Maureen Harding Clark (born 3 January 1946) is an Irish judge who served as a Judge of the

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC; ; ), commonly known as the Cambodia Tribunal or Khmer Rouge Tribunal (), was a court established to try the senior leaders and the most responsible members of the Khmer Rouge for alle ...

since June 2019, a Judge of the High Court from 2006 to 2014, a Judge at the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

from 2003 to 2006, and a Judge at the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

from 2001 to 2003.

Early life and education

Clark was born to an Irish

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

mother and a Scottish

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

father in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. When she was two years old, her family moved to

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

where she and her sister attended an English school run by French nuns. At that time, she also learned Malay. The school they attended in Malaysia was located in

Bukit Nanas Bukit Nanas (Weld Hill during colonial rule) is a small hill in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. With a height of 94 meters (308 ft) above sea level, it contains the only virgin tropical rain forest left in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The Bukit Nanas For ...

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

. When she was twelve years old, the family moved to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

where she attended the Muckross Park College in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. In 1964, Clark began studying at the

University of Lyon The University of Lyon ( , or UdL) is a university system ( ''ComUE'') based in Lyon, France. It comprises 12 members and 9 associated institutions. The 3 main constituent universities in this center are: Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, which f ...

where she obtained a diploma in French language. In 1965, Clark returned to Ireland and studied law at the

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 ...

, where she met her husband. Following her graduation with a BCL degree, she and her husband settled in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where they had two children. After an amicable separation, she and the children returned to Ireland, where she followed up her studies 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 ...

. While at the university, her lecturer was

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 ...

, who later became

President of Ireland The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...

. In 1975, she completed her studies and became a

Barrister-at-Law A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the law and giv ...

at the Honourable Society of King's Inns. In 2021, she was made an honorary fellow of Trinity College Dublin.

Legal career

Following her graduation in 1975 Clark was a barrister in the

South Eastern Circuit The Circuit Court () of Ireland is an intermediate level court of local and limited jurisdiction which hears both civil and criminal matters. On the criminal side the Circuit Court hears criminal matters tried on indictment with a judge and jury ...

in a variety of cases. In 1985, she assumed as the State Prosecutor for Tipperary. In 1991, she became a Senior Counsel. The same year, she quit her job in Tipperary and became a prosecutor at the Central Criminal Court in Ireland. She was described as "tough-minded", and "If she was prosecuting, you knew you were prosecuted". She led the prosecution in the first money-laundering trial in Europe, as well as the first marital rape and male rape trials in Ireland. In 2004, she was appointed a member of the

Irish Human Rights Commission The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) was a public body, state-funded but independent of government, that promoted and protected human rights in the Republic of Ireland. It was established on 23 July 2001 under the Human Rights Commission Act 2 ...

Judicial career

In June 2001, Clark was elected as one of the 27 so-called ''

ad litem ''Ad litem'' (Latin: "for the suit") is a term used in law to refer to the appointment by a court of one party to act in a lawsuit on behalf of another party such as a child or an incapacitated adult, who is deemed incapable of representing him ...

'' judges at the

(ICTY) by the

General Assembly of the United Nations The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...

. She was assigned to a trial concerning human rights violations. By March 2003, her chamber had sentenced Mladen Naletilić Tuta to 20 years' and Vinko Martinovic to 18 years' imprisonment. In 2003, she was elected to a nine-year term as a judge of the

(ICC), where she was tasked with the organization of the trials and the establishment of a judicial infrastructure. On 10 December 2006, she resigned from her post at the International Criminal Court after being appointed a High Court judge. In 2019, following her nomination by the UN secretary-general

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

, the

King of Cambodia The monarchy of Cambodia is the constitutional monarchy of the Kingdom of Cambodia. The king of Cambodia () is the head of state and head of the ruling Royal House of Norodom. In the contemporary period, the king's power has been limited t ...

Norodom Sihamoni Norodom Sihamoni (, ; born 14 May 1953) is King of Cambodia. He became King on 14 October 2004, a week after the abdication of his father, Norodom Sihanouk. He is the eldest son of King Sihanouk and former Queen consort Norodom Monineath and ...

appointed Clark as a judge of the Supreme Court of the

Khmer Rouge Tribunal The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC; ; ), commonly known as the Cambodia Tribunal or Khmer Rouge Tribunal (), was a court established to try the senior leaders and the most responsible members of the Khmer Rouge for alle ...

, the court at which the leaders of the Cambodian

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...

are to be tried. In December 2006, Clark became a Judge of the High Court of Ireland, a post she held until 2014. She was also the judicial visitor for the

between 2009 and 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding Clark, Maureen 1946 births Living people Irish jurists Irish judges of international courts and tribunals Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin High Court judges (Ireland) Honorary Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Irish women judges Khmer Rouge Tribunal judges International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia judges International Criminal Court judges Alumni of King's Inns 21st-century Irish judges 21st-century women judges Irish people of Scottish descent