Denys Roberts

Sir Denys Roberts
20th Chief Justice of Hong Kong
In office
1979–1988
Preceded byGeoffrey Briggs
Succeeded byTi-liang Yang
25th Chief Secretary of Hong Kong
(Colonial Secretary 1973–76)
In office
30 September 1973 – 2 October 1978
GovernorMurray MacLehose
Preceded byHugh Norman-Walker
Succeeded byJack Cater
18th Attorney General of Hong Kong
In office
3 September 1966 – 29 September 1973
Preceded byMaurice Heenan
Succeeded byJohn William Dixon Hobley
2nd Chief Justice of Brunei
In office
1979–2001
Nominated byHassanal Bolkiah
Preceded byGeoffrey Briggs
Succeeded byMohammed Saied
Personal details
Born(1923-01-19)19 January 1923
London, United Kingdom
Died20 May 2013(2013-05-20) (aged 90)
Norfolk, United Kingdom
Spouses
Brenda Marsh
(m. 1949; div. 1973)
Anna Fiona Dollar Alexander
(m. 1985)
Children3
Alma materWadham College, Oxford (MA; BCL)
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/service British Army
Years of service1943–1946
RankCaptain
UnitRoyal Artillery
Battles/warsWorld War II

Sir Denys Tudor Emil Roberts KBE SPMB QC (Traditional Chinese: 羅弼時爵士; 19 January 1923 – 20 May 2013) was a British colonial official and judge. Joining the colonial civil service as a Crown Counsel in Nyasaland (now Malawi) in 1953, he became Attorney General of Gibraltar in 1960. In 1962, he was posted to Hong Kong as Solicitor-General, and was successively promoted to Attorney-General in 1966, Colonial Secretary/Chief Secretary in 1973 and Chief Justice in 1979. He was the first and only Attorney-General to become both Colonial Secretary (and Chief Secretary) in Hong Kong. Never having been a judge before, he was appointed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1979 and was the first and only Colonial Secretary (and Chief Secretary) of Hong Kong to receive such appointment.[2][3]

Roberts was the last non-Chinese person to hold the post of Chief Justice of Hong Kong. After retiring in 1988, he had served as President of the Court of Appeal of Bermuda, Chief Justice and President of Court of Appeal of Brunei Darussalam before finally retiring from the judicial service in 2003.

  1. ^ Supreme Court of Brunei Darussalam (c. 2000). "Rules to The Supreme Court (Amendment) (No. 3) Rules, 2000" (PDF). Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  2. ^ Who was who, London: Adam & Charles Black, 1996.
  3. ^ "Obituary: Sir Denys Roberts". The Daily Telegraph. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2013.