Peter Charleton

Peter Charleton (born April 1956[1]) is an Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland since June 2014. He previously served as a Judge of the High Court from 2006 to 2014.[2]

The Hon. Mr. Justice

Peter Charleton
Judge of the Supreme Court
Assumed office
14 July 2014
Nominated byGovernment of Ireland
Appointed byMichael D. Higgins
Judge of the High Court
In office
13 April 2006 – 14 July 2014
Nominated byGovernment of Ireland
Appointed byMary McAleese
Personal details
BornApril 1956 (age 64)
Churchtown, Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Spouse(s)Fiona Charleton (m. 1988)
Children3
Alma mater

Early life

He was educated at St Mary's College, Dublin, Trinity College Dublin and King's Inns.[3][4] He was the auditor of the College Historical Society between 1977 and 1978.[5] His immediate predecessor was Mary Harney. He was in the final of the Irish Times Debate in 1977.[6] As auditor of the CHS, his inaugural address was on the subject of "Republicanism Reviewed" and featured contributions from Conor Cruise O'Brien, John A. Murphy, Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Mairéad Corrigan, Noël Browne and John Brooke, 2nd Viscount Brookeborough.[7]

He was called to the Bar in 1979, and became a Senior Counsel in 1995. He was the first Senior Counsel to appear in an Irish court without a wig, following the enactment of the Courts and Court Officers Act 1995.[8] He was appointed to the Advisory Group on Criminal Law and Procedure in 1996 by Minister for Justice Nora Owen.[9]

His legal practice included appearing for the Director of Public Prosecutions in criminal trials.[10] He was prosecuting counsel in cases against Catherine Nevin for murder,[11] and Paul Ward and John Gilligan in the Special Criminal Court for the murder of Veronica Guerin.[12][13] Charleton also represented clients as a criminal defence barrister and in family law, judicial review and commercial law cases.[3] He represented Christy Burke in a defamation action in 1996[14] and Eircom in a case related to the publication of a phone sex line in their telephone directory.[15] He defended Ritchie Neville and Jason "J" Brown of the boyband 5ive following charges arising out of an altercation in Temple Bar, Dublin in 2001.[16]

He worked as Senior Counsel for the Morris Tribunal into allegations of corruption in the Donegal division of the Garda Síochána. He was joined by Paul McDermott SC and Anthony Barr.[17]

Charleton has also represented the State in cases before the European Court of Justice.[18][19]

He is the author of a number books on criminal law and has also published on family and constitutional law, copyright, extradition and judicial review. He lectured in the King's Inns in the law of tort between 1982 and 1984, Trinity College Dublin in criminal law between 1986 and 1988, Fordham University and China University of Political Science and Law.[20][4]

He was Chairman of the National Archives of Ireland Advisory Council from 2011 to 2016, an unpaid position.[13]

Judicial career

He was appointed as a Judge of the High Court in December 2006,[3] and assigned to the Commercial Court from 2010.[2] He has also acted as an ad hoc judge of the European Court of Human Rights.[21]

He was nominated to the Supreme Court in June 2014 and appointed by President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins in July 2014.[22][23]

Disclosures Tribunal

In 2017, he was appointed sole member of the Disclosures Tribunal investigation into allegations of Garda Síochána malpractice.[24] He published two substantive reports as chair of the Tribunal.[25]

The portion of the inquiry presided over by Charleton ran from February 2017 until October 2018.[26] In his findings from the inquiry, he found that a Garda sergeant, Maurice McCabe, had been subject to a smear campaign by the Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan and a Garda press officer, but not from subsequent Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan and other Gardaí.[27] He was also critical of the Child and Family Agency in handling claims of rape.[28]

In his concluding remarks on his findings, he criticised the Gardaí and the Child and Family Agency for not having organisational mentalities of learning from their errors. He was particularly critical of the credibility of evidence given by several senior members of the police force.[29] Drew Harris, O'Sullivan's successor as commissioner, said on its publication that the report was "difficult reading for the organisation" and the Gardaí would move to have "an open and inclusive culture".[27]

Subsequently, he criticised the manner in which tribunals of inquiry are conducted in Ireland. He suggested that instead of being run in a format akin to criminal trials, the main aspect of the inquiry should be directed from the tribunal itself.[30]

Personal life

He is married to Fiona Daly.[31] He has three children.[10] He was a founder of the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir and a member of the board of the Irish Baroque Orchestra.[25]

Publications
  • Charleton, Peter (1986) Controlled Drugs and the Criminal Law. An Cló Liúir.
  • Charleton, Peter (1992) Offences Against the Person. Round Hall Press.
  • Charleton, Peter (1992) Criminal law: Cases and Materials. Butterworth.
  • Charleton, Peter; McDermott, Paul; Bolger, Marguerite (1999) Irish Criminal Law. Butterworth.
  • Charleton, Peter (2006) Lies in a Mirror: An Essay on Evil and Deceit. Blackhall Publishing.
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References
  1. Collins, Stephen (22 November 2006). "Cabinet approves judicial appointments". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  2. "Government nominates new Judge to the Supreme Court". TheJournal.ie. 17 June 2014.
  3. "Judicial Appointment Notice". DSBA. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  4. "Cabinet chooses High Court judge Peter Charleton for Supreme Court post". The Irish Times. 17 June 2014.
  5. "From Burke to the Little Red Book". The Irish Times. 4 November 1997. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  6. "TCD society's officers". The Irish Times. 31 May 1977. p. 15.
  7. "Relations with NI discussed at debate". The Irish Times. 22 October 1977. p. 5.
  8. "Man shot in house at Tallaght". The Irish Times. 12 January 1996. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  9. "Written Answers. - Working Groups and Committees. – Dáil Éireann (27th Dáil) – Wednesday, 5 Mar 1997 – Houses of the Oireachtas". www.oireachtas.ie. 5 March 1997. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  10. "Disclosures Tribunal judge has made outing liars his life's work". www.irishexaminer.com. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  11. "Nevin widow accused of lies". Irish Independent. 25 March 2000. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  12. "Court decision on Paul Ward appeal to take 'some time'". Irish Independent. 9 March 2002. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  13. Keena, Colm (18 February 2017). "Whistleblower inquiry: Peter Charleton known for independence". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  14. "SF man sues "Sun", RTE for "Devil" references". The Irish Times. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  15. "Eircom say sex lines in phone book for 3 years". The Irish Times. 1 July 2000. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  16. "Five band members in court again". www.irishexaminer.com. 26 March 2001. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  17. "REPORT OF THE TRIBUNAL OF INQUIRY" (PDF). Department of Justice and Equality. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  18. Albers and Others, C-425/97 to C-427/97 (European Court of Justice 11 May 1999).
  19. Commission v. Ireland, Case C-494/01 (European Court of Justice 26 April 2005).
  20. "Supreme Court Visit to NUI Galway" (PDF). NUI Galway. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  21. O'Keeffe v Ireland, no. 35810/09 (European Court of Human Rights 28 January 2014).
  22. "Charleton nominated to the Supreme Court". Irish Independent. 18 June 2014.
  23. "President appoints Mr Justice Peter Charleton as Supreme Court Judge". President.ie. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  24. "Judge outlines details of McCabe tribunal". RTÉ.ie. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  25. "2018 Supreme Court Annual Report" (PDF). Supreme Court. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  26. "Q&A: The Charleton Tribunal explained". Breaking News. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  27. "McCabe 'happy' but report 'hard to take'". RTÉ News. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  28. Thomas, Conal (11 October 2018). "Tribunal 'might have been unnecessary' had Tusla admitted what happened with McCabe allegation". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  29. "Third interim report of the tribunal of inquiry into protected disclosures" (PDF). Disclosures Tribunal. pp. 292–300. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  30. "Mr Justice Charleton calls for 'rebalancing' of tribunals of inquiry system". Irish Legal News. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  31. "Hitting a high note". The Irish Times. 10 May 1997. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
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