{{Short description|British judge and British Army officer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = James Stuart-Smith | honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CB|QC}} | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing brackets --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = 13 September 1919 | birth_place = Brighton, Sussex, England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|15 May 2013|13 September 1919}} | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = British judge and British Army officer | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = }}
'''James Stuart-Smith''', {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CB|QC}} (13 September 1919 – 15 May 2013) was a British judge and British Army officer. He served as Judge Advocate General from 1984 to 1991.
==Early life== Stuart-Smith was born on 13 September 1919 in Brighton, Sussex, England.<ref name="obit - The Telegraph">{{cite news|title=James Stuart-Smith|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/law-obituaries/10137786/James-Stuart-Smith.html|accessdate=5 December 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=23 June 2013}}</ref> From 1933 to 1938, he was educated at Brighton College, an independent school in Brighton.<ref name="obit - The Times">{{cite news|title=James Stuart-Smith|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/james-stuart-smith-0s76txs5mtp|access-date=5 December 2013|newspaper=The Times|date=19 June 2013}}</ref><ref name="Old Brightonians">{{cite web |title=James Stuart-Smith (H. 1933-38) |url=https://www.oldbrightonians.com/news/12-deaths-obituaries/1057-james-stuart-smith.html |website=Old Brightonians - The Alumni of Brighton College |publisher=Brighton College |date=15 May 2013 |access-date=20 August 2023 |language=en-gb}}</ref> He went on to study medicine at the London Hospital;<ref name="obit - The Telegraph" /> he had only completed one year of his study before the breakout of the Second World War.<ref name="WWW">{{cite web |title=Stuart-Smith, James, (13 Sept. 1919–15 May 2013), Judge Advocate General, 1984–91 (Vice Judge Advocate General, 1979–84); a Recorder, 1985–91 |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U36602 |website=Who Was Who |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=20 August 2023 |language=en |date=1 December 2016}}</ref>
==Career==
===Military service=== On 14 January 1940, Stuart-Smith was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps, British Army, with the rank of second lieutenant. He was given the service number 113640.<ref name="LG 12 January 1940">{{London Gazette |issue=34772 |date=12 January 1940 |page=289 |supp=y }}</ref> In 1946, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.<ref name="obit - The Times" /> During World War II, he saw active service in Italy, Egypt and Palestine.<ref name="obit - The Telegraph" /> He was demobilised in 1947.<ref name="WWW" />
===Law career=== Following the end of his military service, Stuart-Smith began his career in law. He was called to the bar at Middle Temple in 1948.<ref name="obit - The Times" /> He practised as a barrister from 1948 to 1955.<ref name="obit - The Telegraph" /> During this part of his career, he defended one of the Kray twins. He successfully convinced the jury to find him not guilty as it could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt which of the identical twins did the crime.<ref name="obit - The Times" />
In 1955, Stuart-Smith joined the office of the Judge Advocate General as a legal assistant.<ref name="obit - The Telegraph" /> He was appointed Deputy Judge Advocate in 1957.<ref name="obit - The Times" /> From 1964 to 1965, during the Aden Emergency, he served in Aden as the Senior Judge Advocate.<ref name="obit - The Telegraph" /> Having returned to the UK, he was promoted to Assistant Judge Advocate General in 1968.<ref name="obit - The Times" /> He was once more posted abroad from 1976 to 1979 as the Senior Judge Advocate with the British Forces in Germany.<ref name="obit - The Telegraph" /> In 1981, he was promoted to Vice Judge Advocate General, the second most senior Judge Advocate General.<ref name="obit - The Times" /> He was promoted to Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces on 24 August 1984.<ref name="LG 29 August 1984">{{London Gazette |issue=49852 |date=29 August 1984 |page=11763 }}</ref> On 16 April 1985, he was appointed a Recorder.<ref name="LG 19 April 1985">{{London Gazette |issue=50097 |date=19 April 1985 |pages=5489–5490 }}</ref> He retired in 1991, having served as a military judge for 36 years and holding every appointment from the lowest to the highest.<ref name="obit - The Times" />
In addition to his career as a military judge, Stuart-Smith was involved with the ''International Society for Military Law and the Law of War'', serving as its vice-president from 1979 to 1985 and its president from 1985 to 1991.<ref name="obit - The Telegraph" /><ref name="WWW" /> He was then made its honorary president, a title he held from 1991 until his death.<ref name="WWW" />
==Personal life== In 1957, Stuart-Smith married Jean Groundsell. Together they had two children; a son and a daughter. His wife predeceased him.<ref name="obit - The Times" />
Stuart-Smith died on 15 May 2013.<ref name="obit - The Telegraph" />
==Honours== Stuart-Smith was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1986 Birthday Honours. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1988.<ref name="WWW" />
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/law-obituaries/10137786/James-Stuart-Smith.html Obituary - The Telegraph] *[https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/james-stuart-smith-0s76txs5mtp Obituary - The Times]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart-Smith, James}} Category:1919 births Category:2013 deaths Category:20th-century English judges Category:People from Brighton Category:People educated at Brighton College Category:Alumni of the London Hospital Medical College Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Category:British barristers Category:Members of the Middle Temple Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:English King's Counsel Category:20th-century King's Counsel