Michael Joseph Hogan
Sir Michael Joseph Patrick Hogan CMG QC was a British lawyer and judge. He served as a government lawyer and judge of a number of British colonies and protectorates in the mid 20th Century.
His last position before retirement was as Chief Justice of Hong Kong.
Early life
Hogan was born on 15 March 1908 in Dublin, Ireland.[1]
He was educated at Belvedere College, Dublin (1919-1924) and Stonyhurst College, Lancashire (1924-1925). He then attended Trinity College, Dublin where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Legal and Political Science with 1st Class Honours and was awarded the Gold Medal. He then studied for a Bachelor of Laws graduating in 1929.
He represented the University of Dublin in athletics, rugby and tennis.
He married Patricia Galliford of Yorkshire in the Star of Sea Church, Steamer Point, Aden 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, Kenya where he practiced for 5 years with the firm of Daly & Figgis.
In 1936, he qualified as a barrister at law at the Irish Bar (King's Inn). He was appointed Chief Magistrate in Palestine and was based in Haifa and then Jerusalem in 1937. Soon after he was appointed Crown Counsel in Palestine.
At the end of World War II, in 1945, he was appointed Attorney General in Aden. He was appointed a King's Counsel while in Aden.[2]
At the end of 1946, he returned to Jerusalem as 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 He remained in Palestine to advise the British forces there until they were withdrawn in July 1948.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 in London.
He was appointed Solicitor General of the Federation of Malaya in August 1950 and in December that year was promoted to Attorney General. He briefly acted as Administrator of Malaya when the Governor Sir Henry Gurney was assassinated by Malayan bandits. Hogan was made a Queen's Counsel in 1952. He was awarded a CMG in 1953.[3]
He was appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong in 1955. From 1964, he concurrently held the post of Chief Justice of Brunei.
A picture of Hogan swearing in Michael Gass as acting Governor of Hong Kong can be found here
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 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 a member of a number of Commonwealth Courts of Appeal after retirement, including, the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas (1975 to 1978) and the President of the Seychelles Court of Appeal.[4]
He died on 27 September 1986.[5]