Northern Ireland

Mr Justice Kevin Rooney appointed High Court judge

Mr Justice Kevin Rooney has been appointed a High Court judge
Mr Justice Kevin Rooney has been appointed a High Court judge Mr Justice Kevin Rooney has been appointed a High Court judge

A NEW High Court judge has been appointed in Northern Ireland.

Mr Justice Kevin Rooney was sworn into office at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast yesterday.

He is taking on the judicial role having established himself among the region's leading legal practitioners.

Mr Justice Rooney graduated from Queen's University, Belfast in 1982, obtaining a Masters degree from Oxford University two years later.

Called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 1983, he was then appointed full-time law lecturer at Queen's, specialising in public law, evidence and EU law.

His independent practice as a barrister led to him taking silk in 2011, going on to a specialise in civil litigation and legacy inquests.

During his time as a QC he represented government departments, public authorities, health boards and individual clients in several high profile cases.

Other legal roles have included tenures as an independent assessor for claims involving miscarriages of justice and Chairman of the Personal Injuries Bar Association.

He was previously the external examiner for admissions to the Institute of Professional Legal Studies and the external facilitator to the Clinical Negligence IPLS Course.

In 2019 Mr Justice Rooney was called to the Bar of Ireland.

Nearly 100 colleagues, friends and family members attended remotely for the swearing-in ceremony overseen by the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Declan Morgan.

"We can be sure of one thing, he's a popular appointee," Sir Declan noted.

Extending a welcome to his new judicial colleague, the Lord Chief Justice also emphasised the public nature of the role.

He added: "Service in judicial office is for the benefit of the community as a whole."