Sir John Rowlatt, KCB, KCIE, MC, QC (19 November 1898 – 4 July 1956) was a British lawyer who served as First Parliamentary Counsel.
He served in the Coldstream Guards in the First World War between 1917 and 1918,[2] lost a leg, and was awarded the Military Cross.
He went into practice in the commercial and common law courts, until joining the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in 1929.
[2] After succeeding John Stainton as Second Parliamentary Counsel (which coincided with India's independence from the British Empire), Rowlatt took over responsibility for the Finance Bills, and also drafted the Transport Act 1947.
[2] The Lord Chancellor, Lord Kilmuir, wrote a letter to The Times paying tribute to Rowlatt: "the form and lucidity of his drafting was as remarkable as the speed with which he drew his Bills ... [But] his exceptional gifts made it inevitable that his counsel should be sought on many matters of the highest importance and confidence, not necessarily connected with legislative projects".