Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Gordon Risius, CB (born 10 July 1945) is a former senior British Army officer and lawyer who served as Director of the

Army Legal Services Branch The Army Legal Services Branch (ALS) is a branch of the Adjutant-General's Corps (AGC) in the British Army. Before 1992, the branch existed as the independent Army Legal Corps (ALC). History Many of the functions of the ALS were once carried o ...

Career

Born on 10 July 1945 to Rudolf Risius and his wife Irene, ''née'' Spier, Risius studied at the

College of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, l ...

and was admitted a solicitor in 1972."Risius, Maj. Gen. His Honour Gordon"
''Who's Who'' (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2017). Retrieved 3 January 2018. He was commissioned into the Army Legal Corps (later the Army Legal Services Branch) as a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

with seniority from 1973. He was promoted to Major in 1978 and

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in 1983, serving the Headquarters of the British Land Forces in Hong Kong, the

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility locate ...

, Northern Ireland, the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

, the 4th Armoured Division and the British Land Forces in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

. He was promoted to

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

in 1992, and served at the Ministry of Defence. He was promoted to

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

in 1994; he was Brigadier Legal at the Headquarters of the British Army of the Rhine until 1995, then the same at the Headquarters of the Land Command until 1996 and, finally, he was Brigadier Prosecutions in 1997. That year, he was appointed Director of the Army Legal Services Branch and promoted to the rank of

.''Supplement to the London Gazette''
21 April 1997 (no. 54745), p. 4766. He was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as ...

in the

2000 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours were announced on 19 June 2000 to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: Australia (12 June), New Zealand (13 June),New ZealandThe Queen's Birthday Honours 2000(13 June 2000), ''N ...

and ceased to be Director in 2003. Outside of the military, Risius was appointed an Assistant Recorder in 1991 and a Recorder in 1995. In 2003, he was appointed a Circuit Judge and in that year became a Vice-President of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal, serving until 2005; he was a Senior Judge in the

Sovereign Base Areas Court ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler ...

in Cyprus between 2007 and 2014, and was also a Judge at Oxford Crown Court from 2010 to 2014, when he also retired as a Circuit Judge. Since 2003, he has been Honorary President of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War. Since 1980, he has been married to Lucinda Mary, daughter of

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Marshal of the Royal Air Force (MRAF) is the highest rank in the Royal Air Force (RAF). In peacetime it was granted to RAF officers in the appointment of Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), and to retired Chiefs of the Air Staff (CAS), who were ...

Sir

Michael Beetham Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael James Beetham, (17 May 1923 – 24 October 2015) was a Second World War bomber pilot and a high-ranking commander in the Royal Air Force from the 1960s to the 1980s. As Chief of the Air Staff during th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Risius, Gordon 1945 births Living people British solicitors British Army generals Companions of the Order of the Bath Army Legal Corps officers