John Aloysious Edwards (born 3 January 1960) 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 2014. He previously served as a Judge of the High Court from 2007 to 2014.

Early life

Education

Edwards attended Castleknock College until 1978. He attended

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 ...

where he obtained a BCL degree and a Diploma in European Studies. He also attended Trinity College Dublin and received qualifications in arbitration. He trained to be a barrister at

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 ...

. He is undertaking a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

Legal career

He was called to the

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in 1983 and became a Senior Counsel in 1998. His practice at the bar was centred on

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

and

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...

. He frequently appeared for both the Director of Public Prosecutions and defendants in criminal trials, including those involving murder, arson, pornography, fraud, drugs offences, assault, terrorism offences, and sexual offences. He was the State Prosecutor for

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

for ten years. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Law at the University of Limerick and a Fellow of the

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (abbreviated as CIArb) is a professional organisation representing the interests of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practitioners. Founded on 1 March 1915, it was granted a royal charter by Queen Elizabe ...

Judicial career

Edwards was appointed a High Court judge in May 2007. He was the judge in charge of the Extradition and European Arrest Warrant list from 2011 to 2014. He was appointed to the

in December 2014. He has held several positions within his role as judge, including membership of the Superior Courts Rules Committee, the European Association of Judges, and the Second Study Commission of the International Association of Judges. He joined the Association of Judges of Ireland at its foundation in 2011 and served a two-year term as president from November 2017. He is currently one of three members of the Irish panel of Ad hoc judges at the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, John A. Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Judges of the Court of Appeal (Ireland) High Court judges (Ireland) Alumni of Trinity College Dublin People educated at Castleknock College 1960 births 21st-century Irish judges 20th-century Irish lawyers Alumni of King's Inns