Brian J. McGovern is a former Irish judge who served as a Judge of the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

from June 2018 to March 2020. He previously served as a Judge of the High Court from 2007 to 2010.

Early life

McGovern attended

Castleknock College Castleknock College ( ga, Coláiste Caisleán Cnucha) is a voluntary Vincentian secondary school for boys, situated in the residential suburb of Castleknock, west of Dublin city centre, Ireland. Founded in 1835 by Philip Dowley, it is one o ...

and obtained a BCL from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

in 1971. He attended the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...

and was called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1972. He became a senior counsel in 1991. During his career as a barrister he frequently practiced in areas of both criminal and civil law. He served as President of the Irish Maritime Law Association. He represented

Total S.A. TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and ...

in an inquiry into the Whiddy Island disaster.

Judicial career

High Court

He was appointed to the High Court in 2006. Soon after his appointment he heard a case regarding the right of access of a woman to frozen embryos against the wishes of her husband. He acted as the designated

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...

judge for Ireland until his appointment to the Court of Appeal. He was also the presiding judge in the specialist Commercial Court. In the Commercial Court, he was the trial judge for high-profile disputes involving

Rory McIlroy Rory Daniel McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who is a member of both the European and PGA Tours. He is the current world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, and has spent over 100 weeks in tha ...

Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late Lat ...

and

Mick Wallace Michael Wallace (born 9 November 1955) is an Irish politician and former property developer who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the South constituency since July 2019. He is a member of Independents 4 Change, ...

Court of Appeal

McGovern was appointed to the Court of Appeal in June 2018. He retired as a judge in March 2020.

CervicalCheck Tribunal

Following his retirement, he continues to serve in a judicial function as a member of the three-judge statutory tribunal into matters arising from the

CervicalCheck cancer scandal The CervicalCheck cancer scandal first emerged in 2018 and involved several women in the Republic of Ireland suing the Health Service Executive (HSE) after they received incorrect smear test results for cervical cancer. Background In 2011, V ...

with chairperson Ann Power and Tony O'Connor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGovern, Brian Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Judges of the Court of Appeal (Ireland) High Court judges (Ireland) People educated at Castleknock College 21st-century Irish judges 20th-century Irish lawyers Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of King's Inns