Tony Hunt is an Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the High Court since October 2014, and is the senior presiding judge of the Special Criminal Court. He previously served as a Judge of the Circuit Court from 2007 and 2014.

Education

Hunt 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 ...

from where he obtained a BCL degree in 1984. He subsequently attended 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 ...

to study to become a barrister.

Legal career

Hunt 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 1986. He was an appointee of the Bar Council to the Superior Court Rules Committee. Much of his practice was spent appearing in criminal trials as prosecuting counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions. He acted in trials involving assault, sexual assault, manslaughter, drugs offences, and tax offences. He acted for defendants in traffic offences, and sexual assault cases. Hunt also represented clients in cases involving injunctions, contracts, and personal injuries.

Judicial career

Circuit Court

His career on the bench began in May 2007 when he was appointed a judge of the Circuit Court. From March 2012, he was assigned to the Midland Circuit. He was a member of the Circuit Court Rules Committee. He replaced

Yvonne Murphy Yvonne Murphy was a judge of the Irish Circuit Court from 1998 to 2012. She has acted as chair of several Commissions of Investigation and an inquiry into various child abuse issues within the Catholic Church in Ireland. Early career Before pra ...

as a member of the Working Group on Efficiency Measures in the Criminal Justice System for the Circuit and District Courts in February 2012.

High Court

Hunt was elevated to the High Court in October 2014, coinciding with multiple vacancies created on the court following the creation by 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 ...

. Hunt frequently hears cases from the Central Criminal Court, including those involving murder, manslaughter, and rape. In 2015, he was the judge in the trial of Graham Dwyer arising out of the

murder of Elaine O'Hara Elaine O'Hara (17 March 1976 – ) was an Irish childcare worker who was murdered in August 2012 by architect Graham Dwyer. She was last seen alive at a public park in Shanganagh, Dublin, Ireland, on 22 August. The remains of her body were dis ...

. The trial lasted 46 days and attracted much media and public attention. In 2023, he was the judge in the trial of Jozef Puška, arising out of the high-profile murder of Ashling Murphy. Hunt has also heard extradition applications. He is the senior presiding judge of the Special Criminal Court. He has heard cases concerning

dissident republican Dissident republicans, renegade republicans, anti-Agreement republicans or anti-ceasefire republicans ( ga, poblachtach easaontach) are Irish republicans who do not support the current peace agreements in Northern Ireland. The agreements follow ...

ism and the

Hutch–Kinahan feud The Hutch–Kinahan feud is a major ongoing feud between two criminal organisations in the Republic of Ireland that has resulted in the deaths of eighteen people, the majority of which have been perpetrated by the Kinahan family. The Hutch gan ...

, including the

shooting of Gareth Hutch Gareth Hutch was shot dead in Dublin on Tuesday 24 May 2016. He was a nephew of Gerry Hutch. He was also a cousin of Gary Hutch and a nephew of Eddie Hutch Snr. Shortly before he was shot, Gareth Hutch was issued with a Garda Information Mess ...

Dessie O'Hare Dessie O'Hare (born 26 October 1956), also known as "The Border Fox", is an Irish republican paramilitary who was once the most wanted man in Ireland. O'Hare was originally in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) but left in the late 19 ...

, and the kidnapping of Kevin Lunney. In May 2020, he described the Kinahan organisation as having a "hierarchical structure" containing "cells and sub-cells" to engage in "execution-type murders" related to international "organised drugs and firearm trafficking". This was the first time a judge had outlined the organisation in such a way in court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Tony Living people High Court judges (Ireland) Circuit Court (Ireland) judges Alumni of University College Dublin Irish barristers Alumni of King's Inns Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Irish lawyers 21st-century Irish judges