| Sir John Howard | |
| Office: | 27th Chief Justice of Ceylon |
| Appointer: | Andrew Caldecott |
| Term Start: | 1 December 1939 |
| Term End: | 1945 |
| Predecessor: | Sidney Abrahams Francis Soertsz as acting |
| Successor: | Arthur Wijewardena Francis Soertsz as acting |
| Order2: | 24th |
| Office2: | Attorney General of Ceylon |
| Term Start2: | 27 July 1936 |
| Term End2: | 1936 |
| Predecessor2: | Edward St. John Jackson |
| Successor2: | John William Ronald Illangakoon |
| Office3: | Attorney General of Cyprus |
| Term Start3: | 1925 |
| Term End3: | 1926 |
| Successor3: | Charles Cyril Howard |
| Birth Name: | John Curtois Howard |
| Birth Date: | 15 January 1887 |
| Birth Place: | Spalding, Lincolnshire, England[1] |
| Death Date: | 19 November 1970 (aged 83)[2] |
| Death Place: | Eastbourne, Sussex, England[3] |
| Children: | 4 |
Sir John Curtois Howard KC (15 January 1887 – 19 November 1970) was an English magistrate who was the 27th Chief Justice of Ceylon. He was appointed in 1939 succeeding the acting Francis Soertsz and was Chief Justice until 1945. He was succeeded by Arthur Wijewardena, also after the acting Francis Soertsz.[4]
Howard was born in Spalding, Lincolnshire, to FitzAlan Howard and Edith Thacker. He was educated at Uppingham School and Clare College, Cambridge. He was called to the bar a year before the First World War, and his career was interrupted by six years in the British Army.[5]
After the war, he accepted a job in the Colonial Legal Service, serving as Attorney General of Cyprus,[6] Solicitor-General of Nigeria and Attorney-General of the Gold Coast (now Ghana). In 1936, he was promoted to Legal Secretary, Ceylon. After returning to England, from 1953 to 1957, he was chairman of the Police Council for Great Britain. He was recalled by Sir William Fitzgerald as "a strikingly handsome man with a commanding presence."[5]
Howard was knighted in the 1942 New Year Honours.