Chief Justice of Ireland

Coat of arms of Ireland
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
the Republic of Ireland

Politics portal

The Chief Justice of Ireland (Irish: Príomh-Bhreitheamh na hÉireann) is the president of the Supreme Court of Ireland.[1][2]

Under Constitution of Ireland, the Chief Justice of Ireland also occupies several positions ex officio, these include;

Statutory roles

Under s. 2(5) of the Referendum Act 1998, the Chief Justice nominates the chairperson of the Referendum Commission.

List of Chief Justices

No. Name Term of office Nominated by Appointed by Notes
1. Hugh Kennedy 1924 1936 W. T. Cosgrave (4th Dáil) Timothy Healy Died in office
2. Timothy Sullivan 1936 1946 Éamon de Valera (8th Dáil) Domhnall Ua Buachalla
3. Conor Maguire 1946 1961 Éamon de Valera (12th Dáil) Seán T. O'Kelly
4. Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
(Carroll O'Daly)[3]
1961 1973 Seán Lemass (16th Dáil) Éamon de Valera Resigned on appointment to the European Court of Justice
5. William FitzGerald 1973 1974 Jack Lynch (19th Dáil) Éamon de Valera Died in office
6. Tom O'Higgins 1974 1985 Liam Cosgrave (20th Dáil) Erskine H. Childers Resigned on appointment to the European Court of Justice
7. Thomas Finlay 1985 1994 Garret FitzGerald (24th Dáil) Patrick Hillery
8. Liam Hamilton 1994 2000 Albert Reynolds (27th Dáil) Mary Robinson
9. Ronan Keane 2000 2004 Bertie Ahern (28th Dáil) Mary McAleese
10. John L. Murray 2004 2011 Bertie Ahern (29th Dáil) Mary McAleese
11. Susan Denham 2011 Incumbent Enda Kenny (31st Dáil) Mary McAleese First woman Chief Justice

Constitution of Ireland and the removal of a judge from office

There is no Twenty-second Amendment. The Twenty-second Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 2001 [relating to the removal of a Judge from Office and providing for a body to be established by Law to investigate or cause to be investigated conduct constituting misbehaviour by a Judge or affected by incapacity of a Judge] was not passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas.[4]

See also

Notes

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was created under the Courts of Justice Act 1924. Before 1924 the Lord Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland[5] The Supreme Court sits in the Four Courts. When the Supreme Court sits as it mostly does in two chambers, the second chamber sits in the Hugh Kennedy Court, named after the First Chief Justice.[6]

References

  1. "The Role of the Chief Justice". SupremeCourt.ie. Courts Service. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  2. "Chief Justice of Ireland" is the name under which all Plenary Summonses are issued: "Rules of the Superior Courts, Appendix A, Part I, Form 1". Courts.ie. Courts Service. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  3. During his legal career, Ó Dálaigh was known as Carroll O'Daly. See for instance The Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal, vol. 103 (1970), p. 289: "The Chief Justice the Hon. Carroll O'Daly"
  4. Constitution of Ireland Pages x-xii
  5. Source: The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921 by Francis Erlington Ball (ISBN 1846300746)
  6. The Supreme Court of Ireland: A History by The Courts Service (ISBN 075571766X)
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 14, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.