James John Skinner died on this day in 2008. Raised in Clonmel in the 1920s and 1930s, he was called to the bar at King’s Inns in November 1946 and after responding to a newspaper advertisement listing legal positions, he moved to Northern Rhodesia in 1950.
Skinner was a supporter of decolonisation. He represented African nationalist defendants, later recalling: 'I suppose it was because I'm a natural radical anyway, and my own family background is Irish nationalist. I did not like the social or racial atmosphere at the time and I reacted against it' (Ir. Times, 13 January 1969). Increasingly ostracised by the white colonial and expatriate community, in 1962 he refused to register for national service in the federal army, viewing it as a terrorist force repressing black citizens.
Following Zambian independence, he went on to hold the positions of Chief Justice of Zambia, Minister for Justice in Zambia and Attorney General for Zambia as well as Chief Justice of Malawi- a position he held for 15 years.
A Guardian article from 1969 stated that Skinner had ‘worked miracles in maintaining the standards of Zambian justice in recent years … from the inside, as a member of
Sources:
https://www.dib.ie/biography/skinner-james-john-a9690
https://www.facebook.com/.../who-was.../2474795432796947/
