Four new judges selected to fill vacancies on High Court

A judge who sat on the Mahon planning tribunal is one of four Circuit Court members who have been selected by the Government to fill upcoming vacancies on the High Court.

The list also includes an ex- barrister who once worked on the legal team of the beef tribunal and a one-time Labour Party member who argued a landmark abortion case at the European Court of Human Rights.

At yesterday's Cabinet meeting, Ministers nominated judges Carroll Moran, Mary Faherty, Raymond Fullam and Carmel Stewart to fill four of the seven vacancies that will arise on the High Court later this month when the new Court of Appeal is established. The Government has yet to name the three remaining nominees.

Last week, the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, said he was struggling to find judges for new cases because the Government had not yet moved to fill the seven vacancies.

Criminal cases

Judge Carroll Moran, a Circuit Court judge since 1997, qualified as a solicitor and barrister. He has overseen a number of high-profile criminal cases, having presided on the Cork, western and midlands circuits from 1997 to 2002 and on the southwestern circuit from 2004.

Judge Mary Faherty served as a member of the Mahon planning tribunal, where she was one of three judges, along with Alan Mahon and Gerald Keys, from 2002 onwards. She was chair of the Employment Appeals Tribunal from 1995 to 2002.

Judge Raymond Fullam, who qualified as a barrister and a chartered accountant, has been a Circuit Court judge since 2007. As a barrister, he had a general practice, with a focus on revenue law, and was a member of the beef tribunal’s legal team in the 1990s.

Abortion amendment As barristers in 1983, Mr Moran and Mr Fullam put their names to a campaign in the law library to oppose the Government’s anti-abortion amendment.

The campaign, which had the support of a quarter of all barristers, argued the subject matter of the amendment was inappropriate for inclusion in the Constitution.

Judge Carmel Stewart has been a Circuit Court judge since 2012 and has been assigned to the Dublin Circuit. One of her last high-profile briefs as a barrister was the landmark abortion case taken by three women – known as A, B and C – at the European Court of Human Rights. A former member of the Labour Party, she is also a former chair of the Family Lawyers' Association and a former vice-chair of the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

The vacancies on the High Court will formally arise when seven of the court's current members move to the new Court of Appeal later this month. The seven who are to move to the appeals court are judges Seán Ryan (the court's president-designate), Peter Kelly, Mary Finlay Geoghegan, Michael Peart, George Birmingham, Mary Irvine and Gerard Hogan.

The new court is expected to be formally established on October 28th.

NOMINEES: WHO'S WHO

Carroll Moran

Educated at UCD, Carroll Moran became a solicitor in 1970 before being called to the Bar five years later. Experienced in civil and criminal law, he was editor of Irish Reports from 1993 to 1997. As a Circuit Court judge, he presided on the Cork, western and midlands circuits form 1997 to 2002 and was permanently assigned to the southwestern circuit in 2004.

Mr Moran has overseen a number of high-profile criminal cases in his time on the bench.

Mary Faherty

Mary Faherty came to public prominence as a member of the Mahon planning tribunal, where she was one of three judges, along with fellow Circuit Court judges Alan Mahon and Gerald Keys, from 2002 onwards.

Educated at the University of Freiburg in Germany, University College Galway and King’s Inns, she was called to the Bar in 1986 and took silk in 2001.

She was chairwoman of the Employment Appeals Tribunal from 1995 to 2002.

Raymond Fullam

Raymond Fullam, who qualified as a barrister and a chartered accountant, has been a Circuit Court judge since 2007. He was called to the Bar in 1971, became a senior counsel in 1995 and practised on the eastern and Dublin circuits. As a barrister he focused on revenue law and was a member of the beef tribunal’s legal team in the 1990s. Mr Fullam has been a member of the Courts Service’s audit committee and a member of the GAA’s Drugs Appeal Board.

Carmel Stewart

Carmel Stewart has been a Circuit Court judge since 2012 and has been assigned to the Dublin circuit. Educated at University College Galway and King’s Inns, she became a barrister in 1987 and took silk in 2008. As a barrister, one of her most high-profile briefs was the abortion case taken by three women, known as A, B and C, at the European Court of Human Rights.

A former member of the Labour Party, Ms Stewart also chaired the Family Lawyers’ Association.