and they had one son. |
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In 1997 he reviewed [[Gun politics in New Zealand|New Zealand's gun control measures]], and recommended that all firearms be registered.[http://www.police.govt.nz/resources/1997/review-of-firearms-control/] He has also written a report into the [[David Bain]] case in which he said he was satisfied with the trial verdict. |
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by Ronald Jones, Journalist and Script Writer, New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, Wellington. |
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New Zealand Herald, 16 Feb 1951 (Obit) |
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Auckland Star, 15 Feb 1951 (Obit). |
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You may be interested inManawatū and Horowhenua region |
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Childhood |
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Law of the foreshore and seabed |
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In 1999 he wrote a report into the [[Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis]] case. Thorp expressed misgivings with aspects of the case. He could find no corroboration of the children's claims of sexual abuse. He said that section 23G of the Evidence Act should be repealed because it allowed an expert to say that there was no behaviour inconsistent with sexual abuse. His report recommended that the Justice Ministry obtain the opinion of [[Stephen J. Ceci]] with regard to the children's evidence. The Ministry has ignored this and other recommendations from Thorp's report. His report contrasts with that written by Sir [[Thomas Eichelbaum]], which upheld Ellis's conviction. |
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In 2005 he published a book entitled Miscarriages of Justice. He researched 53 applications for the Royal [[prerogative of mercy]] and found that at least 20 applicants may have been wrongly imprisoned. |
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He lives in [[Parnell, New Zealand|Parnell]], a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 23:36, 23 September 2010
CALLAN, John Bartholomew, K.C. (1882–1951).
Justice of the Supreme Court.
John Bartholomew Callan was the son of John Bartholomew Callan, the founder of the Dunedin legal firm of Callan and Gallaway, and spent practically the whole of his professional life at the Bar in Dunedin. He was born on 15 August 1882, five years after his family's arrival in New Zealand from Australia. The Callans were kinsmen of a notable Australian legal family, the Gavan Duffys, with whom John Bartholomew Callan, senior, emigrated to Victoria in 1859, the departure being not unconnected with the Young Ireland troubles of 1848. In fact, Charles Gavan Duffy, from whom Mr Justice Callan was descended, was tried for sedition and treason-felony as a result of his part in the Young Ireland movement. But he lived to be knighted K.C.M.G. by Her Majesty, to become Premier of Victoria and an eminent Australian statesman. His son became Chief Justice of Australia and his grandson, a cousin of Mr Justice Callan, is at present a puisne Judge in Victoria. Callan was educated at the Christian Brothers School in Dunedin and commenced his law studies before the Law Faculty came into being. His principal coach was the late Professor Garrow, author of some of the best-known legal textbooks published in New Zealand. After graduating B.A. and LL.B. at the University of Otago, he entered his father's office and became a partner in the firm when his father was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1907. He continued to practise in Dunedin until he took silk in 1933, when he moved on to Wellington. In the following year he was appointed to the Supreme Court Bench. By general consent he was regarded as one of the leaders of a strong Bar in Dunedin, and his elevation to the Bench was considered by many to be a tardy recognition of his fitness and qualification for judicial work.
Callan was eminently suited to hold a judgeship – he had deep scholarship, a keen intellect, and a profound knowledge of the law. He was thoroughly schooled in legal principles and, as a man of the world, was equipped by nature and character to deal with the affairs of men of the world. Yet, withal he was of a gentle, kindly, and considerate temperament. The courageous independence of thought and action which he displayed at the Bar stood him in good stead on the Bench, where he attracted immediate attention by the masterly control he always exercised over his Court, by the apt and lucid language of his judgments, and by his skill in dealing with and directing the course of business in Chambers – the Cinderella of judicial procedure. Moreover, throughout his career he was a leader among members of his profession. For 10 years he was Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago and a member of the Council of Legal Education, and in the last years of his life his judicial detachment was relieved by the ease with which he could move among and mix with his fellow men, both lay and professional. As he arrested the attention of the Bench when at the Bar, so he compelled the admiration of the Bar and the public from the Bench. He died in Auckland on 21 February 1951 at the age of 69, an outstanding Judge of the New Zealand Bench.
On 10 July 1913, at the North-East Valley Roman Catholic Church, Dunedin, Callan married Margaret Elizabeth, daughter of James Dugald Mowatt, a Dunedin stationer, and they had one son.
by Ronald Jones, Journalist and Script Writer, New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, Wellington.
New Zealand Herald, 16 Feb 1951 (Obit) Auckland Star, 15 Feb 1951 (Obit).
You may be interested inManawatū and Horowhenua region
Childhood
Law of the foreshore and seabed
References
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (September 2010) |
- Sir Thomas Thorp, Opinion for The Secretary for Justice re Petitions for the Exercise of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy by Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis, Auckland, March 1999
- See http://www.peterellis.org.nz/docs/1999/Thorp/index.htm