THE GOVERNMENT has decided to nominate Gerard Hogan SC for appointment to the High Court, replacing Mr Justice Liam McKechnie, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in July. The appointment will be made by President Mary McAleese.
Mr Hogan graduated in law from UCD in 1979 and then undertook postgraduate study in the United States, returning to Ireland to take up a position as lecturer in law in Trinity College in 1982. He taught there until 2007 and was elected a fellow of the college during that time.
He was called to the Bar in 1984, becoming a senior counsel in 1997. He became a bencher of the King’s Inns last year.
While he has had a high-profile career as both a junior and senior counsel, he is also one of the best-known legal academics in the State. He holds two doctorates in law and is a leading expert on the Constitution. Along with Gerry Whyte, also of Trinity, he has published updated editions of the seminal work on the Constitution, JM Kelly's The Irish Constitution, since 1987.
Mr Hogan will also shortly publish, along with David Gwynn Morgan of UCC, a new edition of their book on administrative law. He is engaged in a project for the Royal Irish Academy on the historical origins of the Constitution.