Sir Victor Joseph Patrick Glover (5 November 1932 – 2 February 2020) was a

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably ...

lawyer, judge and Chief Justice who played an active role in legal and judicial matters on the island of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

Early life, education and family

Glover was born in

in 1932, the son of Mary Catherine Reddy-Glover and Harold Joseph George Glover, the latter being a Supreme Court judge who became Electoral Commissioner for two decades. Harold Glover was also Labour Party candidate at the 1936 General Elections. He studied law (Jurisprudence) at Jesus College,

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

after being awarded a scholarship (laureate) at the end of his secondary education at Collège du Saint-Esprit in Mauritius. Glover was married to Ginette. Their sons Brian and Gavin are both barristers. He died at the age of 87 on 2 February 2020.

Career

In 1957 Glover was called to the Bar in England and Wales. He returned to his homeland Mauritius where he practised law as a barrister. Then in 1962 he started working at the Attorney General's office and eventually was promoted to the position of Parliamentary Counsel. At the age of 44 in 1976 and following his father's footsteps he became Supreme Court judge. In 1982 he became Senior Puisne Judge. Eventually in 1988 in addition to be named Queen's Counsel (QC), Victor Glover was also promoted to the position of Chief Justice in succession to

Sir Cassam Moollan Sir Cassam Ismael Moollan, QC (26 February 1927 – 15 November 2010) was the acting governor-general of Mauritius from 15 December 1985 until 17 January 1986. As chief justice of Mauritius at the time, he assumed the position immediately after t ...

who had retired. After 6 years as Glover eventually retired from public service in 1994 and Rajsoomer Lallah succeeded him as Chief Justice. Starting from 1994 Glover worked as a legal adviser in a private legal firm in Mauritius. He was also a consultant for the Attorney General, drafting and reviewing legislative dossiers. In 1987 Glover made history in Mauritius by becoming the judge to issue the last death sentence to a guilty party before the death penalty was abolished. Indeed Glover sentenced 33-year old

Eshan Nayeck Eshan "Alexandré" Nayeck (died 10 October 1987) was a Mauritian convicted murderer and the last person to be executed in Mauritius. On 23 July 1983, 45-year-old Abdool Rashid Atchia was stabbed and killed in the central marketplace of Prime ...

to death for the premeditated murder of Rashid Atchia on 23 July 1983 in Port Louis. However Glover was subsequently against the re-introduction of the death penalty in Mauritius.

Recognition

In 1989 Glover was made a

Knight of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

1989 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1989 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

Glover was made an Honorary Professor of Law at the

University of Mauritius The University of Mauritius (UoM) (french: Université de Maurice) is the national university of Mauritius. It is the oldest and largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered. The public university's main ...

. He was made a Grand Officer of the

Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean The Most Distinguished Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean is the highest distinct order of merit in the honours system of Mauritius established under the National Awards Act 1993. It was founded in 1992 to decorate people who have ma ...

(GOSK) in 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glover, Victor 2020 deaths 1932 births Mauritian people of English descent Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford 20th-century Mauritian judges Grand Officers of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean Chief justices of Mauritius Members of the Middle Temple Mauritian Knights Bachelor