Caroline Costello

The Hon. Ms. Justice Caroline Costello
President of the Court of Appeal
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 July 2024
Nominated by	Government of Ireland
Appointed by	Michael D. Higgins
Preceded by	George Birmingham
Judge of the Court of Appeal
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 November 2018
Nominated by	Government of Ireland
Appointed by	Michael D. Higgins
Judge of the High Court
In office 22 September 2014 – 13 November 2018
Nominated by	Government of Ireland
Appointed by	Michael D. Higgins
Personal details
Nationality	Irish
Relations	Declan Costello (Father) John A. Costello (Grandfather)
Alma mater	University College Dublin University of Oxford King's Inns

Caroline Costello is an Irish judge who has served as President of the Court of Appeal since July 2024 and a Judge of the Court of Appeal since November 2018. She previously served as a Judge of the High Court from 2014 to 2018.

Costello graduated with a BA in Classics and History from University College Dublin in 1982.[1] She subsequently attended the University of Oxford and the King's Inns. She became a barrister in 1988 and a senior counsel in 2010. She had a commercial-oriented practice, focusing on commercial law, banking law, and insolvency law.[2]

She was appointed to the High Court in September 2014.[3] She presided over High Court bankruptcy proceedings involving Seán Dunne.[4] She served a term as chair of the judicial wing of INSOL Europe, a federation of insolvency lawyers.[5] In 2018, she made a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union arising out of an action taken by Max Schrems regarding the EU–US Privacy Shield.[6]

She was appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal in November 2018.[7] Her appointment to the Court of Appeal along with Isobel Kennedy resulted in the first Irish court with a gender balanced number of judges.[8]

She is the daughter of the former Attorney General of Ireland and President of the High Court Declan Costello and the granddaughter of former Taoiseach John A. Costello.[9]

References

1. "New judges". UCD School of Law. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
2. "Appointments to the High Court". Irish Government News Service. 23 July 2014. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
3. "President appoints Ms Caroline Costello, S.C., Ms Aileen Donnelly, S.C., & Mr Seamus Noonan, S.C." President.ie. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
4. "Judge brands Dunne 'deeply dishonest' as his bankruptcy extended by 12 years". Irish Independent. 3 October 2018. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
5. "INSOL Europe Annual Conference 2018, Athens". University College Cork. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
6. Humphries, Conor; Fioretti, Julia (12 April 2018). "EU's top court asked to probe Facebook U.S. data transfers". Reuters. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
7. "President appoints judges to the Court of Appeal and the High Court". President.ie. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
8. "Minister Flanagan welcomes 50/50 gender balance in Court of Appeal". Irish Government News Service. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
9. "Two High Court judges named for Court of Appeal". Law Society Gazette. 10 October 2018. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.