Hartley William Shawcross, Baron Shawcross, GBE, PC, QC (4 February 1902 – 10 July 2003), known from 1945 to 1959 as Sir Hartley Shawcross, was an English barrister and Labour politician who served as the lead British prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal.
Born~Died Feb 4, 1902 ~ Jul 10, 2003Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 6:05 PM
During his initial career as a barrister, Shawcross was part of the legal team hired by the colliery owners at the inquiry into the Gresford Colliery disaster in 1934, Stafford Cripps in counterpart representing the miners' union.
This page is based on “Hartley Shawcross” from English Wikipedia, (r1347251215) CC BY-SA 4.0 used under the license. The original authors are listed in its page history.
He was knighted in 1945 upon his appointment as Attorney-General6 and named Chief Prosecutor for the United Kingdom at the Nuremberg trials.
Nuremberg Trials
Shawcross's advocacy before the Nuremberg Trial was passionate. His most famous line was: "There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience".
He avoided the crusading style of American, Soviet, and French prosecutors. Shawcross's opening speech, which lasted two days, 26 and 27 July 1946, sought to undermine any belief that the Nuremberg Trials were "victor's justice" in the sense of being revenge exacted against defeated foes. He focused on the rule of law and demonstrated that the laws that the defendants had broken, expressed in international treaties and agreements, were those to which prewar Germany had been a party. In his closing speech, he ridiculed any notion that any of the defendants could have remained ignorant of Aktion T4, extermination of thousands of Germans because they were old or mentally ill. He used the same argument in respect of millions of other people "annihilated in the gas chambers or by shooting" and maintained that each of the 22 defendants was a party to "common murder in its most ruthless forms".78
From 1945 to 1949, he was Britain's principal delegate to the United Nations and was involved in the official adoption of the Flag of the United Nations in 1946,10 but he was recalled in 1948 to lead for the government's interest at the Lynskey tribunal. In 1951, he briefly served as President of the Board of Trade until the Labour government's defeat in the election of that year.9
Shawcross ended his law career in 1951, the same year as the defeat of the second Attlee ministry. He was expected to become a Conservative, earning him the nickname "Sir Shortly Floorcross", but instead he remained true to his Labour roots.9
During the committal hearing for the suspected serial killer doctor John Bodkin Adams in January 1957, he was seen dining with the defendant's suspected lover, Sir Roland Gwynne (Mayor of Eastbourne from 1929–31), and Lord Goddard, the Lord Chief Justice, at a hotel in Lewes.14 The meeting added to concerns that the Adams trial was the subject of concerted judicial and political interference.
Shawcross resigned from Parliament in 1958, saying he was tired of party politics.
In 1961, he was appointed the chairman of the second Royal Commission on the Press. In 1967 he became one of the directors of The Times responsible for ensuring its editorial independence. He resigned on being appointed chairman of the Press Council in 1974.16
From 1974 to 1978, he was chairman of the Press Council and is described as "forthright in his condemnation both of journalists who committed excesses and of proprietors who profited from them" and as a "doughty defender of press freedom".16 In October 1974, he poured scorn on a Labour Party pamphlet that recommended the application of "internal democracy" to editorial policy, saying "This means that... there would be some sort of committee consisting at the best of a mixture of van drivers, press operators, electricians and the rest, with no doubt a few journalists, but more probably composed of trade union officials, to deal with editorial policy."16
In 1957, he was among a group of eminent British lawyers who founded JUSTICE, the human rights and law reform organisation and he became its first chairman, a position he held until 1972.19 He was instrumental in the foundation of the University of Sussex and served as chancellor of the university from 1965–85.
He was the President of the charity Attend20 (then National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends) from 1962–72.
Personal life
Lord Shawcross was married three times. His first wife, Alberta Rosita Shyvers (m. 24 May 1924), suffered from multiple sclerosis and died by suicide on 30 December 1943.9
His second wife, Joan Winifred Mather (m. 21 September 1944), died in a riding accident on the Sussex Downs on 26 January 1974. They had three children: the author and historian William Shawcross, Hume Shawcross and Dr Joanna Shawcross.9
At the age of 95, he married Susanne Monique (née Jansen), formerly wife of Gerald B. Huiskamp,21 on 18 April 1997 in Gibraltar. His family had opposed the marriage out of concern for Shawcross' declining abilities in old age, and had him placed under the supervision of the Court of Protection; they won a court ruling "after the humiliation of medical and psychological tests" concluded Shawcross "was incapable of rational decision", but Shawcross and his future wife eloped to Gibraltar, where the courts ruled the opposite.922 Lady Shawcross died on 2 March 2013.23
Shawcross was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club.18 From 1947 to 1960 he was the owner of Vanity V, a 12-metre class racing yacht designed by William Fife to the Third International Rule, built in 1936, which he kept at his home in Cornwall.24 A later skipper of the boat, John Crill, recalls being told that Lord Shawcross, "when the election was due in about 1951, had Vanity V repainted with a vast 'Vote Labour' banner all the way along her topsides".
Lord Shawcross died on 10 July 2003 at home at Cowbeech, East Sussex, at the age of 101 and is buried in the churchyard of St Andrew's Church, Jevington, East Sussex.252627
During his initial career as a barrister, Shawcross was part of the legal team hired by the colliery owners at the inquiry into the Gresford Colliery disaster in 1934, Stafford Cripps in counterpart representing the miners' union.2
He was knighted in 1945 upon his appointment as Attorney-General6 and named Chief Prosecutor for the United Kingdom at the Nuremberg trials.
Nuremberg Trials
Shawcross's advocacy before the Nuremberg Trial was passionate. His most famous line was: "There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience".
He avoided the crusading style of American, Soviet, and French prosecutors. Shawcross's opening speech, which lasted two days, 26 and 27 July 1946, sought to undermine any belief that the Nuremberg Trials were "victor's justice" in the sense of being revenge exacted against defeated foes. He focused on the rule of law and demonstrated that the laws that the defendants had broken, expressed in international treaties and agreements, were those to which prewar Germany had been a party. In his closing speech, he ridiculed any notion that any of the defendants could have remained ignorant of Aktion T4, extermination of thousands of Germans because they were old or mentally ill. He used the same argument in respect of millions of other people "annihilated in the gas chambers or by shooting" and maintained that each of the 22 defendants was a party to "common murder in its most ruthless forms".78
From 1945 to 1949, he was Britain's principal delegate to the United Nations and was involved in the official adoption of the Flag of the United Nations in 1946,10 but he was recalled in 1948 to lead for the government's interest at the Lynskey tribunal. In 1951, he briefly served as President of the Board of Trade until the Labour government's defeat in the election of that year.9
Shawcross ended his law career in 1951, the same year as the defeat of the second Attlee ministry. He was expected to become a Conservative, earning him the nickname "Sir Shortly Floorcross", but instead he remained true to his Labour roots.9
During the committal hearing for the suspected serial killer doctor John Bodkin Adams in January 1957, he was seen dining with the defendant's suspected lover, Sir Roland Gwynne (Mayor of Eastbourne from 1929–31), and Lord Goddard, the Lord Chief Justice, at a hotel in Lewes.14 The meeting added to concerns that the Adams trial was the subject of concerted judicial and political interference.
Shawcross resigned from Parliament in 1958, saying he was tired of party politics.
In 1961, he was appointed the chairman of the second Royal Commission on the Press. In 1967 he became one of the directors of The Times responsible for ensuring its editorial independence. He resigned on being appointed chairman of the Press Council in 1974.16
From 1974 to 1978, he was chairman of the Press Council and is described as "forthright in his condemnation both of journalists who committed excesses and of proprietors who profited from them" and as a "doughty defender of press freedom".16 In October 1974, he poured scorn on a Labour Party pamphlet that recommended the application of "internal democracy" to editorial policy, saying "This means that... there would be some sort of committee consisting at the best of a mixture of van drivers, press operators, electricians and the rest, with no doubt a few journalists, but more probably composed of trade union officials, to deal with editorial policy."16
In 1957, he was among a group of eminent British lawyers who founded JUSTICE, the human rights and law reform organisation and he became its first chairman, a position he held until 1972.19 He was instrumental in the foundation of the University of Sussex and served as chancellor of the university from 1965–85.
He was the President of the charity Attend20 (then National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends) from 1962–72.
Personal life
Lord Shawcross was married three times. His first wife, Alberta Rosita Shyvers (m. 24 May 1924), suffered from multiple sclerosis and died by suicide on 30 December 1943.9
His second wife, Joan Winifred Mather (m. 21 September 1944), died in a riding accident on the Sussex Downs on 26 January 1974. They had three children: the author and historian William Shawcross, Hume Shawcross and Dr Joanna Shawcross.9
At the age of 95, he married Susanne Monique (née Jansen), formerly wife of Gerald B. Huiskamp,21 on 18 April 1997 in Gibraltar. His family had opposed the marriage out of concern for Shawcross' declining abilities in old age, and had him placed under the supervision of the Court of Protection; they won a court ruling "after the humiliation of medical and psychological tests" concluded Shawcross "was incapable of rational decision", but Shawcross and his future wife eloped to Gibraltar, where the courts ruled the opposite.922 Lady Shawcross died on 2 March 2013.23
Shawcross was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club.18 From 1947 to 1960 he was the owner of Vanity V, a 12-metre class racing yacht designed by William Fife to the Third International Rule, built in 1936, which he kept at his home in Cornwall.24 A later skipper of the boat, John Crill, recalls being told that Lord Shawcross, "when the election was due in about 1951, had Vanity V repainted with a vast 'Vote Labour' banner all the way along her topsides".
Lord Shawcross died on 10 July 2003 at home at Cowbeech, East Sussex, at the age of 101 and is buried in the churchyard of St Andrew's Church, Jevington, East Sussex.252627