Isobel Kennedy

Last updated

The Hon. Ms. Justice
Isobel Kennedy
Judge of the Court of Appeal
Assumed office
13 November 2018

Isobel Kennedy is an Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the Court of Appeal since November 2018. She previously served as a Judge of the High Court from 2015 to 2018 and Chairperson of the Referendum Commission from March 2018 to November 2018.

Kennedy is from Limerick. [1] She obtained a BCL degree in 1986 from University College Cork and began practising as a barrister in 1988. [2] She specialised in criminal and constitutional law. She served on the Barristers' Professional Conduct Tribunal of the Bar of Ireland and was a member of the Bar Council between 1995 and 1997. She became a senior counsel in 2003. [1] Kennedy acted as a barrister for the Investigation Committee of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. [3]

She became a High Court judge in February 2015. [4] She was nominated following a selection process by the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board. [2] She acted as Judge on the Special Criminal Court until 2018. [5]

Kennedy twice served as chairperson to the Referendum Commission, serving for the referendum to allow the Oireachtas to legislate for abortion and the referendum to remove blasphemy from the Constitution. [6] [7] The referendum on abortion had the highest voter turnout in a referendum since the establishment of the commission. Kennedy recommended in a report to the Oireachtas that the Commission be replaced with "a permanent Electoral Commission". [8]

She became a Judge of the Court of Appeal in November 2018. [9] Kennedy's appointment to the Court of Appeal at the same time as Caroline Costello led to the first Irish court with a gender-balanced number of judges. [10]

She currently serves on the Advisory Committee to the School of Law at the University of Limerick. [11]

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References

  1. 1 2 Hurley, David (30 January 2015). "Limerick woman set to be new High Court judge". Limerick Leader. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Appointment to the High Court". Irish Government News Service. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  3. ↑ "Interim Report". Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  4. ↑ "President appoints Judge Margaret Heneghan and Ms. Isobel Kennedy S.C.as High Court Judges". President.ie. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  5. ↑ "Government shuffles judges". Law Society Gazette. 7 November 2018. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  6. ↑ "Minister Murphy announces establishment of Referendum Commission". Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  7. ↑ "Referendum Commission (Establishment) (No.2) Order 2018" (PDF). Iris Oifigiúil. 20 July 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  8. ↑ "Report on the referendum on the regulation of the termination of pregnancy" (PDF). Referendum Commission. September 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  9. ↑ "President appoints judges to the Court of Appeal and the High Court". President.ie. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  10. ↑ "Minister Flanagan welcomes 50/50 gender balance in Court of Appeal". Irish Government News Service. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  11. ↑ "Management & Advisory Committees". UL School of Law. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
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