President Michael D. Higgins hosted a reception at Áras an Uachtaráin to mark the centenary of the Irish Courts system.
2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the Courts of Justice Act 1924, which established Ireland’s modern, independent Courts system.
President Higgins delivered an address at the event, which was responded to by the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice then presented the President with the first copy of the new edition of the book, ‘The Supreme Court of Ireland: A History’, originally published by Dr Rónán Kennedy in 2003 and which has now been updated to mark the centenary.
The event was attended by the Taoiseach, Simon Harris TD, the Chief Justice, Donal O’Donnell, members of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General, Rossa Fanning SC, Court Presidents, Judges from each of the Courts, and representatives from across the legal system.
The event was also attended by the Attorney General of Northern Ireland, Brenda King, Lady Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon Dame Siobhán Keegan, and the Honourable Justices John O’Hara and David Scoffield of the High Court of Northern Ireland.
Also in attendance were a number of senior European legal figures including the President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Koen Lenaerts, and Judges from the Court, the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Síofra O’Leary, the Presidents of the Supreme Courts of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Slovakia and Slovenia, the President of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, and Professor Dr Henning Radtke of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.
In addition, the event was attended by a number of senior figures from other Common Law jurisdictions, including the Rt Hon Lord Ben Stephens of the UK Supreme Court, the Rt Hon Lord Justice Nicholas Underhill of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the Lord President of Scotland, the Rt Hon Lord Carloway Colin Sutherland, the Hon Mr Justice Sanjiv Khanna of the Supreme Court of India, and a number of senior Judges from Tanzania, including the Chief Justice of Tanzania, Prof Ibrahim Hamis Juma.
