| Honorific-Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
| John Stephen Curlewis | |
| Order: | 6th |
| Office: | Chief Justice of South Africa |
| Term Start: | 1936 |
| Term End: | 1938 |
| Predecessor: | Sir John Wessels |
| Successor: | James Stratford |
| Office2: | Judge of the Appellate Division |
| Term Start2: | 1927 |
| Term End2: | 1936 |
| Office3: | Judge President of the Transvaal Supreme Court and Transvaal Provincial Division |
| Term Start3: | 1924 |
| Term End3: | 1927 |
| Predecessor3: | Sir Arthur Weir Mason |
| Successor3: | Daniël de Waal |
| Birth Date: | 31 March 1863 |
| Birth Place: | Paarl, Cape Colony |
| Death Place: | Pretoria, Transvaal, Union of South Africa |
| Nationality: | South African citizenship |
| Alma Mater: | University of Cape Town |
John Stephen Curlewis, PC (31 March 1863 – 24 August 1940)[1] was a South African lawyer and judge who served as the Chief Justice of the Union of South Africa between 1936 and 1938.[2]
Curlewis was born in Paarl, Cape Colony, the son of Rev. J.F. Curlewis the local rector at the Dutch Reformed Church.[3] He was educated at the Diocesan College, Rondebosch, before joining the Cape Civil Service.[3] He then took the LL.B at Cape University, and was called to the Bar of the Cape Supreme Court in 1887.[3] He began to practice in Pretoria in 1888, before being appointed as a judge of the Transvaal High Court in 1903.[3] In 1924 he became the Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division and in 1927 he was made a Judge of Appeal.[3]
Curlewis became Chief Justice of the Union of South Africa in 1936, and was made a Privy Counsellor the following year.[3] He resigned from the bench in 1938.[3] He was also acting Governor-General of South Africa in 1933 from June until December under a dormant commission that was invoked.[3]