News

14.10.08

New Commissioner appointed to NIJAC

The Lord Chancellor has appointed Sir Patrick Coghlin to be a judicial member of the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission (the Commission).

He will take up post as a Judicial member with effect from 13 October 2008 and his appointment is for a period of 5 years. The appointment is unpaid and Lord Justice Coghlin succeeds Sir Anthony Campbell whose term as a judicial member ended on 14 June 2008.

Sir Patrick was appointed as a High Court Judge in 1997 and as a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2008. He was called to the Bar in 1970 and took silk in 1985. Sir Patrick was Chairman of the General Council of the Bar from 1991 until 1993 and was Senior Crown Counsel until 1997. Prior to his appointment as a Lord Justice of Appeal, Sir Patrick was the senior judge of the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court.

Sir Patrick is currently President of the Lands Tribunal and is chairman of a group of tribunal chairmen and presidents which is considering issues concerning tribunal reform in Northern Ireland. He was a former Deputy Chairman of the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

30.09.08

New Legal Members of the Mental Health Review Tribunal

The Lord Chancellor has appointed Ruth Lavery, Attracta Wilson and Philip Gilpin as Legal Members of the Mental Health Review Tribunal in Northern Ireland.

They were sworn into office by  Mr Fraser Elliott, President of the Mental Health Review Tribunal on 30 September 2008.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

15.09.08

New Coroner (Fixed Term) appointed in Northern Ireland

The Lord Chancellor has appointed Joanne Donnelly to the office of Coroner in Northern Ireland.

Joanne Donnelly was sworn into office before Sir Brian Kerr, the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, on 15 September 2008. The Presiding Judge for the Coroners Service, Mr Justice Weir, and John Leckey, senior coroner, were present for the ceremony.

The appointment is for a fixed term period of three years and has been created to assist with the timely disposal of ongoing coronial business while a number of high profile and complex cases are being dealt with. 

 Joanne Donnelly was educated at the Queen’s University Belfast and has a Masters Degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. She was admitted as a solicitor in September 1996 and worked in private practice before joining the Northern Ireland Court Service in 1998. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12.09.08

New Social Security Commissioner and Child Support Commissioner for Northern Ireland appointed.

Her Majesty the Queen has appointed Dr Kenneth Mullan to be a Social Security Commissioner and Child Support Commissioner for Northern Ireland. The new Commissioner was sworn into office before the Chief Social Security Commissioner and Child Support Commissioner on 12 September 2008.

Dr Kenneth Mullan was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, University of Toronto and University of Glasgow. He was admitted as a Solicitor in Northern Ireland in November 1989 and worked in private practice from 1988 until 1991. From 1985 to 1999 Dr Mullan was a lecturer and then senior lecturer at the University of Ulster. In 1995 he was appointed as a fee paid Chairman of the Appeals Tribunal in Northern Ireland before commencing as full-time Chairman of the Tribunal in 1999. Since 2006, Dr Mullan has been Chairman of the Investigating Committee, Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and from 2007 a member of the Editorial Board of the Tribunals Journal. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    

05.09.08

New Lord Justice of Appeal

The Honourable Mr Justice Coghlin was today, sworn into office to the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland before Sir Brian Kerr, the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. Mr Justice Coghlin succeeded Sir Anthony Campbell, who retired on 31 August 2008.  

Sir Patrick Coghlin was educated at Queen’s University, Belfast and Cambridge University. He was appointed to the High Court in 1997 having been called to the Bar in 1970 and taken silk in 1985. In addition to being the Senior Queen’s Bench judge he is currently President of the Lands Tribunal and chairman of a group of tribunal chairmen and presidents which is considering issues concerning tribunal reform in Northern Ireland. Sir Patrick was Chairman of the General Council of the Bar from 1991- 1993 and was Senior Crown Counsel from 1993-1997.  Prior to his appointment to the senior Queen’s Bench position, he was the judge in charge of the Commercial Division of the High Court.

Sir Patrick Coghlin is married and has four children. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  

Pictured from left to right:

The Honourable Mr Justice McCloskey

The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, Sir Brian Kerr

The Right Honourable Lord Justice Coghlin

05.09.08

Appointment of High Court Judge

Her Majesty the Queen has appointed Bernard McCloskey QC to be a High Court judge in Northern Ireland. The judge was sworn into office before the Right Honourable Sir Brian Kerr, the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, on 5 September 2008.

Bernard McCloskey was educated at Queen’s University, Belfast and Strasbourg International University. He was called to the Bar in September 1979 and took Silk in 1999. Mr McCloskey practised as a barrister from 1979 until his appointment as Junior Crown Counsel for Northern Ireland in 1993. He was subsequently appointed as Senior Crown Counsel in 2004. Mr McCloskey is a former member of the County Court Rules Committee and until his appointment as a High Court judge was a member of the Supreme Court Rules Committee. He has written and delivered papers for publication on a number of legal topics, predominantly in the fields of public law and human rights law.     

Bernard McCloskey is married with six children.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

25.06.08

NIJAC celebrates its 3rd Anniversary

On Thursday 19 June, The Right Honourable Sir Brian Kerr, the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and Chairman of the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission, hosted a reception to celebrate the Commission's 3rd Anniversary.

The Lord Chief Justice marked the occasion by announcing the reappointment of a number Commissioners and paid special tribute to the contribution made to NIJAC by three outgoing Commissioners: the Right Honourable Lord Justice Campbell, Fiona Bagnall, Presiding District Judge (Magistrates’ Court) and Mr Harry McConnell OBE.

Since its establishment in June 2005, NIJAC has been responsible for numerous judicial appointments, something which the Lord Chief Justice was keen to make reference to: “JAC is responsible for around  800 judicial offices…some 130 in the Courts, over 400 in Tribunals and over 240 lay members. Since 2005, we have run 15 schemes and 6 schemes are ongoing. We have made recommendations for 164 judicial appointments and 78 reappointments. We were conscious from the beginning of our work of just how significant a responsibility it is to make recommendations and we have sought to perform our role diligently and fairly.”

                        Guests at Headline Building

The Lord Chief Justice also used the event to highlight the Commission’s progress in policy development. In the last 6 months, NIJAC has developed a new Equal Opportunities Policy, a Reasonable Adjustments Policy and a Disability Action Plan.   

At the close of the event, the Lord Chief Justice also thanked the team led by Professors Philip Leith and Brice Dickson (QUB), who have recently completed their research into barriers to progression in the judiciary, details of which will posted on the website in due course.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Renewal of appointments

The Lord Chancellor has also re-appointed nine of the current members of the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission with effect from 15 June 2008.  

The judicial members have been re-appointed for a period of 5 years, the lay members have been re-appointed for a period of 4 years and the legal members for a period of 3 years.  

Two judicial posts are yet to be filled, one of a Lord Justice and the other a District Judge (Magistrates’ Court).

Details of the new appointments will be posted on the website in due course.