Major-General 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 ou ...

Career

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

College of Law A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary school ...

and was admitted a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

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 or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

with seniority from 1973. He was promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in 1978 and lieutenant-colonel in 1983, serving the Headquarters of the British Land Forces in Hong Kong, the

British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...

, Northern Ireland, the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

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

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. He was promoted to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

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 (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

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 Major-General.''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 King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

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), ' ...

and ceased to be Director in 2003. Outside of the military, Risius was appointed an Assistant

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

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 The Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA) was an independent judicial body in the United Kingdom constituted under the Immigration Act 1971, with jurisdiction to hear appeals from many immigration and Right of asylum, asylum decisions. Administere ...

, serving until 2005; he was a Senior Judge in the Sovereign Base Areas Court in Cyprus between 2007 and 2014, and was also a Judge at

Oxford Crown Court The Oxford Combined Court Centre is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, as well as a County Court venue, which deals with civil cases, in St Aldate's, Oxford, England. History The building was commissioned by the then Sir Wi ...

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 UK's Royal Air Force (RAF). In peacetime it was granted to RAF officers in the appointment of Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom), Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), and to ...

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 major generals Companions of the Order of the Bath Army Legal Corps officers