Michael Kerr (lawyer)

Sir Michael Robert Emanuel Kerr, PC (1 March 1921 – 14 April 2002) was a German-born British jurist, lawyer and author. He was the son of German drama critic Alfred Kerr and brother of author Judith Kerr.

Born in Charlottenburg, Germany, Kerr and his family were forced to leave their homeland at the end of the Weimar Republic by the emergence of the Nazi party. After 1933, the Kerr family lived in Switzerland, France and finally Great Britain, as noted in his sister's writing. His experience as an immigrant allowed him to perfect skills in not only German but also in French and English. Sponsored by a friend of his father, Kerr was educated at Aldenham School . This and his immigration experience may have created a wish to emulate and join the upper middle class of his new homeland.

Kerr was beginning his studies at the Clare College, Cambridge when Second World War began. During the war, Kerr was at first perceived and interned as an enemy alien. However he later served as a pilot of the Royal Air Force. After the war, he returned to Cambridge to study law. His career eventually led him to the High Court, where he believed that he was the first senior judge born an alien since the 12th century. Kerr chaired the Law Commission from 1978–81, before serving on the Court of Appeal, and finally on the London Court of International Arbitration.

In his autobiography As Far As I Remember he tells of his family, also reflected in books by his sister such as When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, and about his career in the British law system. His short, analytic writing is reminiscent of his father's style.

Publication

• As Far As I Remember. Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland/Oregon 2002, ISBN 1-901362-87-6

External links

• Auf Knopfdruck Ihrer Majestät (in German)