Mary Eleanor Laffoy, SC (born 17 June 1945) is a retired Irish judge who served as President of the Law Reform Commission from 2018 to 2022, a Judge of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

from 2013 to 2017, and a Judge of the High Court from 1995 to 2013. She also chaired the

Citizens' Assembly Citizens' assembly is a group of people selected by lottery from the general population to deliberate on important public questions so as to exert an influence. Other names and variations of deliberative mini-publics include citizens' jury, ci ...

between 2016 and 2018.

Early life

Laffoy was born on

North Circular Road, Dublin The North Circular Road (), designated as the R101 regional road, is an important thoroughfare on the northside of Dublin, in Ireland. It is the Northside, Dublin, northside equivalent of the South Circular Road, Dublin, South Circular Road. Lo ...

, moving to

Manorhamilton Manorhamilton () is the second-largest town in County Leitrim, Ireland. It is located on the N16 from Sligo and from Enniskillen. History Before the Plantations of Ireland, the settlement was known, and continues to be known in the ...

and

Swinford Swinford () is a town in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is surrounded by a number of smaller villages, including Midfield, County Mayo, Midfield and Meelick, County Mayo, Meelick. It is just off the N5 road (Ireland), N5 road, 1 ...

, before returning to Dublin to live in

Donabate Donabate () is an outer suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, about north-northeast of Dublin, within the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government area of Fingal. The town is on a peninsula on Ireland's east coast ...

following the death of her father. She attended Tourmakeady College in

Toormakeady Toormakeady or Tourmakeady (, the official name) is a Gaeltacht in south County Mayo in the west of Ireland. It is located between the shores of Lough Mask and the Partry Mountains, and covers . As at the time of the 2011 census, Toormakeady had ...

. Initially, after leaving school, she tried primary school teaching at

Carysfort College Our Lady of Mercy College, Carysfort (commonly known as Carysfort College) was a ''College of Education'' in Dublin, Ireland from its foundation in 1877 until its closure in 1988. Educating primary school teachers, and located in a parkland cam ...

and joined the civil service. She was subsequently educated at

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 ...

and

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns () 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 environments. The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...

. She received the John Brooks Scholarship at the Inns for achieving the highest marks. She received a BA degree from UCD in 1968 and a BCL degree in 1971.

Legal career

She was called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1971 and to the Inner Bar in 1987. She devilled for

Brian McCracken Brian Moore McCracken (born 13 July 1934) is a retired Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland, Supreme Court from 2002 to 2006 and a Judge of the High Court (Ireland), High Court from 1995 to 2002. He is an officer of T ...

. She became a Senior Counsel on the same day as future Supreme Court colleagues

Susan Denham Susan Jane Denham, SC (''née'' Gageby; born 22 August 1945) is a retired Irish judge who served as Chief Justice of Ireland from 2011 to 2017, she was the first woman to hold the position. She served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1992 to ...

and

Liam McKechnie William Martin McKechnie, SC (born 3 April 1951) is an Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2010 and 2021 and a Judge of the High Court from 2000 to 2010. Early life He was born in 1951 and educated at Presentation Brot ...

and at the time was only one of four women seniors. Her expertise at the Bar was in property law. She appeared in the ''Cityview Press'' case which clarified the law on the

nondelegation doctrine The doctrine of nondelegation (or non-delegation principle) is the theory that one branch of government must not authorize another entity to exercise the power or function which it is constitutionally authorized to exercise itself. It is wikt:exp ...

in Ireland. In 1983, she was appointed by the Supreme Court to argue against the constitutionality of the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 1983 following a

reference A reference is a relationship between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. It is called a ''nam ...

made by President

Patrick Hillery Patrick John Hillery (; 2 May 1923 – 12 April 2008) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the sixth president of Ireland from December 1976 to December 1990. He also served as vice-president of the European Commission and Europea ...

under Article 26 of the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland (, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. It guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected non-executi ...

. She appeared in another Article 26 reference made by

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who served as the president of Ireland from December 1990 to September 1997. She was the country's first female president. Robinson had previously served as a senato ...

regarding the Matrimonial Home Bill 1993. For both references, the Supreme Court found for her side. In 1986, she appeared on '' The Late Late Show'' in a simulated court case to argue for a vote against the

Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland The Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1995 (previously bill (law), bill no. 15 of 1995) is an Amendments to the Constitution of Ireland, amendment of the Constitution of Ireland which removed the constitutional prohibition on divorce, ...

Judicial career

High Court

She was appointed as a judge of the High Court in 1995. She primarily presided over cases involving chancery law. She presided over 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 ...

from 1999 to 2003, an inquiry into

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...

. Her decision to resign as chair before the commission completed its report was controversial. In her letter of resignation from the commission of 2 September 2003, Laffoy outlined her belief that the actions of the

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

and the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

had frustrated her efforts and had slowed the commission's work. She felt that: "...the cumulative effect of those factors effectively negated the guarantee of independence conferred on the Commission and militated against it being able to perform its statutory functions." The commission was chaired from 2003 to 2009 by Judge Sean Ryan. She presided over the High Court hearing in '' A v Governor of Arbour Hill Prison'', ordering the release of a prisoner convicted of

statutory rape In common law jurisdictions, statutory rape is nonforcible sexual activity in which one of the individuals is below the age of consent (the age required to legally consent to the behaviour). Although it usually refers to adults engaging in sex ...

due to an earlier finding that the offence he was convicted of was contrary to the

. Her decision was overturned on appeal to the Supreme Court. In 2012, she dismissed an action taken by

Thomas Pringle Thomas Pringle (5 January 1789 – 5 December 1834) was a Scottish writer, poet and abolitionist. Known as the father of South African poetry, he was the first successful English language poet and author to describe South Africa's scenery, nati ...

regarding the legality of the

European Stability Mechanism The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is an intergovernmental organization located in Luxembourg City, which operates under public international law for all eurozone member states having ratified a special ESM intergovernmental treaty. It was ...

. The

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially 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 Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...

, after reference from the Supreme Court, also rejected his claim. During her time at the High Court, ten per cent of reported judgments were written by Laffoy.

Supreme Court

Laffoy was appointed to the

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 ...

in July 2013. She retired from the Supreme Court on 16 June 2017. A portrait of her was unveiled in the King's Inns in March 2020.

Additional appointments

Citizens' Assembly

In July 2016, she was appointed by

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

to chair the

, which she chaired until June 2018.

Law Reform Commission

She became the president of the Law Reform Commission in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laffoy, Mary 1945 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Irish Senior Counsel Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland Irish women judges High Court judges (Ireland) Alumni of King's Inns 20th-century Irish judges 21st-century Irish judges 20th-century Irish women 21st-century Irish women Lawyers from Dublin (city) People from Swinford, County Mayo People from Manorhamilton 21st-century Irish women lawyers