James Stuart-Smith, (13 September 1919 – 15 May 2013) was a British judge and

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer. He served as Judge Advocate General from 1984 to 1991.

Early life

Stuart-Smith was born on 13 September 1919 in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, England. From 1933 to 1938, he was educated at Brighton College, an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

in Brighton. He went on to study medicine at the London Hospital; he had only completed one year of his study before the breakout of the Second World War.

Career

Military service

On 14 January 1940, Stuart-Smith was commissioned into the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

, with the rank of

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

. He was given the service number 113640. In 1946, he was promoted to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he saw active service in Italy, Egypt and Palestine. He was demobilised in 1947.

Law career

Following the end of his military service, Stuart-Smith began his career in law. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1948. He practised as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

from 1948 to 1955. During this part of his career, he defended one of the

Kray twins Ronald Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were identical twin brothers, gangsters and convicted criminals. They were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London, Engl ...

. He successfully convinced the jury to find him not guilty as it could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt which of the identical twins did the crime. In 1955, Stuart-Smith joined the office of the Judge Advocate General as a legal assistant. He was appointed Deputy Judge Advocate in 1957. From 1964 to 1965, during the Aden Emergency, he served in

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

as the Senior Judge Advocate. Having returned to the UK, he was promoted to Assistant Judge Advocate General in 1968. He was once more posted abroad from 1976 to 1979 as the Senior Judge Advocate with the British Forces in Germany. In 1981, he was promoted to Vice Judge Advocate General, the second most senior Judge Advocate General. He was promoted to Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces on 24 August 1984. On 16 April 1985, he was appointed a

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

. He retired in 1991, having served as a military judge for 36 years and holding every appointment from the lowest to the highest. In addition to his career as a military judge, Stuart-Smith was involved with the ''International Society for Military Law and the Law of War'', serving as its vice-president from 1979 to 1985 and its president from 1985 to 1991. He was then made its honorary president, a title he held from 1991 until his death.

Personal life

In 1957, Stuart-Smith married Jean Groundsell. Together they had two children; a son and a daughter. His wife predeceased him. Stuart-Smith died on 15 May 2013.

Honours

Stuart-Smith was appointed

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

(CB) in the

1986 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supple ...

. He was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

(QC) in 1988.

References

External links

Obituary - The TelegraphObituary - The Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart-Smith, James 1919 births 2013 deaths 20th-century English judges People from Brighton People educated at Brighton College Alumni of the London Hospital Medical College Companions of the Order of the Bath King's Royal Rifle Corps officers British barristers Members of the Middle Temple British Army personnel of World War II English King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel