Sir Phillip James Macdonell (10 January 1873 – 15 December 1940) was the 25th Chief Justice of Ceylon. He was appointed in 1930 succeeding Stanley Fisher and was Chief Justice until 1936. He was succeeded by Sidney Abrahams.^[1]

Macdonell was a scholar at Brasenose College, Oxford, was Bacon Scholar at Gray's Inn in 1896, and was called to the Bar there in January 1900.^[2]

He was

• war correspondent for "The Times", 1900–1901;
• Judge of the High Court, Northern Rhodesia, 1918–1927;
• President of the West Indian Court of Appeal, Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago 1927–30^[3]
• Chief Justice of Ceylon, 1930–36;^[4] Privy Councillor, 1939^[5][6]
• Knighted, 1925;
• Retired, 1936.
• President of the Balovale Commission (Northern Rhodesia, 1939–41).^[7]

He died in Southport in 1940 and was buried in Girthon Old Churchyard, Kirkcudbrightshire.^[8][9] He had married Alexandrina Sutherland Campbell.