Isobel Kennedy is an Irish judge who has 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 ...

since November 2018. She previously served as a Judge of the High Court from 2015 to 2018 and Chairperson of the

Referendum Commission A Referendum Commission ( ga, An Coimisiún Reifrinn) is an independent statutory body in Ireland which is set up in advance of any referendum. The Referendum Act 1998 as amended by the Referendum Act 2001 provides for the establishment of the bod ...

from March 2018 to November 2018. Kennedy is from

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

. She obtained a BCL degree in 1986 from University College Cork and began practising as a barrister in 1988. She specialised in

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

and

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

. She served on the Barristers' Professional Conduct Tribunal of the

Bar of Ireland The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...

and was a member of the Bar Council between 1995 and 1997. She became a senior counsel in 2003. Kennedy acted as a barrister for the Investigation Committee of the

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA) was one of a range of measures introduced by the Irish Government to investigate the extent and effects of abuse on children from 1936 onwards. Commencing its work in 1999, it was commonly known ...

. She became a High Court judge in February 2015. She was nominated following a selection process by the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board. She acted as Judge on the

Special Criminal Court The Special Criminal Court (SCC; ga, Cúirt Choiriúil Speisialta) is a juryless criminal court in Ireland which tries terrorism and serious organised crime cases. Legal basis Article 38 of the Constitution of Ireland empowers the Dáil to ...

until 2018. Kennedy twice served as chairperson to the

, serving for the referendum to allow the Oireachtas to legislate for abortion and the referendum to remove blasphemy from the Constitution. The referendum on abortion had the highest voter turnout in a referendum since the establishment of the commission. Kennedy recommended in a report to the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

that the Commission be replaced with "a permanent Electoral Commission". She became a Judge of the

in November 2018. Kennedy's appointment to the Court of Appeal at the same time as

Caroline Costello Caroline Costello is an Irish judge who has served as 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 Universi ...

led to the first Irish court with a gender-balanced number of judges. She currently serves on the Advisory Committee to the School of Law at the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it beca ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Isobel Living people Judges of the Court of Appeal (Ireland) High Court judges (Ireland) 21st-century Irish judges 20th-century Irish lawyers Irish women judges Alumni of the University of Oxford Lawyers from Limerick (city) Year of birth missing (living people) Chairpersons of the Referendum Commission 21st-century women judges Irish Senior Counsel