Richard Johnson (27 October 1937 – 4 August 2019) was an Irish judge who served as President of the High Court from 2006 to 2009 and a Judge of the High Court from 1987 to 2009. He was also under the terms of the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democra ...

by virtue of that office an ex-officio member 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 ...

. In the absence of the Chief Justice, he acted as a member of the Presidential Commission. Johnson was born in

Blennerville Blennerville (, meaning "the seat/home of the Morans") is a small village and now a suburb of Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. It is approximately west of the town centre on the N86 road to Dingle, where the River Lee enters Tralee Bay. The vill ...

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 ...

, and studied law 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 ...

(UCD). He qualified 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 ...

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 ...

in 1960. He practised on the South Western Circuit (Kerry, Limerick and Clare) until he became Senior Counsel in 1977. As a Senior Counsel he practised on the Munster Circuit and in Dublin until 1987. He was appointed to the High Court in 1987. His father was a district court judge for a number of years and his son and daughter are barristers. The

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

nominated Justice

Nicholas Kearns Nicholas Kearns (born 1946) is a retired Irish judge who served as President of the High Court from 2009 to 2015 and a Judge of the High Court from 1998 to 2015. He retired as President of the High Court on 19 December 2015. Early career K ...

on 7 October 2009 to replace him as President of the High Court. After his retirement as president and a judge, he gave an interview to the media in which he suggested the legislature should revisit the issue of whether the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

should be allowed as punishment for particularly serious crimes, such as murder committed in the course of armed robbery. Mayor of Limerick

Kevin Kiely Kevin Kiely is an Irish politician and former Mayor of Limerick from 2009–10. He was made a Peace Commissioner in 1983 by the then Fine Gael Minister for Justice, Michael Noonan. He is a member of Fine Gael. Career in politics He was first e ...

supported the proposal as a response to the continuing increase in murders in Ireland.

References

External links

High Court of Ireland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Richard Living people 1937 births People from Tralee Alumni of University College Dublin Presidents of the High Court (Ireland) 20th-century Irish lawyers Alumni of King's Inns