Kevin Cross | |
|---|---|
| Judge of the High Court | |
| In office 24 October 2011 –18 November 2021 | |
| Nominated by | Government of Ireland |
| Appointed by | Mary McAleese |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1951 (age 73–74) |
| Spouse | Alison Lindsay |
| Alma mater | |
Kevin Cross (born 1951 [1] ) is a retired Irish judge who served as a Judge of the High Court from 2011 to 2021. [2] [3]
Cross attended Gonzaga College, University College Dublin and the King's Inns. He served as Auditor of the UCD L&H. [4] He became a barrister in 1975, and a senior counsel in 1997. [1] He has represented the Attorney General of Ireland, the Residential Institutions Redress Board and Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin. [5] [6] [7]
Cross was appointed a High Court judge in October 2011. [8] He was in charge of the personal injuries list for the High Court. [9] [10] [11]
He presided over Morrissey v Health Service Executive , which arose out of the CervicalCheck cancer scandal. He held that screeners must have "absolute confidence" before definitively ruling out a health condition in a screening test. [12] This was subject to an appeal to the Supreme Court of Ireland due to the standard of confidence he applied. [13] The Supreme Court unanimously upheld his decision. [14] Cross criticised the response of some doctors to his decision, calling some commentary "hysterical". [15]
He served as Chairperson of the Referendum Commission for two concurrent referendums in 2015, the successful 34th Amendment and unsuccessful 35th Amendment Bill 2015 to the Constitution. [16]
He retired as a judge in November 2021 and stated he plans to undertake a PhD on John Philpot Curran. [17] [18]
He is married to Alison Lindsay. [19] Lindsay is a retired judge of the Circuit Court. [20]