Sir Michael Robert Emanuel Kerr (1 March 1921 – 14 April 2002) was a German-born British jurist, author, lawyer and

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

judge. He had been told, he said, that he was England's first "foreign-born judge" in 800 years, but he was careful neither to confirm nor to refute that suggestion.

Life and career

Michael Kerr was born in

Berlin-Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, the son of the composer-musician Julia Anna Franziska (née Weismann) and the drama critic

Alfred Kerr Alfred Kerr (''né'' Kempner; 25 December 1867 – 12 October 1948, surname: ) was an influential German theatre critic and essayist of Jewish descent, nicknamed the ''Kulturpapst'' ("Culture Pope"). Biography Youth Kerr was born in Breslau ...

. He was the brother of the author

Judith Kerr Anna Judith Gertrud Helene Kerr (surname pronounced ; 14 June 1923 – 22 May 2019) was a German-born British writer and illustrator whose books sold more than 10 million copies around the world.

. His family was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. Kerr and his family were forced to leave their homeland at the end of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

by the emergence of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. After 1933, the Kerr family lived in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and finally 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 ...

, as noted in the work of Judith Kerr. His experience as an immigrant allowed him to perfect skills in not only

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

but also

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. Sponsored by a friend of his father, Kerr was educated at

Aldenham School Aldenham School is a co-educational private boarding and day school for pupils aged eleven to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England. There is also a preparatory school for pupils from the ag ...

. That and his immigration experience may have created a wish to emulate and join the

upper-middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term ''lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class strat ...

of his new homeland. Kerr was beginning his studies at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

, when the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

began. During the war, Kerr was at first identified as an ''

enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any alien native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secur ...

'' and interned at temporary camps around the country before he was sent to the Central Promenade Camp in

Douglas, Isle of Man Douglas (, ) is the Capital (political), capital city and largest settlement of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021) and an area of . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, Isle of Man, River Douglas, and on a sweepi ...

. He was released on the intervention of the Home Secretary and later served as a pilot in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

; he reached the rank of flight lieutenant. During the war he flew with No. 612 Squadron RAF in

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of t ...

bombers against

U-boats U-boats are naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the First and Second World Wars. The term is an anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the German term refers to any submarine. Austro-Hungarian Na ...

in the North Sea. After the war, he returned to Cambridge to study law and became a naturalised British subject in 1946. His career eventually led him to the

, where he believed that he was the first senior judge born an alien since the 12th century. Kerr chaired 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 ...

from 1978 to 1981 before he served on the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

and finally on the

London Court of International Arbitration The London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) is the oldest arbitral body in the world dealing with international disputes. It was founded as a British private company limited by guarantee with a head office in London. It offers dispu ...

. Kerr married Julia Braddock in 1953 and they had three children: Candy, Jo and Tim born in 1954, 1956 and 1958. The couple separated in 1977, but since Julia did not agree to the

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

, he had to wait for the statutory five years. Tim was appointed to the High Court in 2015. Kerr married Diana Sneezum on 29 January 1983 and they had two children: Lucy, born in 1984, and Alexander, born in 1987. They remained happily married until Kerr's death in 2002. In his autobiography ''As Far As I Remember'' he tells about his family, also reflected in books by his sister such as '' When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit'', and about his career in the British law system. His short analytic writing is reminiscent of his father's style.

Publications

*Kerr, M.
Concord and Conflict in International Arbitration
''Arbitration International'', Volume 13, Issue 2, 1 June 1997: the first in a series of lectures given in memory of the construction lawyer Donald Keating. * ''As Far As I Remember''. Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland/Oregon 2002,

Arms

References

External links

Auf Knopfdruck Ihrer Majestät
(in

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Michael 1921 births 2002 deaths Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Royal Air Force pilots of World War II 20th-century English judges English autobiographers People educated at Aldenham School Queen's Bench Division judges Jews who immigrated to the United Kingdom to escape Nazism Knights Bachelor Lord justices of appeal Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom German people of Jewish descent English people of German-Jewish descent German Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Royal Air Force officers Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom People from Charlottenburg

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...