- Johan Steyn, Baron Steyn
Johan van Zyl Steyn, Baron Steyn PC (born
August 15 ,1932 ) is aSouth Africa n/Englishjurist , and until September 2005 aLaw Lord .Born in
Cape Town in 1932 he studied law at theUniversity of Stellenbosch before reading English as aRhodes Scholar atUniversity College, Oxford . He was called to the Bar in South Africa in 1958 and appointed senior counsel of the supreme court of South Africa in 1970.As a result of his opposition to apartheid in his native South Africa, he settled in the UK in 1973 joining the English Bar and building a distinguished international commercial law practice. He married Susan Leonore in 1977, having two sons and two daughters from a previous marriage. He took silk in 1979 and was appointed a
High Court Judge in 1985, a surprise appointment by the then ConservativeLord Chancellor Lord Hailsham . He was served as presiding judge of theNorthern Circuit from 1989-1991 and was appointedLord Justice of Appeal in 1992.In 1995 he was elevated to a
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and was created alife peer as Baron Steyn, of Swafield in the County ofNorfolk . As a Law Lord he achieved prominence for his liberal views and espousal ofhuman rights . He was a fierce critic ofAugusto Pinochet 's claim to stand immune from prosecution. His record of open criticism ofCamp X-ray at Guantanamo Bay led to pressure from the UK government that he make himself unavailable for the hearing on the indefinite detention of suspects under theAnti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 that began onOctober 4 ,2004 . The decision in the latter case caused the government to review its policy of indefinite detention of terror suspects and led to the equally controversial Terrorism Bill 2005. His judicial work in the House of Lords has been instrumental in weaving the Human Rights Act 1998 into the fabric of English law. He also drew upon his background as a commercial lawyer and his contribution to this area of law cannot be overlooked.He was one of the few senior jurists to support calls for modernisation of the English legal system and abolition of the role of
Lord Chancellor . Whilst a Lord of Appeal he refrained from speaking in the House, instead expressing his views on democracy and human rights through judgments and lectures.He retired as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary on
September 30 2005 . Lord Mance was elevated from Lord Justice of Appeal onOctober 1 2005 to replace him. Since his retirement he has assumed the role of chairman of the human rights organisationJUSTICE and has been vocal in his criticism ofTony Blair 's government and its approach tohuman rights . He has expressed grave misgivings over the proposed powers to allow detention without trial and about the use of existing anti-terror powers.Famous judgments
*"R v Bournewood Community and Mental Health NHS Trust Ex p. L" [1999] 1 AC 458
External links
* [http://biographies.parliament.uk/parliament/default.asp?id=26555 Lord Steyn] , UK Parliament, accessed 5-12-2007
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