John Calvert Griffiths CMG KC SC was the

Attorney General of Hong Kong The secretary for justice () is the head of the Hong Kong Department of Justice, the chief legal advisor to the chief executive of Hong Kong and the government, and the chief law enforcement officer of the Government of Hong Kong. Before th ...

from 1979 to 1983.

Early life

Griffiths was born in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, now

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, on 16 January 1931. He is the son of Oswald Hardy Griffiths and Christina Flora Griffiths (née Littlejohn). He was educated at St. Peter's School, York where he was a scholar. He then did his

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

from 1949 to 1950 and held the rank of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. He then attended

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

where he obtained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1955 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1960.

Legal Practice in England

Griffiths was called to the bar of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1956. He was appointed a

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 1972, a position he held until 1990. He was made a

King'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 1972. He was a member of the executive committee of the Inns of Court and the Bar from 1973 to 1977 and a member of the Senate between 1984 and 1986.

Attorney General of Hong Kong

Griffiths first came to Hong Kong in 1976 to prosecute the Ma brothers for importing heroin in a triad case which garnered the involvement of the CIA. Three years later, in 1979, Griffiths was appointed

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. In his capacity as Attorney General, he served on the Hong Kong Executive Council and

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

. He also served as Chairman of the Hong Kong

Law Reform 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 ...

. He served as Attorney General until 1983 and was succeeded by Michael Thomas QC.

Post AG practice

After stepping down as Attorney General, Griffiths entered private practice as a barrister in Hong Kong and England, handling both civil and criminal matters. He succeeded Neil Kaplan Q.C. as Head of Chambers of Des Voeux Chambers in 1990. He retired from full-time practice in 2012, but still remains a door tenant at Des Voeux Chambers. In 1984 and 1985 he headed an inquiry in England into the membership of the

House of Fraser House of Fraser (rebranding to Frasers) is a British department store chain with 23 locations across the United Kingdom and 2 in Ireland, part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it ...

. In Hong Kong, he defended

Chim Pui-Chung Chim Pui-chung (born 1946 in Chaozhou, Guangdong, China) was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco), representing the Financial Services Functional Constituency. He is director of several companies. Political career Chim was a l ...

in a costly, 131-day-long trial in the late 1990s. He also represented Lucille Fung, wife of retired judge Miles Henry Jackson-Lipkin, but withdrew when her state of mind made discussions with her difficult. He acted for Nancy Kissel when she was charged with the murder of her husband. Griffiths also acted in the following cases:taken from Griffiths Des Voeux Chambers CV, January 2012 *Representing a leading firm of developers against the Housing Authority, in relation to the Private Sector Participation Scheme. *Representing New World Development Co. Ltd to apply for leave for

Judicial Review Judicial review is a process under which a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are in ...

about arguments regarding the proposed listing on the

Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (, SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. It is one of the largest stock exchanges in Asia and the List of major stock exchanges, 9th largest globally by market ...

. *advising a leading property firm against the Government about work conditions regarding Times Square. *advising the Oriental Daily News in respect of a libel claim. *representing a famous Cantonese singer in a claim involving tax.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, John Calvert People educated at St Peter's School, York 1931 births Living people Attorneys general of Hong Kong Hong Kong Senior Counsel English King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel 21st-century King's Counsel Hong Kong Queen's Counsel Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong