Richard Humphreys is an Irish judge and lawyer who has served as a Judge of the High Court since October 2015. He was previously a barrister, legal academic, political adviser, and was a member of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council for the Labour Party.

Early life

Humphreys attended St Michael's College, Dublin, graduating in 1984. He received BCL and LLM law degrees from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

in 1988 and 1989 respectively. While a student at UCD, Humphreys was the auditor of the L&H society between 1986 and 1987. During his term in charge of the society, it hosted the World Universities Debating Championship. He subsequently attended the King's Inns and obtained a PhD in law from

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

Legal career

He was called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

in 1991 and became a senior counsel in 2009. He practised primarily in the area of public law, specifically Constitutional law, judicial review and immigration law. He twice appeared for

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

in constitutional challenges. He also appeared in media law and defamation cases. Humphreys was a lecturer at UCD and

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one ...

between 1990 and 1993, and also taught at the law faculties of TCD and

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

. He was a member of the

Balance in Criminal Law Review Group The Balance in Criminal Law Review Group was an Irish legal review committee established by Michael McDowell, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, in 2006. It made numerous recommendations which have been implemented in Irish criminal ...

and the chairperson of the Statute Law Expert Advisory Group. While a government adviser, he attended talks in 1996 which contributed to the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in Nor ...

. He has since written two texts on the agreement,

United Ireland United Ireland, also referred to as Irish reunification, is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically; the sovereign Republic of Ireland has jurisdiction over the maj ...

and the border between

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

Political career

As a teenager, Humphreys was a member of Young Fine Gael, before becoming a member of the Labour Party. He worked as a legal adviser to the Labour Party for two decades. He became a legal adviser to Mervyn Taylor at the Department of Equality and Law Reform in January 1993, holding that position until 1997. He was elected to Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council at the 2009 local elections as a county councillor for the Stillorgan local electoral area. He was re-elected in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, serving until his retirement from politics in May 2015. In 2010, he proposed a motion to offer to hold an event to welcome Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

Judicial career

Humphreys was appointed to the High Court in October 2015, by the

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

and Labour Party coalition government. In an immigration case ruling in 2016, he followed a 2008 ruling of Judge

Mary Irvine Mary Irvine (born 10 December 1956) is an Irish judge who was the President of the Irish High Court between 2020 and 2022. She first practiced as a barrister. She was a judge of the High Court between 2007 and 2014. She was a judge of the Cou ...

that the unborn had constitutional rights that should be considered by the Minister for Justice, and took the view that this conclusion was reinforced by Article 42A of the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the fundamental law of Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democracy, is broadly within the traditio ...

. The

Supreme Court of Ireland , image = Coat of arms of Ireland.svg , imagesize = 120px , alt = , caption = Coat of Arms of Ireland , image2 = Four Courts, Dublin 2014-09-13.jpg , imagesize2 = , alt2 ...

in 2018 reversed this reasoning but upheld the order that the Minister was obliged to consider the rights that would accrue on birth of the child. He has also heard numerous judicial review cases, including decisions of the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Education and Skills. In 2018, he ordered the State Examinations Commission to expedite its decision on an appeal to the awarding of Leaving Certificate points. Humphreys was appointed to the Law Reform Commission as a part-time commissioner for a five-year term in October 2020. The same month, the Supreme Court gave judgment on an appeal against two 2019 judgments by Humphreys in an immigration case; while upholding his "lucid, reasoned, elegant and intelligent" judgment, Justice Marie Baker criticised "quite remarkable and personally insulting comments" he had made about counsel for both sides. He is the judge in charge of the Strategic Infrastructural Development Judicial Review List of the High Court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humphreys, Richard Living people High Court judges (Ireland) Irish barristers Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of King's Inns People educated at St Michael's College, Dublin Members of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Council Politicians from County Dublin Auditors of the Literary and Historical Society (University College Dublin) Year of birth missing (living people)