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

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 ...

– ''Visitor of the College''.

Early life and career

McCracken was born in Cork in 1934. He was educated at

The High School, Dublin The High School is a 12–18 Mixed-sex education, mixed, Church of Ireland, Independent school, independent secondary school in Rathgar, Dublin, Ireland. It was established in 1870 at Harcourt Street before moving to Rathgar in 1971. It amal ...

, and later at

and the

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 ...

. He became a barrister in 1957 and a senior counsel in 1975.

Judicial career

McCracken was appointed a High Court judge in 1995 and was elevated to Ireland's

in 2002. His in-depth expertise in the field of

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

law was widely recognised but he also had expertise in both chancery and commercial law.

McCracken Tribunal

Judge McCracken was appointed as the sole member of the McCracken Tribunal which was set up by the Bruton Government in February 1997 to investigate reports of secret payments by Ben Dunne Jnr. to former

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 ...

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992 ...

and former cabinet Minister Michael Lowry and others. The Tribunal heard evidence in July 1997 and produced a 100-page report the following month. This report found that Haughey had given untrue evidence under oath and that Lowry was ''knowingly assisted'' by Dunne in evading tax. As a result of the findings and revelation of substantial funds in secret Ansbacher accounts, owned by Haughey, the new Ahern Government established a more extensive follow-up, the

Moriarty Tribunal The Moriarty Tribunal, officially called the Tribunal of Inquiry into certain Payments to Politicians and Related Matters, was an Irish Tribunal of Inquiry established in 1997 into the financial affairs of politicians Charles Haughey and Mich ...

to investigate the financial affairs of the two politicians. Charles Haughey faced criminal charges for obstructing the work of the McCracken tribunal.Former PM in court
–

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

article, 6 October 1998. His trial on these charges was postponed indefinitely after the judge in the case found that he would not be able to get a fair trial following prejudicial comments by

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the second-ranking member of the government of Ireland and the holder of its second-most senior office. It is the equivalent of the deputy prime minister in other parliamentary systems. The Tánaiste is appointed by the P ...

Mary Harney Mary Harney (born 11 March 1953) is an Irish former politician and the former Chancellor of the University of Limerick. She was leader of the Progressive Democrats party between 1993 and 2006 and again from 2007 to 2008, resuming the role afte ...

.High Court upholds ruling on Haughey trial
– RTÉ News report, 3 November 2000. Compared to the succeeding, and other tribunals, the McCracken Tribunal was praised for its efficiency in concluding within months. He retired from the Supreme Court on 12 July 2006.

External links

Report of the McCracken Tribunal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCracken, Brian 1934 births Living people Lawyers from County Cork Irish Senior Counsel Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland Politics of the Republic of Ireland People educated at The High School, Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin High Court judges (Ireland) Alumni of King's Inns 20th-century Irish judges 21st-century Irish judges

Early life and career

Judicial career

McCracken Tribunal

See also

External links

References