Nial Fennelly (born 3 May 1942) is a retired Irish judge who served as a Judge of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

from 2000 to 2014, Advocate General of 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 ...

and a Judge of the

from 1995 to 2000. He was educated at

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814, which features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Yo ...

, took a degree in economics at

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 ...

and completed his Bar studies 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 was a Barrister-at-Law from 1964 to 1995; when he was appointed as a

senior counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdicti ...

, he based himself full-time in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, but when a junior barrister, he worked both there and on the Southeastern circuit. Fennelly was Chairman of the

Bar Council 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 ...

shortly before his appointment as Advocate General. Fennelly is president of the Irish Society for European Law. Fennelly is the sole member of the "Commission of Investigation (Certain Matters relative to An Garda Síochána and other persons)", commonly called the

Fennelly Commission The Fennelly commission, formally the Commission of Investigation (Certain Matters relative to An Garda Síochána and other persons), was a commission of investigation established in April 2014 by the then government of Ireland to investigate se ...

, a commission of investigation established in April 2014 by the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...

to investigate several controversies involving the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fennelly, Niall 1942 births Living people Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland Advocates General of the European Court of Justice People educated at Clongowes Wood College Alumni of University College Dublin Irish officials of the European Union Alumni of King's Inns Lawyers from County Dublin 20th-century Irish judges 21st-century Irish judges Irish Senior Counsel

See also

References