John Mark Alexander Colville, 4th Viscount Colville of Culross QC (19 July 1933 – 8 April 2010) was a British judge and politician. He was one of the 92 hereditary peers elected to remain in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

after the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

. The son of Charles Colville, 3rd Viscount Colville of Culross, he succeeded to his father's title in 1945, at the age of twelve. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

and New College, Oxford, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in law in 1957, and with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in 1963. Colville served in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

, reaching the rank of Lieutenant. Called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1960, he became a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1978 and a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

in 1986. Between 1980 and 1983, he was the representative of the United Kingdom to the

United Nations Commission on Human Rights The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of ...

. Between 1983 and 1987, Colville was the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Guatemala. He also served in the British government as chair of the

Mental Health Act Commission The Mental Health Act Commission was an NHS special health authority that provided a safeguard for people detained in hospital under the powers of the Mental Health Act 1983 in England and Wales. Mental health care is the only part of health care ...

. He was chairman of the

Parole Board for England and Wales The Parole Board for England and Wales () was established in 1968 under the Criminal Justice Act 1967. It became an independent executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) on 1 July 1996 under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. The ...

from 1988 to 1992,

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 ...

from 1990 to 1993, and Judge of the

South Eastern Circuit The Circuit Court ( ga, An Chúirt Chuarda) of Ireland is an intermediate level court of local and limited jurisdiction which hears both civil and criminal matters. On the criminal side the Circuit Court hears criminal matters tried on indictmen ...

from 1993 to 1999. From 1996 to 2000, he was a member of the

United Nations Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per ...

. From 2001 he served as Assistant Surveillance Commissioner. Colville was married twice, first to Mary Elizabeth Webb-Bowen in 1958, and, after being divorced in 1973, to Margaret Birgitta Norton, in the following year. He had four sons, including his heir Charles, by his first wife, and one son by his second wife. He died at age 76 in 2010. His funeral was held at St Nicholas' Church,

West Lexham West Lexham is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lexham, in the Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of the town of Swaffham, west north west of Norwich and north east of London. In 1931 th ...

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* 1933 births 2010 deaths People educated at Rugby School Alumni of New College, Oxford British King's Counsel 20th-century English judges Grenadier Guards officers Hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act Members of Lincoln's Inn People associated with the University of East Anglia 20th-century King's Counsel United Nations Human Rights Committee members Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom British officials of the United Nations {{UK-viscount-stub