David Keane (born 19 September 1964[1]) is an Irish judge and lawyer who has served as a Judge of the High Court since July 2013.

David Keane
Judge of the High Court
Assumed office
25 July 2013
Nominated byGovernment of Ireland
Appointed byMichael D. Higgins
Personal details
Born (1964-09-19) 19 September 1964 (age 60)
London, England
NationalityIrish
EducationRockwell College
Alma mater

Early life

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Keane was born in London in 1964. He attended Rockwell College and studied law at Trinity College Dublin. At Trinity, he was the President of the University Philosophical Society and won the Irish Times Debate.[1] He obtained an LLM from University College Dublin in European Union law in 1997.[2]

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He first qualified as a solicitor in 1992 and then converted to become a barrister in 1998. He became a senior counsel in 2009.[3] He trained and subsequently practised in the offices of future judge Garrett Sheehan and worked at the Chief State Solicitor's Office from 1997 to 1998.[1] His practice at the bar focused on criminal law, administrative law and civil litigation.[3] He was a council member of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties from 1992 to 1994.[1]

He was involved in the cases Heaney & McGuinness v Ireland in relation to Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Cogley v RTÉ which established rules relating to public interest and defamation in the press.[1] He represented RTÉ at the Barr Tribunal and the Flood Tribunal.[4][5] He also appeared at the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.[1]

Judicial career

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In 2008, he was nominated by the Government of Ireland to be one of three candidates to be put forward for election to the European Court of Human Rights.[6] He came in second place to Ann Power, and therefore, he was not elected.[7]

He was appointed a Judge of the High Court in July 2013.[8] Keane was appointed through application to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board.[9] He has heard cases including those involving matters of family law,[10] liquidation,[11] personal injuries,[12] immigration law,[13] and medical negligence.[14]

He heard a constitutional challenge of electoral gender quotas legislation in 2016 from a Fianna Fáil candidate who was not selected for election. His decision that the plaintiff did not have locus standi was successfully appealed to Supreme Court of Ireland.[15] He presided over a case initiated by Seán Gallagher seeking damages from RTÉ for airing a misleading tweet during a televised debate during the 2011 Irish presidential election. The matter was subsequently resolved outside of court.[16]

In 2018, he accused lawyers of professional misconduct by omitting certain details from their arguments before him in a trial involving the removal order of a Polish citizen from Ireland.[17] He threatened the lawyers in question with having to pay litigation costs,[18] however, no further action was taken by him.[19]

In May 2019, Keane had 22 cases awaiting judgment for at least two months, the highest amount among his High Court colleagues.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights" (PDF). European Court of Human Rights. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Alumni appointed to High Court and District Court". UCD School of Law. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Appointments to the High and District Courts". Irish Government News Service. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  4. ^ Kelly, Olivia (23 July 2004). "Questions involving criticism of TV3 disallowed". The Irish Times. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Builders' Flood appearance postponed". RTÉ News. 27 March 2001. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  6. ^ Coulter, Carol (22 January 2008). "Irish judge to be chosen for court of human rights". The Irish Times.
  7. ^ "Election of Members of the European court of Human Rights" (PDF). Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  8. ^ "President appoints Judges of the High Court". President of Ireland. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Judicial Appointments Advisory Board Annual Report 2013" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  10. ^ "Irish mum to get €18,000 per month and two multi-million homes in divorce settlement from cheating husband". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 21 April 2015. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  11. ^ "A Dublin cake firm being liquidated over a huge rates bill 'could have paid but chose not to'". Fora.ie. 25 July 2017. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  12. ^ "Former soldier should have never been prescribed anti-malaria drug, court hears". Irish Examiner. 21 June 2019. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  13. ^ "Mother of three gravely ill with ovarian cancer loses High Court case". Irish Examiner. 12 April 2019. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  14. ^ "Costs denied in three immigration challenges". Law Society Gazette. 17 November 2018. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  15. ^ "Supreme Court: Fianna Fáil member has locus standi to challenge constitutionality of female representation law". Irish Legal News. 22 March 2019. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  16. ^ Carolan, Mary. "RTÉ apologises and pays 'substantial' damages to Sean Gallagher over tweet". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  17. ^ Gráinséir, Seosamh (12 June 2018). "High Court: Legal representatives must respond to questions of misconduct raised by the Court". Irish Legal News. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  18. ^ Tighe, Mark (17 June 2018). "Irish judge David Keane threatens second lawyer with costs order". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  19. ^ "High Court judge to take no further action against lawyers over handling of bid to stop deportation of Polish criminal". Irish Examiner. 14 March 2019. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  20. ^ Tighe, Mark (5 May 2019). "Records show Judge David Keane is slowest to give rulings". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.