Nicholas Kearns

The Hon. Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns
President of the High Court
Incumbent
Assumed office October 2009
Nominated by	Government of Ireland
Appointed by	Mary McAleese
Preceded by	Richard Johnson
Personal details
Born	1946 Dublin
Nationality	Irish
Alma mater	King's Inns
Profession	Judge, Barrister

Nicholas Kearns (born 1946) is the President of the High Court of Ireland, and ex-officio member of the Supreme Court. He was appointed a judge of the High Court in 1998 and was appointed to the Supreme Court in November 2004. He is the most senior Irish judge after Chief Justice Susan Denham. He was appointed as President of the High Court in October 2009.^[1]

Doherty v. Ireland

On 12 July 2010, the High Court granted leave to Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty for a judicial review into why a by-election was not being held.^[2] The seat was vacant since June 2009 following the resignation of Fianna Fáil TD Pat the Cope Gallagher on his election to the European Parliament. On 2 November 2010, the High Court ruled that there was an unreasonable delay in holding the by-election. In his ruling, Kearns P. described the delay as unprecedented^[3] and that the delay amounted to a breach of Doherty's constitutional rights. He declared that Section 30 (2) of the Electoral Act 1992 should be construed as requiring that a writ for a by-election be moved within a reasonable time of the vacancy arising.^[4] He further stated that:

“

...it is the ongoing failure to move the writ for this by-election since June 2009 which offends the terms and spirit of the Constitution and its framework for democratic representation.[5]

”

However, Justice Kearns did not order the Government to set a date for the by-election. The Government announced on 4 November 2010 that the by-election would be held on 25 November. They also stated that they would appeal to the Supreme Court.^[3] On 26 November 2010, Doherty won the by-election.

Legal offices
Preceded by Richard Johnson	President of the High Court October 2009–present	Incumbent

References

1. ^ Coulter, Carol (2009-10-07). "Government nominates new president of High Court". The Irish Times. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1007/1224256099847.html. Retrieved 2009-10-15. 
2. ^ "Bye-election judicial review is allowed". RTÉ News. 12 July 2010. http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0712/politics.html. Retrieved 12 July 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Government to hold bye-election this month". RTÉ News. 3 November 2010. http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1103/byeelection.html. Retrieved 3 November 2010. 
4. ^ "Court declares byelection delay unconstitutional". The Irish Times. 4 November 2010. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1104/1224282634957.html. 
5. ^ "Doherty -v- Government of Ireland & Anor". www.courts.ie. 3 November 2010. http://courts.ie/judgments.nsf/597645521f07ac9a80256ef30048ca52/baf3228928ac3b4b802577d0003fedb8?OpenDocument. Retrieved 3 November 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Kearns, Nicholas
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1946
Place of birth	Dublin
Date of death
Place of death