Geoffrey Briggs
{{Short description|Chief Justice of Hong Kong}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{for|RAF officer|Geoffrey Harry Briggs}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = The Honourable Dato Setia
| name = Sir Geoffrey Briggs
| image = Geoffrey Briggs.jpg
| caption = Chief Justice of Hong Kong
| office = 1st Chief Justice of Brunei
| term_start = 1963
| term_end = 18 June 1979
| nominator = Omar Ali Saifuddien III
| predecessor = Office established
| successor = Denys Roberts
| office1 = 19th Chief Justice of Hong Kong
| term_start1 = 1973
| term_end1 = 1978
| predecessor1 = Ivo Rigby
| successor1 = Denys Roberts
| office2 = 14th Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific
| term_start2 = 1962
| term_end2 = 1965
| predecessor2 = Albert Lowe
| successor2 = Jocelyn Bodilly
| birth_name = Geoffrey Gould Briggs
| birth_date = {{birth date|1914|05|06|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1993|05|12|1914|05|06|df=yes}}
| death_place = Bath, Somerset, England
| occupation = Judge and law officer
| allegiance = {{Flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch = {{army|United Kingdom}}
| rank = Major
| battles = World War II
| alma_mater = Christ Church (BA; BCL)
}}
Sir Geoffrey Gould Briggs {{post-nominals|country=GB|size=100%|QC}} (6 May 1914 – 12 May 1993){{cite journal |title=Briggs, Sir Geoffrey (Gould) |journal=Who's Who |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U171329 |language=en}} was an English lawyer and judge. He was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong in the 1970s and of Brunei in the 1980s.
Early life
Briggs was born in 1914, the second son of Reverend C. E. Briggs of Amersham, Buckinghamshire. He was educated at Sherborne School and Christ Church, Oxford where he took the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Civil Law. He was called to the bar of Gray's Inn in 1938. He served during World War II as a Major in the County of London Yeomanry.
Legal career
In 1954, Briggs was appointed Attorney General of Eastern Nigeria. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel for Nigeria in 1955.London Gazette, 6 May 1955, p2619 In 1958, he was appointed Puisne Judge of the Unified Judiciary of Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei.London Gazette, 5 September 1958, p.5466 He served there until 1962 when he was appointed Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific.
In 1965, he was appointed Puisne Judge in Hong Kong and later promoted to Chief Justice of Hong Kong in 1973 upon the retirement of Ivo Rigby. In that position, he served concurrently as Chief Justice of Brunei. He served as Chief Justice of Brunei and Hong Kong until 1979. He was knighted in the 1974 New Year Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=46162 |date=28 December 1973 |pages=1–32 |supp=y }}
Later years
Briggs retired to England in 1979. He continued to serve in a number of judicial roles in retirement, including President of the Brunei Court of Appeals (1979–1988), Justice of Appeal, Court of Appeal, Gibraltar (1983 to 1988) and President of the Pensions Appeal Tribunal for England and Wales (1980 to 1987). He died in Bath in 1993.England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995{{cite news |title=Fond memories of judge |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/30196/fond-memories-judge |accessdate=28 March 2019 |work=South China Morning Post |date=20 May 1993 |language=en}}
Honours
References
{{reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before = Office established}}
{{s-ttl|title = Chief Justice of Brunei| years = 1963-1979}}
{{s-aft|after = Sir Denys Roberts}}
{{s-bef|before = Sir Ivo Rigby}}
{{s-ttl|title = Chief Justice of Hong Kong| years = 1973-1978}}
{{s-aft|after = Sir Denys Roberts}}
{{s-bef|before = Sir Albert Lowe}}
{{s-ttl|title = Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific| years = 1962-1965}}
{{s-aft|after = Sir Jocelyn Bodilly}}
{{end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Geoffrey}}
Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
Category:British Army personnel of World War II
Category:Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong
Category:British Hong Kong judges
Category:Members of Gray's Inn
Category:Lawyers awarded knighthoods
Category:People educated at Sherborne School
Category:20th-century English judges
Category:Chief judicial commissioners for the Western Pacific
Category:British Borneo judges