Sir John Charles Rowell Fieldsend , QC (13 September 1921 – 22 February 2017) was a judge who served as the first Chief Justice of Zimbabwe. He also served as a judge in several British overseas territories.

Early life

Fieldsend was the son of C. E. Fieldsend MC, a British engineer who moved to Africa with his family in the 1920s. He was educated at

Michaelhouse Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan valley in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. History ''St. Michael's Diocesan College'' was founded in Pietermaritzburg in 18 ...

and

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public research university located in Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the province's oldest ...

, where he studied Law. During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, he was commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1943, serving in Egypt, Italy (where he fought at

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first ho ...

) and Greece. After demobilisation, Fieldsend was called to the

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...

n bar in 1947 and entered private practice, becoming 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 ...

(QC) in 1959. Between 1958 and 1963, he was the President of the Special Income Tax Court of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

Judicial career

In 1963, Fieldsend was appointed to the High Court of

. In 1965, as a member of the Appellate Division of the High Court, he was the sole dissenter in '' Madzimbamuto v Lardner-Burke'', a challenge to the legality of

Unilateral Declaration of Independence A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) is a formal process leading to the establishment of a new state by a subnational entity which declares itself independent and sovereign without a formal agreement with the state which it is secedin ...

(UDI) earlier that year. He wrote that "while the present authorities are factually in control of all executive and legislative powers in Rhodesia, they have not usurped the judicial function. For this reason they are neither a fully ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' nor a ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' Government". In 1968, Justice Fieldsend resigned from the bench after the High Court dismissed the applications for stays of execution by three black Rhodesians convicted of murder and terrorist offences before UDI, stating that his continuation in office "amounts to accepting the abandonment of the 1961 Constitution". After his resignation, Fieldsend left Rhodesia for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where he worked for the

Law Commission A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...

, serving as its secretary from 1978 to 1980. That year, he was invited by

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

to become the first Chief Justice of the now-independent

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, serving until 1987. He then served as the Chief Justice of the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

from 1985 to 1987, and as Chief Justice of the British Indian Ocean Territory from 1987 to 1999. He also served as a judge of the Court of Appeal of St Helena, of the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

and of the

British Antarctic Territory The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories, of which it is by far the largest by area. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between ...

from 1985 to 1999, and of the Court of Appeal of Gibraltar between 1985 and 1997 (serving as its President from 1991 to 1997). Fieldsend was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1998.

Family

In 1945, he married Muriel Gedling, a schoolteacher; they had a son, Peter, and daughter, Catherine Ann.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fieldsend, John 1921 births 2017 deaths 20th-century English judges Judges of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe Rhodes University alumni Rhodesian lawyers Rhodesian judges Rhodesian Queen's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Chief justices of Zimbabwe Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War II Alumni of Michaelhouse Chief justices of the Turks and Caicos Islands