David Keane (born 19 September 1964) is an Irish judge and lawyer who has served as a Judge of the High Court since July 2013.

Early life

Keane was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1964. He attended Rockwell College and studied law at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. At Trinity, he was the President of the

University Philosophical Society The University Philosophical Society (UPS), commonly known as The Phil, is a student paper-reading and debating society in Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1683, it describes itself as the oldest student, collegial and paper-read ...

and won the Irish Times Debate. He obtained an

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from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

European Union law European Union law is a system of Supranational union, supranational Law, laws operating within the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). It has grown over time since the 1952 founding of the European Coal and Steel Community, to promote ...

in 1997.

Legal career

He first qualified as a solicitor in 1992 and then converted to become a barrister in 1998. He became a senior counsel in 2009. He trained and subsequently practised in the offices of future judge Garrett Sheehan and worked at the Chief State Solicitor's Office from 1997 to 1998. His practice at the bar focused on criminal law, administrative law and civil litigation. He was a council member of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties from 1992 to 1994. He was involved in the cases ''Heaney & McGuinness v Ireland'' in relation to

Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights is a provision of the European Convention which protects the right to a fair trial in criminal law cases and in cases to determine civil rights. It protects the right to a public hearing before ...

and ''Cogley v RTÉ'' which established rules relating to public interest and defamation in the press. He represented

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

at the Barr Tribunal and the Flood Tribunal. He also appeared at the

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA) was one of a range of measures introduced by the Irish Government to investigate the extent and effects of abuse on children from 1936 onwards. Commencing its work in 1999, it was commonly known ...

Judicial career

In 2008, he was nominated by the Government of Ireland to be one of three candidates to be put forward for election to the

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

. He came in second place to

Ann Power Ann Power (born 23 November 1962) is an Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the Court of Appeal since November 2019. She previously served as a Presiding Judge of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office from 2017 ...

, and therefore, he was not elected. He was appointed a Judge of the High Court in July 2013. Keane was appointed through application to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board. He has heard cases including those involving matters of family law, liquidation, personal injuries, immigration law, and medical negligence. He heard a constitutional challenge of electoral gender quotas legislation in 2016 from a

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

candidate who was not selected for election. His decision that the plaintiff did not have

locus standi Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Mathematics and science * Locus (mathematics), the set of points satisfying a particular condition, often forming a curve * Root locus analysis, a diagram visualizing the position of ...

was successfully appealed to

Supreme Court of Ireland The Supreme Court of Ireland () is the highest judicial authority in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a court of final appeal and exercises, in conjunction with the Court of Appeal (Ireland), Court of Appeal and the High Court (Ireland), Hig ...

. He presided over a case initiated by Seán Gallagher seeking damages from RTÉ for airing a misleading tweet during a televised debate during the

2011 Irish presidential election The 2011 Irish presidential election was the thirteenth presidential election to be held in Ireland, and was contested by a record seven candidates. It was held on Thursday, 27 October 2011. The election was held to elect a successor to Mary ...

. The matter was subsequently resolved outside of court. In 2018, he accused lawyers of professional misconduct by omitting certain details from their arguments before him in a trial involving the removal order of a Polish citizen from Ireland. He threatened the lawyers in question with having to pay litigation costs, however, no further action was taken by him. In May 2019, Keane had 22 cases awaiting judgment for at least two months, the highest amount among his High Court colleagues.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keane, David Living people High Court judges (Ireland) Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of University College Dublin 1964 births Irish barristers Alumni of King's Inns