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29 JULY 1911 * 8 DECEMBER 2OO4
"IN AMBLES THE LANKY-gracefully lanky-figure of a youthful judge," wrote Sybille Bedford in her 1990 collection of essays, As It Was, "... a most unusual face: enormous eyes deep-set between high cheek-bones and a jutting skull, a pale face, a hollow face with skin stretched taut, and yet the mouth is full and there show dimpies in the sunken cheeks; it is an ascetic's face lit by charm, given the lie by a cherub's smile. . . . there is something striking about this man with the austere head and the schoolboy smile, an irresistible combination of youthful charm with a mature and balanced mind.... it is impossible to imagine him bullying anyone. Yet he is held in respect: there is no doubt that authority flows from him." Bedford is describing Lord Scarman, who has died aged ninety-three, as a judge of first instance, untying the web of competing claims over the FuId estate in the late 1960s.
Leslie Scarman, chairman of the Law Commission (1965-73), who was later thrust into the public eye for his 1981 inquiry into the Brixton riots, stood out in his generation as the model judge: fairness, intelligence, learning, compassion, and firmness all combined.
He became a barrister in 1936 and a QC in 1957. In his progress from the high court bench (1961-73) to the court of appeal (1973) and then on to the House of Lords in 1977, he remained the same unpompous person, invariably courteous.
With his stooping frame and cadaverous features went a gentleness of manner and a thoughtfulness of approach which were entirely unaffected-unless you shared the view of the head of his chambers, the lugubrious MeIford Stevenson. "Leslie," said MeIford, "helps solicitors on with their coats like Father D'Arcy elevating the host." Scarman would have welcomed the recognition that he was at least not a participant to the Bar's social snobbery, just as he was not daunted by the professional hard core's view of him as a bleeding heart.
In one case Scarman had argued as junior counsel, the judge, who wanted Scarman's client to win, offered him...