Robert Haughton

For the two-year old victim of the M62 coach bombing, see M62 coach bombing.

The Hon. Mr. Justice Robert Haughton
Judge of the Court of Appeal
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 November 2019
Nominated by	Government of Ireland
Appointed by	Michael D. Higgins
Judge of the High Court
In office 30 October 2014 – 4 November 2019
Nominated by	Government of Ireland
Appointed by	Michael D. Higgins
Personal details
Nationality	Irish
Alma mater	Trinity College Dublin King's Inns

Robert Haughton is an Irish judge and lawyer who has served as a Judge of the Court of Appeal since November 2019. He previously served as a Judge of the High Court from 2014 to 2019. He has also additionally served as the Chair of the Constituency Commission.

Early life

Haughton was educated at Trinity College Dublin and the King's Inns. He was called to the Bar in 1979 and became a senior counsel in 2004.[1]

He was the chair of Bloomfield Hospital between 2005 and 2012.[2]

Judicial career

High Court

Haughton became a High Court judge in October 2014.[3]

In July 2019, he noted that no woman had been appointed an examiner since the process was established in Ireland.[4] The following day Sarah-Jane O’Keeffe became the first female examiner in the State.[5]

Constituency Commission

He was appointed by the Chief Justice of Ireland to chair the Constituency Commission in July 2016 to review the boundaries of Dáil constituencies and Irish European Parliament constituencies.[6] The committee increased the number of Teachta Dála from 158 and 160 and left the boundaries for European elections unchanged.[7]

He was appointed to review the European Parliament constituencies again in 2018 following the increase in seats allocated to Ireland following Brexit.[8] The committee increased by one the numbers of seats in Ireland South and Dublin.[9]

Court of Appeal

He was one of seven appointments to the Court of Appeal in November 2019.[10] This followed a change in the law in order to increase the number of judges to sit on the Court of Appeal.[11]

References

1. "Appointments to the Court of Appeal". The Department of Justice and Equality. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
2. Finn, Christina. "New appointments chosen to fill vacancies in High Court". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
3. "Annual Report 2014" (PDF). JAAB. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
4. "Do more to promote female examiners, judge urges Irish legal sector". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
5. "Sarah-Jane O'Keeffe Becomes Ireland's First Female Examiner". Examinership. 31 July 2019. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
6. "Commission to review Dáil and European Constituencies Established". merrionstreet.ie. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
7. Bardon, Sarah (27 July 2017). "Number of TDs to increase from 158 to 160 at next election". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
8. "Minister Murphy establishes Constituency Committee to review European Parliament constituencies". Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. 25 July 2018. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
9. Cunningham, Paul (24 September 2018). "More EU Parliament seats for Dublin and Ireland South". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
10. "Diary President Appoints Judges To The Court Of Appeal". president.ie. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
11. Quann, Jack. "Government agrees to appoint six new judges to Court of Appeal". Newstalk. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.