Sir Gerald Gray Fitzmaurice (24 October 1901 – 7 September 1982)''Judge Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice and the Discipline of International Law: Opinions on the International Court of Justice, 1961-1973'', J. G. Merrills, ed. (Martinus Nijhoff, 1998) p99 was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

barrister and judge. He was a member of the

Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that aris ...

between 1964 and 1973 and a Judge of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

between 1967 and 1973, before becoming a Judge of the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

at Strasbourg in 1974.

Early life and education

He was born on 24 October 1901, the eldest son of Vice-Admiral Sir Maurice Swynfen Fitzmaurice and Mabel Gertrude Gray, in

Storrington Storrington is a small town in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England, and one of two in the civil parish of Storrington and Sullington. Storrington lies at the foot of the north side of the South Downs. it has a population of around 4,600 ...

, Sussex. He studied at

Malvern College Malvern College is an independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school in the British sense of the term and is a member of the Rugby Group and of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' ...

and at

Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

, where he gained 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 yea ...

and

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of ...

in 1924. While at Gonville and Caius, Fitzmaurice was a pupil of

Arnold McNair Arnold Duncan McNair, 1st Baron McNair (4 March 1885 – 22 May 1975) was a British jurist and judge of the International Court of Justice and later the first president of the European Court of Human Rights. Early life and education McNair was b ...

. Fitzmaurice took a

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in both parts of the law

tripos At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...

in 1923 and 1924.

Career

He was called to the bar at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1925 and worked as a legal advisor to the

Foreign Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

in 1929. He was seconded to the

Ministry of Economic Warfare The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second World War. The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive and the Ministry of Economic Warfare. See also * Blockade of Germany (19 ...

as a legal advisor from 1939 to 1943, where he was tasked developing an

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called a ...

legal network to restrict Germany's seaborne trade. He spent time as the Second Legal Advisor at the Foreign Office from 1945 until 1953, having been invested as a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in hono ...

in 1946. In 1945, he attended the

San Francisco Conference The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Cali ...

as a legal advisor to the UK delegation and was involved in drafting the

UN Charter The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the ...

; he attended the

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in 1946. He was part of the in 1946 and again from 1948 to 1949. Fitzmaurice was the UK Counsel to the

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between 1948 and 1954. He served as the Senior Legal Advisor to the Foreign Office between 1953 and 1960. In 1954 he was advanced to a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in hono ...

. Fitzmaurice was a member of the

International Law Commission The International Law Commission (ILC) is a body of experts responsible for helping develop and codify international law. It is composed of 34 individuals recognized for their expertise and qualifications in international law, who are elected by t ...

of the UN between 1955 and 1960 and contributed to the four Geneva Convention of the Law of the Sea adopted in 1958. He was the Special Rapporteur on the law of treaties. He

took silk 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 or ...

in 1957. From 1956 to 1960, he served president of the

Grotius Society The Grotius Society was a British society founded in 1915 during World War I. In 1958, it was dissolved on the merger with the Society of Comparative Legislation, founded in 1895, to form the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. ...

Judicial career

Fitzmaurice was a member of the

between 1954 to 1980. In 1960, he left his position as Senior Legal Advisor to accept an appointment as judge at the

, completing

Sir Hersch Lauterpacht Sir Hersch Lauterpacht (16 August 1897 – 8 May 1960) was a British international lawyer, human rights activist, and judge at the International Court of Justice. Biography Hersh Lauterpacht was born on 16 August 1897 to a Jewish family in t ...

's term who had died mid-term, and was re-elected for a full term in 1963; he served in the court until 1973. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of Order of St Michael and St George in 1960, and in 1961 was elected 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 ...

of Gray's Inn. In 1974, he was elected as Judge of the

at Strasbourg, a position he served in until 1980. During his long career in the law he received honorary degrees of

Doctor of Law A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ( ...

from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1970 and the University of Cambridge in 1972.

Personal life

He married Alice Evelina Alexandra Sandberg on 15 September 1933 and the couple had two sons. He died in London on 7 September 1982 at the age of 80.

Notes

References

*
Sir Gerald Gray Fitzmaurice
thepeerage.com

Literature

* J. G. Merrills, ''Judge Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice and the discipline of international law'', Kluwer Law International, 1998, , 347 pages
url
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzmaurice, Gerald 1901 births 1982 deaths People educated at Malvern College Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge 20th-century King's Counsel Members of Gray's Inn International Law Commission officials International Court of Justice judges Judges of the European Court of Human Rights English barristers 20th-century English judges Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration English King's Counsel British judges of United Nations courts and tribunals British judges of international courts and tribunals