Sir Cecil James Barrington Hurst,

GCMG The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

, KCB, QC (28 October 1870 – 27 March 1963) was a British international lawyer. He worked from 1929 to 1945 as a judge to the

Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cen ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, serving from 1934 to 1936 as president of the court.

Early life and education

Hurst was born in

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, Sussex, the son of Robert Henry Hurst (1817–1905) and his wife Matilda Jane Scott. His father and paternal grandfather, Robert Henry Hurst (1788–1857), were both

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and studied

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, earning an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1892.

Career

In June 1902 Hurst began a career in the British

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

as Assistant Legal Adviser. In 1918 he became Principal Legal Adviser. During this time Hurst was a delegate of Great Britain at the Hague Convention in 1907, and one year later with London Naval Conference, at which

maritime law Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priva ...

was crafted. After the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he attended the

Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. During the 1920s he represented Great Britain several times before the Permanent Court. In 1929 he became a member of the

, and remained a member up to its dissolution in October 1945. During this time he worked from 1934 to 1936 as a president and afterwards until 1945 as a vice-president of the court. Hurst was honoured as CB in 1907, KC in 1913, KCB in 1920, KCMG in 1924, and GCMG in 1926. The

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1928. An oil painting of Hurst, by British artist

William Dring Dennis William Dring (26 January 1904 – 29 September 1990) was a British portraitist. Early life Dring was born in Streatham, London and studied at the Slade School of Fine Art between 1922 and 1925, where he won several prizes and sc ...

A.R.A, can be seen in the Library of Horsham Museum.

Selected works

* ''The British Year Book of International Law.'' London 1925 (as editor) * A Plea for the Codification of International Law on new Lines. In: '' Transactions of the Grotius Society.'' 32/1946. Oxford University press, S. 135-153 * ''International Law: The Collected Papers of Sir Cecil Hurst.'' London 1950

Literature

* ''Biographical Notes concerning the Judges. Sir Cecil J. B. Hurst.'' In: ''Sixth Annual report of the permanently Court of internationally Justice.'' A.W. Sijthoff' s Publishing, Leiden 1930, S. 20/21 * Charles de Visscher, Kenneth Carpmael, C. John Colombos: Sir Cecil Hurst: Two Tributes. In: ''International and Comparative Law Quarterly.'' 13 (1)/1964. Cambridge University press, pp. 1–5

References

External links

* 1870 births 1963 deaths Delegates to the Hague Peace Conferences Permanent Court of International Justice judges Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath English King's Counsel People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British judges of international courts and tribunals 20th-century King's Counsel {{UK-law-bio-stub