Nuala Butler 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 October 2022. She previously served as a Judge of the High Court from 2020 to 2022.

Early life

Butler was educated at Mount Anville Secondary School, followed by

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 she graduated with a BCL degree in 1984 and an LL.M. degree in 1989. She obtained a BL degree from 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

She qualified as a barrister and was called to the Bar in 1986, becoming a senior counsel in 2003. She practised on the Dublin and Eastern circuits. Butler frequently appeared in matters involving judicial review and planning and environmental law on behalf of the government,

An Bord Pleanála (; meaning "The Planning Board"; ABP) is an independent, statutory, quasi-judicial body that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in Ireland. As of 2007, An Bord Pleanála directly decided major strategic infra ...

and other public bodies. She was appointed by 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 ...

to argue against the constitutionality of part of the Planning and Development Bill 1999 (with Paul Gallagher and James Connolly) in 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

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer, academic, author, and former politician who served as the president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. McAleese was first elected as president in 1997, ...

under Article 26 of the Constitution. She further practiced in areas of law including defamation law, constitutional law, child law, election law, and asylum law. She appeared in several tribunals of inquiry during her career. She represented the public interest at the McCracken Tribunal, the

Attorney General of Ireland The attorney general of Ireland () is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabine ...

at the

Smithwick Tribunal The Smithwick Tribunal was an Irish Tribunal of Inquiry into the events surrounding the killing of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). The men were killed in a Provisional ...

and 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 ...

at the Morris Tribunal. She acted as legal adviser to an

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

committee on the content of the

Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland The Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland (previously bill no. 29 of 2018) is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which permits the Oireachtas to legislate for abortion. The constitution had previously prohibited abortio ...

. Outside of her practice as a barrister, she was a member of the Employment Appeals Tribunal between 1989 and 1992 and was chairperson of the Mining Board from 1999 to 2002. Between 2016 and 2019, she chaired the Incorporated Council for Law reporting in Ireland.

Judicial career

High Court

Butler was appointed a judge of the High Court in October 2020. Her appointment followed a vacancy created by the appointment of Teresa Pilkington to the

. She has heard cases involving insolvency law, probate law, employment law, breach of privacy, judicial review and injunctions. In September 2021, she held in an action taken by Patrick Costello that ratifying the

Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA; French: ''accord économique et commercial global'', AECG; German: ''Umfassendes Wirtschafts- und Handelsabkommen'') is a free-trade agreement between Canada and the European Union and its ...

would not be contrary to the Irish constitution.

Court of Appeal

Butler was nominated to replace David Barniville on the

in July 2022. Her appointment led to the Court of Appeal being the first court in Irish history to have a majority of women. She was appointed in October 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Nuala Living people High Court judges (Ireland) Judges of the Court of Appeal (Ireland) Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of King's Inns 21st-century Irish judges 21st-century Irish women judges Year of birth missing (living people) People educated at Mount Anville Secondary School