Boris Johnson’s reckless desire to take the U.K. out of the ECHR is unfathomable. The British were instrumental in setting up the ECHR. One British man in particular played a pivotal part.
Sir James Fawcett Q.C.
He also happens to be Johnson’s own Grandfather!
Sir James Fawcett Q.C.
He also happens to be Johnson’s own Grandfather!
Sir James Edmund Sandford Fawcett, DSC QC (16 April 1913 – 24 June 1991) was a British barrister. He was a member of the European Commission for Human Rights from 1962 to 1984, and its president from 1972 to 1981, and was knighted in 1984.
Fawcett was born in Wallingford,Berkshire. He was the son of Edith Scattergood and Joseph Fawcett, a clergyman in the Church of England.
He attended Dragon School in Oxford and Rugby School, and at New College, Oxford.He won a prize fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford.
He attended Dragon School in Oxford and Rugby School, and at New College, Oxford.He won a prize fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford.
Fawcett married Frances Beatrice Lowe.They had one son, author Edmund Fawcett, and four daughters, one was the artist Charlotte Johnson Wahl, mother of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the journalist Rachel Johnson, UK minister and MP Jo Johnson, and the entrepreneur Leo Johnson.
He won the Eldon Law Scholarship and was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1938. He worked as a barrister .
In WW2 , he was in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve.and served as the torpedo officer of a destroyer. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1942.
In WW2 , he was in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve.and served as the torpedo officer of a destroyer. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1942.
After the war, he joined the Foreign Office as a legal adviser. He was a member of the UK's delegation to the U.N. in New York from ‘48-‘50, he also worked in the UK embassy in Washington.He assisted with the writing of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
He was general counsel to the International Monetary Fund ‘55-60. A member of the European Commission of Human Rights ‘63-84 serving as its president ‘72-82. He was director of studies at the Royal Institute of International Affairs ‘69-73, and professor at King's College London
He published several books, including The Law of Nations, an introduction to international law, and The Application of the European Convention on Human Rights.
He became a member of the Institut de Droit International in 1973. He was knighted in ‘84 and became QC in ‘85.
He became a member of the Institut de Droit International in 1973. He was knighted in ‘84 and became QC in ‘85.
Sir James Fawcett was extraordinary man. He devoted his life to the Law on Human Rights. Without people like him, we wouldn’t be enjoying the Peace and Freedoms that the ECHR brings. Why then, is his own grandson, Boris Johnson, so intent on destroying them?
