The Honourable Dato Setia
Sir Geoffrey Briggs
DSNB QC
Chief Justice of Hong Kong
1st Chief Justice of Brunei
In office
1963 – 18 June 1979
Nominated byOmar Ali Saifuddien III
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byDenys Roberts
19th Chief Justice of Hong Kong
In office
1973–1978
Preceded byIvo Rigby
Succeeded byDenys Roberts
14th Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific
In office
1962–1965
Preceded byAlbert Lowe
Succeeded byJocelyn Bodilly
Personal details
Born
Geoffrey Gould Briggs

(1914-05-06)6 May 1914
Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England
Died12 May 1993(1993-05-12) (aged 79)
Bath, Somerset, England
Alma materChrist Church (BA; BCL)
OccupationJudge and law officer
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/service British Army
RankMajor
Battles/warsWorld War II

Sir Geoffrey Gould Briggs QC (6 May 1914 – 12 May 1993)[1] 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.

Biography

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.[1]

Legal career

In 1954, Briggs was appointed Attorney General of Eastern Nigeria. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel for Nigeria in 1955.[2] In 1958, he was appointed Puisne Judge of the Unified Judiciary of Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei.[3] 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.[1] He was knighted in the 1974 New Year Honours.[4]

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.[5][6]

Honours

References

  1. ^ a b c "Briggs, Sir Geoffrey (Gould)". Who's Who. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U171329.
  2. ^ London Gazette, 6 May 1955, p2619
  3. ^ London Gazette, 5 September 1958, p.5466
  4. ^ "No. 46162". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1973. pp. 1–32.
  5. ^ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995
  6. ^ "Fond memories of judge". South China Morning Post. 20 May 1993. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Istiadat Megangkat Sumpah Hakim Besar" (PDF). Pelita Brunei. 13 March 1974. p. 1. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
Legal offices Preceded byOffice established Chief Justice of Brunei 1963-1979 Succeeded bySir Denys Roberts Preceded bySir Ivo Rigby Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1973-1978 Succeeded bySir Denys Roberts Preceded bySir Albert Lowe Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific 1962-1965 Succeeded bySir Jocelyn Bodilly
Categories