James Aiden O'Brien Quinn, QC (3 January 1932 – 28 December 2018) was an Irish-born lawyer and expatriate judge. During his career, he served as a judge in

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, the Seychelles,

Kiribati Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The st ...

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

, and 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Biography

The son of William Patrick Quinn, Commissioner of the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

and Helen Mary (''née'' Walshe), O'Brien Quinn was educated at Presentation College, Bray, and

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

, where he took a BA and LLB (Hons). From 1949 to 1953, he worked for the National City Bank, Dublin. Called to the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland () is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Bar of Ireland, commonly c ...

in 1957, he practiced at the Bar under a Colonial Office Scheme from 1958 to 1960, when he became Crown Counsel and Acting Senior Crown Counsel in

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After ...

. In 1964, he became Assistant Attorney-General and Acting Attorney-General of West Cameroon, and in 1966 he became Procureur Général for West Cameroon and Avocat Général of the Federal Republic of Cameroon. From 1968 to 1972 he was Conseiller of the Cour Fédérale de Justice, Judge of the West Cameroon Supreme Court, Conseiller Technique (Harmonisation des Lois), at the Ministère de la Justice,

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the Capital city, capital city of Cameroon. It has a population of more than 2.8 million which makes it the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre Region o ...

, and Président of the Tribunal Administratif du Cameroun Occidental. In 1967, he was called to the

English Bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. From 1972 to 1976, O'Brien Quinn was Attorney-General of the Seychelles and of the

British Indian Ocean Territory The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is an British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. The territory comprises the seven atolls of the Chago ...

, becoming a Seychelles

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1973. He was also a member of the Legislative and Executive Councils, and of the Parliament of Seychelles, before and after independence. He was Acting Deputy Governor in 1975, a member of the official delegation on self-government in 1975, and on independence constitutions in 1976. From 1975 to 1976, he collaborated with Professor A. G. Chloros on the translation and updating of the

Code Napoleon The Napoleonic Code (), officially the Civil Code of the French (; simply referred to as ), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since it ...

. He was Chief Justice of the Seychelles from 1976 to 1977, when he was expelled from the country during the 1977 Seychelles coup d'état. After he was expelled from the Seychelles, O'Brien Quinn became Chief Justice of the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati from 1979), serving from 1977 to 1981, where he set up a new courts system. He was a member of the Council of State from 1979 to 1981. He was also a Judge of the High Court of Solomon Islands from 1977 to 1979. In 1981, he served as special prosecutor in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, 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 from Cape Dub ...

. O'Brien Quinn became

Chief Justice of Botswana The Government of Botswana often abbreviated as GOB, is the union government created by the constitution of Botswana having the executive, parliament, and the judiciary. The Seat of the Government is located in Gaborone, Botswana. The govern ...

in 1981, retiring in 1987. After briefly working as an investment adviser, he was in England an Adjudicator of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal from 1990 to 1993, vice-president of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal from 1996 to 2004, and Member of the

Special Immigration Appeals Commission The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (also known by the acronym SIAC) is a superior court of record in the United Kingdom established by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997 that deals with appeals from persons deported by ...

from 1998 to 2002. O'Brien Quinn was made a Chevalier of the Ordre de la Valeur of the Republic of Cameroon in 1967, and received the Kiribati Independence Medal in 1979.

Personal life

Quinn married Christel Tyner in 1960; they had two sons and a daughter.

References

"Quinn, (James) Aiden O’Brien"
''Who's Who'', Oxford University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien Quinn, Aiden 1932 births 2018 deaths 20th-century British women lawyers 20th-century English judges 20th-century Irish judges 20th-century King's Counsel 21st-century British women lawyers 21st-century English judges 21st-century Irish judges Alumni of University College Dublin British colonial people in Cameroon British Indian Ocean Territory people British Seychelles judges Cameroonian judges Cameroonian lawyers Cameroonian women lawyers Chief justices of Kiribati Chief justices of Seychelles Colonial Service officers Expatriate judges on the courts of Seychelles Expatriate judges on the courts of the Solomon Islands I-Kiribati judges Irish colonial officials Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom Irish King's Counsel Lawyers from County Wicklow Members of the Inner Temple Nyasaland people People educated at Presentation College, Bray Seychellois lawyers