David Barniville is an Irish judge who has been the President of the Irish High Court since July 2022. He formerly practiced as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and was the chair of the Bar Council of Ireland. He served as a judge of the High Court between 2017 and 2021 and was 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 2021 to 2022. He is an member of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.

Early life

Barniville is from Dublin. He was born to

Geraldine Geraldine may refer to: People * Geraldine (name), the feminine form of the first name Gerald, with list of people thus named. * The Geraldines, Irish dynasty descended from the Anglo-Norman Gerald FitzWalter de Windsor * Geraldine of Albania, th ...

and Harry (both international tennis players), while his grandfather

Henry Barniville Henry Leo Barniville (10 April 1887 – 23 September 1960) was an Irish politician and surgeon. Life and career Barniville was born in 1887 in Belfast to John Banniville and Mary Burke. He was educated at Rockwell College, County Tipperary and ...

was a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and surgeon. He attended secondary school at Blackrock College. He studied for a BCL degree at University College Dublin, graduating in 1988. He completed his studies at 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 ...

Legal career

Barniville 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 July 1990 and became a Senior Counsel in October 2006. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2016. He is a Bencher of the King's Inns and of Middle Temple. His practice as a barrister consisted of commercial law and constitutional and administrative law. He was also an Accredited Mediator with a special interest in

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 ' ...

. He was counsel for the Beef Tribunal and appeared with Donal O'Donnell for Michael Lowry at the Moriarty Tribunal. He represented the

Minister for Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

in the High Court on the nationalisation of Allied Irish Banks in December 2010, and again on the recapitalisation of Irish Life & Permanent. He appeared regularly in the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...

representing Ireland. He was the chairman of the Bar Council of Ireland between 2014 and 2016. He has also been a member of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, the board of the Courts Service and of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board and the Legal Aid Board. In 2016, the Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald sought clarifications from the Bar Council on the procedure of Barniville's appointment to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority. The Department of Justice and Equality was ultimately satisfied with the selection process. He is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Limerick. He has acted as a governor of the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin and was the chair of Irish Rule of Law International.

Judicial career

High Court

He was appointed a Judge of the High Court in December 2017. He was the court's designated arbitration judge from June 2018. As of 2020, he was the Judge in Charge of the Commercial List. In the High Court, he has presided over cases on matters including insolvency law, injunctions, defamation law, and judicial review. He was previously the Judge in Charge of the Strategic Infrastructure List, hearing appeals of An Bord Pleanála decisions, including for developments at Saint Anne's Park and

Cherrywood, Dublin Cherrywood () is a developing suburb of Dublin, Ireland, bordering Cabinteely, Loughlinstown and Rathmichael. It is located to the southeast of the city, in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The development commenced on a greenfield site in 1998 and ...

. He was appointed the chairperson of the Referendum Commission in September 2019 for the purpose of a referendum on Nonresident voting at Irish presidential elections.

Court of Appeal

The appointment of Maurice Collins as a part-time commissioner of the Law Reform Commission permitted a vacancy on the

. Barniville was nominated to fill the role in June 2021 and was appointed in August 2021.

President of the High Court

Barniville was nominated to become President of the High Court in June 2022, to succeed

Mary Irvine Mary Irvine (born 10 December 1956) is an Irish judge who was the President of the Irish High Court between 2020 and 2022. She first practiced as a barrister. She was a judge of the High Court between 2007 and 2014. She was a judge of the Cou ...

on her retirement in July 2022. He was appointed on 13 July 2022.

Personal life

Barnville is married to Susan O’Connell and has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barniville, David Living people High Court judges (Ireland) Judges of the Court of Appeal (Ireland) Presidents of the High Court (Ireland) Irish barristers Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of King's Inns People educated at Blackrock College Year of birth missing (living people)