Michael MacGrath is an Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

since July 2024. He previously served as a Judge of the High Court from 2018 to 2024.

Early life

MacGrath attended

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 ...

from where he received BCL and

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degrees. He subsequently attended 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 ...

Legal career

He was called to the

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in 1984 and became a senior counsel in 2000. His practice was predominantly focused on civil law and commercial law. He was counsel for the Barr Tribunal and he represented the

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and the public interest at 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 ...

. In addition to his legal practice, he was the chairperson of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission between 2005 and 2009, and was the chair of the Mining Board from 2013. MacGrath was a tutor in law at University College Dublin. He was the editor of a text on engineering law in 1989. He has acted as the

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for

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law the King's Inns since 2009.

Judicial career

MacGrath was appointed to the High Court in January 2018. He was appointment came following a vacancy created at the retirement of Judge Henry Abbott. He has presided over cases involving commercial law, regulatory law, judicial review, employment law, and medical negligence. In the midst of a judicial review hearing in 2019, a lay litigant unsuccessfully attempted to effect a citizen's arrest against him. In 2019, he decided against the Friends of the Irish Environment which sought to challenge governmental policy on climate change and reducing carbon emissions. The decision was appealed 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 ...

with a hearing in June 2020. He was elevated as a judge of the Court of Appeal in July 2024, and was appointed by President

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins (; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, broadcaster, and sociologist who has been serving as the president of Ireland since 2011. Entering national politics through the Labour Party, he served as a senator ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macgrath, Michael Living people High Court judges (Ireland) Irish barristers Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of King's Inns Year of birth missing (living people)