{{Short description|British judge}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = His Honour Judge | name = James Rant | honorific_suffix = CB QC | image = | alt = | caption = | office = Judge Advocate General | term_start = 1 February 1991 | term_end = 25 May 2003 | nominator = The Lord Mackay of Clashfern | appointer = Elizabeth II | predecessor = James Stuart-Smith | successor = Jeff Blackett }}

'''James William Rant''' CB QC (16 April 1936 – 25 May 2003) was a British judge and the Judge Advocate General from 1991 until his death in 2003.<ref name="obit" />

==Early life and education== Rant was born on 16 April 1936 in the Romford district of Essex and was educated at Stowe School and Selwyn College, Cambridge.<ref name="obit" /> He graduated from Selwyn College in 1958 and was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 1961.<ref name="obit" />

==Career== Rant practised general law until 1970, when he began to specialise in criminal law. He became a QC in 1980 and by 1984 had become a circuit judge, sitting at the Old Bailey from 1986.<ref name="obit" />

In 1991, he was appointed the Judge Advocate General, the first for a long time without a background or connection to the military.<ref name="obit" /> He made reforms to the court-martial system, including a centralised administration system for Army and Royal Air Force courts-martial and the introduction of judge advocates.<ref name="obit" /> He further reformed the system to reflect the introduction of the Human Rights Act including the creation of summary appeal courts.<ref name="obit" />

Rant was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1995 Birthday Honours.<ref name="cb" />

==Personal life== Rant married in 1963 and had two daughters and two sons. He died on 25 May 2003, aged 67.<ref name="obit" />

==References== <references>

<ref name="obit">"His Honour Judge Rant." Times [London, England] 11 June 2003: 30. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 24 Feb. 2013.</ref> <ref name="cb">{{London Gazette |issue=54066 |date=17 June 1995 |page=4 |supp=y}}</ref>

</references>

{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef |before=James Stuart-Smith}} {{s-ttl |title=Judge Advocate General |years= 1991 - 2003}} {{s-aft |after=Jeff Blackett}} {{s-end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rant, James}} Category:1936 births Category:2003 deaths Category:21st-century English judges Category:English King's Counsel Category:People educated at Stowe School Category:Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:20th-century English judges