Oliver Deneys Schreiner MC KC (29 December 1890 – 27 July 1980), was a judge of the Appellate Division of the

Supreme Court of South Africa The Supreme Court of South Africa was a superior court of law in South Africa from 1910 to 1997. It was made up of various provincial and local divisions with jurisdiction over specific geographical areas, and an Appellate Division which was th ...

. One of the most renowned South African judges, he was passed over twice for the position of

Chief Justice of South Africa The chief justice of South Africa is the most senior judge of the Constitutional Court and head of the judiciary of South Africa, who exercises final authority over the functioning and management of all the courts. The position of chief justic ...

for political reasons. He was later described as "the greatest Chief Justice South Africa never had".

Early life

Schreiner was born in Cape Town in 1890, the son of

William Philip Schreiner William Philip Schreiner (30 August 1857 – 28 June 1919) was a South African barrister and politician who served as the eighth Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1898 to 1900, during the Second Boer War. Early life Schreiner was bor ...

, the

Prime Minister of the Cape Colony This article lists the governors of British South African colonies, including the colonial prime ministers. It encompasses the period from 1797 to 1910, when present-day South Africa was divided into four British colonies namely: Cape Colony (p ...

during the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

, and his wife, Frances, a sister of President F. W. Reitz. The author

Olive Schreiner Olive Schreiner (24 March 1855 – 11 December 1920) was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel '' The Story of an African Farm'' (1883), which has been highly acclaimed. It dea ...

was his aunt. Schreiner attended the

Rondebosch Boys' High School Rondebosch Boys' High School is a public English medium high school for boys situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the oldest schools in the country, having been established ...

, the

South African College School The South African College Schools (colloquially often known as “SACS”) is a public English medium primary and high education institution situated in Newlands – part of the Southern Suburbs region of Cape Town in the Western Cape provinc ...

(SACS), before going to the

South African College The South African College was an educational institution in Cape Town, South Africa, which developed into the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African College Schools (SACS). History The process that would lead to the formation of th ...

(now the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

), where he was the admired president of the Debating Union. An excellent student, he "could have had the

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

for the asking", but understood, in the light of

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

's involvement in the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (Afrikaans: ''Jameson-inval'', , 29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson ...

and subsequent fallout with William Schreiner, that "no Schreiner took such a gift from such a man". Instead, Schreiner went up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

to read Law. Like his father, who had also studied at Cambridge, Schreiner had a brilliant academic career, topping the list for Part I of the Law

Tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

in 1912, winning the George Long Prize in Roman Law, and receiving a Trinity Senior Scholarship. In 1915 he was granted his BA ''in absentia'' and in 1916, he was elected to a fellowship of Trinity. His studies were interrupted by the First World War: he was commissioned into the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, and served with the

Northamptonshire Regiment The Northamptonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1960. In 1960, it was amalgamated with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's O ...

and the

South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. In ...

. he was wounded in the right arm at Trônes Wood during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

, and received the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. After recovering from his injuries, he was sent to Mesopotamia, but his ship was torpedoed ''en route''. He was demobilized with the rank of

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 ...

Legal career

After the war Schreiner completed his legal studies and was called to the English bar at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

, completing his

pupillage A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Hong Kong, is the final, vocational stage of training for those wishing to become practising barristers. Pupillage is similar to an apprenticeship, during which ba ...

under Wilfred Greene and Geoffrey Lawrence. He was called to the Transvaal bar in 1920 and set up a practice in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, dealing primarily in commercial arbitration, white collar crime and being recognised as a specialist in procedure. He also lectured on the law of torts and crime at the Faculty of Law of University College, Johannesburg (now

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

), then in its early days: the Law School is today named in his honour. He had a roaring civil practice, and took silk as a King's Counsel in 1935. In the 1920s, he was approached by Jan Hofmeyr to enter politics, but declined to do so. On 15 February, he was appointed an acting judge of the

Transvaal Provincial Division The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria, ...

, and was appointed to a permanent position on the court on 1 August 1937. As a trial judge, Schreiner was said to be quiet and polite, but a sharp questioner, and looked primarily after Chamber work. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he presided over a special court in charge of trying cases of sabotage and hampering the war effort. He also presided over the special court which tried

Robey Leibbrandt Sidney Robey Leibbrandt (25 January 1913 – 1 August 1966) was a South African Olympic Games, Olympian, who during World War II acted as an Abwehr agent for the Third Reich against the British Empire in South Africa. In 1943, he was convicted ...

and others for high treason; the judgment ran to 70,000 words and took seven hours to be delivered. On 1 January 1945, he was promoted to the Appellate Division of the

, where he served until his retirement in 1960. Initially he heard primarily civil appeals from trial courts as well as tax appeals, but later on exclusively heard second appeals as well as petitions against the executive During the Coloured Vote Crisis, Schreiner steadfastly refused to endorse the attempts of the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

government to remove

Coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...

voters from the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

's roll. Finally, after the Appellate Division had been packed with pliant judges, it approved the government's reconstitution of the Senate. Schreiner was the lone dissenter.

Passed over for the Chief Justiceship

Schreiner was twice passed over for appointment as Chief Justice, despite being the most senior appellate judge (tradition dictated that the appointment should go to the most senior appellate judge). On the first occasion he was superseded by

Henry Allan Fagan Henry Allan Fagan, QC (4 April 1889 – 6 December 1963) was the Chief Justice of South Africa from 1957 to 1959 and previously a Member of Parliament and the Minister of Native Affairs in J. B. M. Hertzog's government. Fagan had been an ear ...

, who accepted the appointment with reluctance; although it was obvious to both that Schreiner was being punished by the government for his role in the coloured vote crisis. Initially the judges of the Court had, at the suggestion of outgoing Chief Justice

Albert van der Sandt Centlivres Albert van der Sandt Centlivres (13 January 188719 September 1966), was the Chief Justice of South Africa from 1950 to 1957. Biography Centlivres was born in Newlands, Cape Town, the son of Frederick James Centlivres and Albertina de Villiers. ...

, tried to reach an agreement that they would all refuse appointment, so that the government would be forced to appoint Schreiner. But this plan failed when notorious National Party favourite L. C. Steyn failed to agree. Fagan therefore accepted the Chief Justiceship with misgivings, after consulting with Schreiner, so that Steyn would not be appointed. When Fagan retired two years later, Schreiner was again passed over, this time losing out to Steyn. Schreiner was later described by Ellison Kahn as "the greatest Chief Justice South Africa never had". Politically, Ellison Kahn classifies Schreiner as a traditional Cape liberal: he opposed racism, and in old age refused to sit on whites-only bus seats. In 1970, he refused to be renominated as President of the Cripple Care Association of the Transvaal because its constitution had been amended to restrict membership to whites only.

Honours and awards

After his retirement he served on the University of the Witwatersrand Council and as president of the

South African Institute of Race Relations The South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is a research and policy organisation in South Africa. The IRR was founded in 1929 to improve and report upon race relations in South Africa between the politically dominant White South Africa ...

. A long-serving member of the Council of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) he was elected unopposed as Chancellor of the university, serving from 1962 to 1974. He also sat on the appellate courts of various African territories. He was awarded three honorary doctorates: from the

(1958), Witwatersrand (1961) and

(1963). In 1967, he delivered the

Hamlyn Lectures The Hamlyn Lectures are a series of public lectures in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland given annually on a legal topic. The lectures have been given every year since 1949 in memory of Emma Hamlyn 's father William Bussell Hamlyn. Hi ...

at Cambridge. The main building at the University of the Witwatersrand Law School is named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schreiner, Oliver 1890 births 1980 deaths Military personnel from Cape Town South African judges Alumni of Rondebosch Boys' High School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge South African Queen's Counsel Recipients of the Military Cross Members of the Inner Temple Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge 20th-century South African lawyers Northamptonshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War I Chancellors of the University of the Witwatersrand Alumni of South African College Schools