Sir John Brinsmead Latey, MBE (7 March 1914 – 24 April 1999) was a British judge. Born in London, Latey was the son of the divorce barrister

William Latey William Latey, CBE, QC (12 February 1885 – 28 February 1976) was an English barrister and Special Divorce Commissioner. Biography Latey was born in 1885, the son of John Latey, editor of ''The Illustrated London News''. He was war correspond ...

QC and the grandson of the journalist John Latey. He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It derives from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the 1066 Norman Conquest, as d ...

and Christ Church, Oxford, where he took a Third in Jurisprudence in 1935. He was called to the bar by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1936. Initially refused for wartime service due to poor eyesight, Latey was commissioned into the

Royal Army Pay Corps The Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC) was the corps of the British Army responsible for administering all financial matters. It was amalgamated into the Adjutant General's Corps in 1992. History The first "paymasters" have existed in the army before t ...

in 1942, and subsequently transferred to the Judge Advocate's Department. He was appointed a MBE (Military Division) in 1943. After the War he returned to the bar, and was appointed a

Queen's Counsel 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. In 1965, on the recommendation of Lord Gardiner, Latey was appointed to the High Court and assigned to the

Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division 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 and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (Englan ...

, receiving the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1986, and retired from the bench in 1989. In 1965–67, he chaired a committee that reviewed reducing the UK's age of majority from 21 to 18. The committee's recommendation was accepted in the Family Law Reform Act of 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latey, John 1914 births 1999 deaths Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division judges Royal Army Pay Corps officers English King's Counsel Knights Bachelor Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Middle Temple People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II