SIR Anthony Hart spent two-and-a-half years listening to the harrowing testimony of those who were abused in state and Church-run children's homes and detention centres across Northern Ireland.
Best known as the chair of the largest child abuse inquiry in the UK, the retired High Court judge spent decades at the top of the legal profession.
The 73-year-old was first called to the Northern Ireland Bar in September 1969 and to the Bar of England and Wales in 1975.
He became a Queen’s Counsel in 1983 and was appointed a county court judge two years later.
In 1997, he became the senior county court judge in Northern Ireland when he was appointed Recorder of Belfast.
In 2002, he was the first person to be appointed as presiding judge of the County Courts in Northern Ireland.
Three years later, he was appointed a high court judge
Sir Anthony, known as Tony, retired in January 2012. Months later he was appointed to chair the Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry.
His landmark report, published in January 2017, found widespread mistreatment of children in residential homes over several decades.
It recommended compensation for victims, an apology to survivors and a memorial.
