Geoffrey Lawrence , 1st Baron Oaksey Geoffrey Lawrence , 3rd Baron Trevethin , 1st Baron Oaksey , DSO , TD , KC , PC ( 2 December 1880 – 28 August 1971 ) was the main British Judge during the Nuremberg trials after World War II , and President of the Judicial group . Early life . The Lawrence family came from Builth Wells in Radnorshire . Geoffrey Lawrence was the youngest son of Lord Trevethin , briefly Lord Chief Justice of England in 1921 - 22 . He attended Haileybury ( where Clement Attlee was his junior ) and New College , Oxford . Career . Lawrence was called to the Bar ( Inner Temple ) in 1906 , and later joined the chambers of Robert Finlay . The chambers specialised in taking appeal cases to the highest courts — the House of Lords for domestic cases , and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for appeals from the Dominions and Colonies . Finlay came to rely on Lawrence , although for cases from Canada , Lawrence acted as lead counsel with Finlay as junior . During World War I he served in France with the Royal Artillery ; he was mentioned in despatches twice and awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1918 . After the end of the war he continued in membership of the Territorial Army until 1937 . On returning to the Bar Lawrence continued to take cases to the Privy Council . An interest in horses , inherited from his father , led to his appointment as Attorney for the Jockey Club from 1922 . Soon after he was appointed as Recorder of Oxford , a part - time judicial job . In 1927 Lawrence was made a King ' s Counsel and appointed Attorney General to the Prince of Wales ( later Edward VIII ) . With this appointment came membership of the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall . Lawrence served in this capacity until , in 1932 , he was appointed as a Judge of the King ' s Bench Division . With this appointment he became a knight bachelor . As a Judge , Lawrence tended to keep out of the limelight by neither issuing sensational judgments nor drawing attention to himself personally . When Lord Goddard was chosen as a Law Lord , Lawrence succeeded him as a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1944 . He was chosen as an experienced Judge to be the lead to Norman Birkett in the British delegation to the Judicial group in the Nuremberg trials , though not ( as some thought ) arising out of his friendship with Attlee who was by then Prime Minister . He was then elected as President of all the Judges , more through the lack of enemies than any other factor . His conduct of the trials was praised by many of those involved who appreciated his striving to understand the relevance of each piece of evidence , and willingness to stop long - winded counsel . Lawrence was not considered an exceptional legal talent but won acclaim for delivering a very clear Judgment ( largely penned by Birkett ) that expressed the moral sense of the Court ' s conclusions . After the conclusion of the trials , Lawrence was given a Peerage as Baron Oaksey on 13 January 1947 ( he also inherited the Barony of Trevethin from his brother on 25 June 1959 but was always known as Lord Oaksey ) . As a senior legal figure in the House of Lords , he served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1947 and on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council until he retired in 1957 . Personal life . Lawrence married Marjorie Robinson in 1921 . She served in the ATS in World War II , gaining the OBE , and became a magistrate after the war . They had a country estate at Oaksey in Wiltshire where Lawrence bred championship Guernsey cattle . They had three daughters and a son . Their son John was a well known amateur jockey and horse racing journalist ; he too only used the title " Lord Oaksey " .