Nial Fennelly (born 3 May 1942) is a retired Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2000 to 2014, Advocate General of the European Court of Justice and a Judge of 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 ...

from 1995 to 2000. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College, he then took a degree in economics at University College Dublin and completed his Bar studies at the King's Inns. He was a Barrister-at-Law from 1964 to 1995; when he was appointed as a senior counsel, he based himself full-time 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 ...

, but when a junior barrister, he worked both there and on the Southeastern circuit. Fennelly was Chairman of the Bar Council of Ireland shortly before his appointment as Advocate General. Fennelly was also president of the Irish Society for European Law. Fennelly was the sole member of the "Commission of Investigation (Certain Matters relative to An Garda Síochána and other persons)", commonly called the Fennelly Commission, a commission of investigation established in April 2014 by the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland () is the executive (government), executive authority of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet (government), cabinet – is composed of Mini ...

to investigate several controversies involving the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fennelly, Niall 1942 births Living people Judges of the Supreme Court of Ireland Advocates general of the European Court of Justice People educated at Clongowes Wood College Alumni of University College Dublin Irish officials of the European Union Alumni of King's Inns Lawyers from County Dublin 20th-century Irish judges 21st-century Irish judges Irish Senior Counsel

See also

References