Jeff Blackett

Jeffrey Blackett (born 20 May 1955) is a retired British judge and former Royal Navy officer with the rank of Commodore. He was Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces from 2004 to 2020 and among the cases over which he presided was that of "Marine A". He was the chief disciplinary officer at the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and conducted an investigation into the Bloodgate scandal, and is the President of the RFU for the 2020–21 season. He was a Senior Circuit Judge from 2005 until his retirement in 2020.

Early life

Blackett was born on 20 May 1955. He went to Portsmouth Grammar School[1] and read law at University College London.[2] In 1983, he was called to the bar.[3]

Career

Military career

Blackett was promoted to lieutenant on 1 September 1978 with seniority from 1 June 1978.[4] He was promoted to lieutenant commander on 1 June 1986,[5] and to commander on 30 June 1991.[6] On 30 June 1998, he was promoted to captain.[7] Having been an acting commodore, on 1 July 2003 he was promoted to commodore.[8] His final appointment was as Director of Naval Legal Services.[2]

He retired from the Royal Navy on 1 November 2004.[9]

Judiciary career

On 2 February 2001, Blackett was appointed a Recorder, thereby becoming a part-time Circuit Judge.[10] On 28 October 2004, he was promoted to full-time Circuit Judge.[11] On 1 November 2004, he was appointed Judge Advocate General. He was the Court Martial Judge in the Sgt Blackman trial which was criticized by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.[12] He was elected a Bencher of Gray's Inn in July 2008.[2] In 2010, he became an honorary Professor of law at the University of Nottingham.[2][13] Blackett retired as a Circuit Judge and from the position of Judge Advocate General on 1 November 2020.[14]

Rugby union

Blackett has played and been an administrator in the sport of rugby union for much of his life. He played rugby at school, at the University of London and at Oxford University. He also played for the Royal Navy, Hampshire and the United Services Portsmouth Rugby Football Club. He played for the winning Royal Navy team in the 1981 Inter-Services Tournament, appearing against the Royal Air Force and in the Army Navy Match[15] and also played in the Army-Navy match in March 1982.[16] He represented the Royal Navy on the Rugby Football Union (RFU) Council from 2000 to 2004 and was RFU Disciplinary Officer from 2003 to 2013. He held other offices with the RFU from 2014 and 2018 and with the Royal Navy Rugby Union and his club. Blackett was appointed President of the RFU for the 2020-21 season in June 2020.[1]

References
  1. "Blackett becomes RFU President for 2020-21 season following AGM". England Rugby. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  2. "His Honour Judge Jeff Blackett". Trustees. Help for Heroes. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  3. Godwin, Hugh (24 September 2006). "Blackett opens window on summary justice". The Independent. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  4. "No. 47642". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 September 1978. pp. 11141–11142.
  5. "No. 50576". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 June 1986. p. 8384.
  6. "No. 52591". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 July 1991. pp. 10085–10086.
  7. "No. 55181". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 June 1998. p. 7121.
  8. "No. 57096". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 October 2003. p. 13295.
  9. "No. 57459". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 November 2004. p. 14125.
  10. "No. 56113". The London Gazette. 8 February 2001. p. 1599.
  11. "No. 57455". The London Gazette. 3 November 2004. p. 13881.
  12. "No. 57457". The London Gazette. 5 November 2004. p. 14001.
  13. {{cite web|title=Honorary Professors |url=http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/law/people/honorary-professors/index.aspx |work=School of Law |publisher=University of Nottingham |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140817154015/http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/law/people/honorary-professors/index.aspx |archivedate=2014-08-17 }
  14. "His Honour Judge Blackett: Retirement as Judge Advocate General and Senior Circuit Judge". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  15. Jenkins, Vivian, ed. (1981). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1981-82. Aylesbury: Rothmans Publications Ltd. p. 157. ISBN 090757405X.
  16. Jenkins, Vivian, ed. (1982). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1982-83. London: Rothmans Publications Ltd. p. 159. ISBN 0907574130.
Legal offices
Preceded by
James Rant		 Judge Advocate General
2004 - 2020		 Succeeded by
Alan Large
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.