Adrian Hardiman
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| The Hon. Mr. Justice Adrian Hardiman | |
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Judge of the Supreme Court
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| In office 7 February 2000 – 2021 |
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| Nominated by | Government of Ireland |
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| Appointed by | Mary McAleese |
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| Born | 1951 |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Spouse | Yvonne Murphy |
| Alma mater | Belvedere College, UCD, King's Inns |
| Occupation | Barrister |
| Religion | Unknown |
The Honourable Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, (born 1951) has been a justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland since February 7, 2000 and is not due to retire from that post until 2021. He received the rare honour of being appointed directly from the Bar to Ireland's highest court. Many commentators were surprised by his appointment as he was (by judicial standards) a relatively young man making it likely he would serve on the court for an unusually long time. Hardiman was also a noted bon viveur whilst a barrister and by tradition was required post appointment to not socialise in the same manner that he had done before. Prior to his elevation to the Supreme Court, he was one of the leading and best paid members of the Irish bar.
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[edit] Education
Educated by the Jesuits at Belvedere College, Dublin and University College Dublin (where he studied history) and Kings Inns. He was president of the Student Union at UCD and Auditor of the Literary and Historical Society (University College Dublin) and won The Irish Times National Debating Championship in 1973.
[edit] Family
His wife, Her Honour Judge Yvonne Murphy, from County Donegal, is a judge of the Circuit Court and was appointed on March 28, 2006 to Chair the Commission of Investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy from, or attached to, the Archdiocese of Dublin between January 1, 1975 and May 1 2004. They have three sons, one of whom, Eoin, is a barrister (and a member of the Mountjoy Prison Visiting Committee); another, Hugh, was a personal assistant to Michael McDowell, when he was Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform. His third son Daniel is studying science at Trinity College Dublin.
[edit] Political career
He joined Fianna Fáil in college and stood (unsuccessfully) for the party in the local elections in 1979. He was a founder member of the Progressive Democrats and left the party when appointed to the Supreme Court. He is still considered to be very close to the former party leader and Tánaiste, Michael McDowell.
[edit] Key judgments
Hardiman has written a number of important jugdments since joining the Court. He has also presided (as does each Supreme Court judge on a rotating basis) over the Court of Criminal Appeal. The following is a selection of judgments delivered by Mr Justice Hardiman, in reverse chronological order:
O'Callaghan v Judge Mahon [2007] IESC S17 (2007-03-30) (dissent; holding that Tribunal of Inquiry should be prevented from further inquiring into the applicants; cites R v Lynch (1829) - the Doneraile Conspiracy case - in which by skilful cross-examination Daniel O'Connell secured acquittals on capital charges; concluded that the contrary approach "would represent a very marked coarsening of our standards of procedural fairness.")
Shortt v The Commissioner of An Garda Siochana [2007] IESC S9 (2007-03-21) (one of two judgments, in which the Court more than doubled (€1.9m to €4.7m) the damages granted to a man wrongfully imprisoned for over two years after two members of An Garda Siochana concocoted evidence against him)
P.H. v D.P.P. [2007] IESC 3 (January 29, 2007)
D.P.P. v Anthony Barnes [2006] IE CCA 165 (December 21, 2006) (discusses and restates the criminal law of self-defence in the case of burglary)
McK. v Homan [2006] IESC 63 (November 28, 2006)
N v Health Service Executive [2006] IESC 60 (November 13, 2006) (one of five judgments given by the Court; this case concerned the circumstances in which a parent may exercise the right provided for in Irish law to rescind initial consent to adoption)
A. -v- The Governor of Arbour Hill Prison [2006] IESC 45 (July 10, 2006) (one of five judgments; the case concerned a "collateral" challenge by a prisoner to the lawfulness of his detention following the judgment in C.C. –v Ireland (May 23, 2006))
C.C. -v Ireland [2006] IESC 33 (May 23, 2006) (striking down as unconstitutional part of the law on statutory rape, due to the absence in any circumstances of a defence of honest mistake as to age)
O'Callaghan v The Hon. Mr. Justice Mahon [2005] IESC 9 (March 9, 2005)
Gough v Neary [2003] IESC 39 (July 3, 2003)
Lobe v. Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform [2003] IESC 3 (January 23, 2003) - one of seven judgments in a case concerning whether the State could deport the parents of Irish citizens who were still minors; the Court by a majority (5-2) dismissed the appeal and allowed the deportation of the family)
Dunne v. D.P.P. [2002] IESC 27 (April 25, 2002) (one of a series of cases, beginning with Braddish v D.P.P., in which the Court considered the contours of the Garda Siochana's duty to seek out and preserve evidence relevant to a criminal trial)
Ardagh v. Maguire [2002] IESC 21 (April 11, 2002) (this case concered the procedures to be applied by a parliamentary inquiry into an incident in which Garda Siochana shot dead a civilian, John Carthy)
