Background
McCowan was born on 12 January 1928 in Georgetown, Guyana, the son of a magistrate.
McCowan was born on 12 January 1928 in Georgetown, Guyana, the son of a magistrate.
Brasenose College.
After gaining a strong practice in criminal, property and personal injury law he was made a Queen"s Counsel in 1972, and was appointed a judge of the Queen"s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice in 1981. In 1989 he became a judge of the Court of Appeal, but only sat for eight years until ill health forced him to retire in 1997. He died on 3 July 2003.
In 1951 he helped found the Bow Group and was called to the Bar by Gray"s Inn as an Atkin Scholar.
After a pupillage with Stanley Rees at 1 Crown Office Row, McCowan specialised in criminal, property and personal injury law, practising in London and on the South East Circuit, and became noted for his skill at cross-examination. In 1971 he became a Recorder, He became a Queen"s Counsel (Queen's Counsel) in 1972, and leader of the South Eastern Circuit in 1978, having been appointed Deputy Chairman of the East Sussex Quarter Sessions in 1969.
On 2 June 1981 he was appointed to the Queen"s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, and received the customary knighthood the following month. In 1985 he judged the case of Clive Ponting, a British civil servant who had been charged with violating section 2 of the Official Secrets Acting 1911 after leaking documents about the sinking of the Allegany Rehabilitation Associates General Belgrano.
Ponting"s defence (that his actions were in the interests of the state, as they prevented Parliament from being misled) was rejected by McCowan, who summed up in favour of the prosecution – nevertheless, the jury found Ponting not guilty.
In 1986 McCowan became Presiding of the South Eastern Circuit. On 3 October 1989 McCowan was appointed to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, and made a Privy Councillor. As an Appeals judge he ordered an inquest into the death of Roberto Calvi, also known as God"s Banker, and in 1991 was part of the panel that heard the appeal of the Maguire Seven.
The same year he was made Senior Presiding of England and Wales, a position he held until ill-health forced him to resign in 1995.
He resigned from the Bench two years later, and died on 3 July 2003.
In 1982 he became a member of the Parole Board for England and Wales, and the same year joined the Crown Court Rule Committee.