Paul Coffey (judge)

Last updated

The Hon. Mr. Justice
Paul Coffey
Judge of the High Court
Incumbent
Assumed office
13 September 2016

Paul Coffey is an Irish judge and lawyer who has served as a Judge of the High Court since September 2016. He has been predominantly involved in criminal trials as a judge and formerly as a barrister. He was the chair of an examination into the Stardust fire between 2008 and 2009.

Contents

Education

He was educated at University College Dublin. He received a BCL degree in 1981 and an LL.M. degree in 1983. [1] He received further education at the King's Inns and Middle Temple. [2]

He was called to the Bar in 1984 and became a senior counsel in 2002. His practice was focused on criminal law and civil law, with experience in the law of personal injuries, medical negligence, planning law, Constitutional law, chancery and judicial review. [2]

His criminal law work included working on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions as a prosecutor and on behalf for defendants. [3] [4] He represented the Minister for the Environment in 2003 in a challenge by Kathy Sinnott against the result of the 2002 Irish general election. [5]

On 10 July 2008, he was appointed to chair to an examination into the cause of the Stardust fire. [6] His investigation found that the Stardust Victims' Committee had not established any new evidence which could change the conclusion as to how the fire was started. He concluded that he did not believe that public interest would be served by establishing a further inquiry. [7] The Government accepted his recommendation. [8] His draft report however recommended the establishment of an independent inquiry. [9] A further examination by Pat McCartan in 2017 also did not recommend a full inquiry. [10]

Judicial career

Coffey was appointed to the High Court in September 2016. [11] He has presided over criminal trials involving serious sexual offences and homicide. [12] [13] He has been the presiding judge in cases in the Special Criminal Court involving dissident republicans and the Hutch–Kinahan feud. [14] [15]

Other than criminal trials, he has heard cases involving Garda compensation, [16] defamation, [17] insolvency, [18] and company law. [19]

As of 2021, he is the judge in charge of the Personal Injuries List of the High Court. [20]

References

  1. ↑ "Congratulations to Úna Ní Raifeartaigh SC (BCL '88) Paul Coffey SC (BCL '81 LLM '83), soon to be High Court judges". Twitter. UCD School of Law. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Appointments to the Court of Appeal and the High Court". merrionstreet.ie. Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  3. ↑ "Man admits Dublin manslaughter". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  4. ↑ "Offaly electrician sentenced to four years for pub assault". Breaking News. 30 April 2010. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  5. ↑ Carolan, Mary. "Martin will not seek legal costs from Sinnott". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  6. ↑ "Stardust Fire Tragedy: Motion. – Dáil Éireann (30th Dáil) – Tuesday, 3 Feb 2009 – Houses of the Oireachtas". www.oireachtas.ie. 3 February 2009. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "Stardust families lose inquiry fight". www.irishexaminer.com. 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "Government statement on Stardust report". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  9. ↑ Holland, Kitty. "Stardust tragedy: Families claim review of fire 'neutered'". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  10. ↑ Finn, Christina. "'No new inquiry warranted': Stardust report finds cause of fire may never be known". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "Diary President Appoints The Hon. Mr. Justice John Edward Hedigan As Judge To The". president.ie. Archived from the original on 20 May 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  12. ↑ Hayes, Isabel. "Man found guilty of raping his former partner". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  13. ↑ O’Riordan, Alison. "Man alleged to have stabbed ex-partner after 'relationship turned sour'". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  14. ↑ O'Riordan, Alison. "New IRA leader jailed for life over murder of dissident republican". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  15. ↑ O'Riordan, Alison. "Five men in court charged over murder attempt on Patsy Hutch". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  16. ↑ Managh, Ray. "Garda goalkeeper awarded €20,000 after injury during handcuffing". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  17. ↑ Carolan, Mary. "Man loses appeal over Luas defamation damages claim". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  18. ↑ O'Faolain, Aodhan; Managh, Ray. "Liquidators appointed as Debenhams shuts down Irish stores". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  19. ↑ Paul, Mark. "Leslie Buckley made defendant in data hack case against INM". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  20. ↑ "High Court - Assignment of Judges – Michaelmas Term 2021 | The Courts Service of Ireland". www.courts.ie.
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