Hibernian Law Medals recognise leading judges from common law jurisdictions

The medals were presented to former Irish Chief Justice, Ms Justice Susan Denham, former UK Supreme Court President, Lord Neuberger, and former Canadian Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin at a ceremony in Blackhall Place on Friday.

They were presented the medals by Ireland’s Chief Justice, Mr Justice Frank Clarke, who succeeded Ms Justice Denham last July.

All three judges acted as the presidents of the supreme courts of their respective countries. The Hibernian Law Journal recognised them for their lifelong commitment to justice, the rule of law, and for their exceptional contribution to the development of jurisprudence.

Ms Justice McLachlin articulated five reflections from her time as Canada’s first female and longest-serving Chief Justice.

Firstly, she said that a good judge must be an active listener; it is not enough that the parties are given a hearing, the judge must also listen to the substance of the arguments in an active and curious way.

Secondly, Ms Justice McLachlin spoke of the importance of total impartiality. “Judges are vocational witnesses to the entire gambit of human behaviour,” she said, including of course to instances of morally repugnant behaviour that might particularly offend their own sensibilities. In order to guard against the potential for bias, she stressed the importance of judges practicing “conscious objectivity”.

Thirdly, she said a judge must present themselves as everyone’s judge. She spoke of her experience as the first woman to sit on Canada’s highest court, the progress that has been made to bring women into the judiciary, and the challenge ahead of making the judiciary more representative of the racial, religious and class diversity of her country.

Fourthly, she emphasised the importance of judgments being transparent and intelligible.

Finally, she spoke on the importance of judges remaining humble, and not to fall into “judge-itis” - the habit of excessively emphasising the prestige of the office. Referring to her own experience becoming Chief Justice, she said: “They hand you the reins to power. It takes you about a week to realise that they aren’t connected to anything”.

Lord Neuberger spoke of his gratitude in being presented the medal in Ireland, emphasising that, despite the political backdrop of Brexit, the legal communities of Ireland and Britain maintain excellent relations.

He affirmed his own firm belief in importance of judges recognising their own subconscious biases, recalling a case where he found a witness’s testimony especially trustworthy despite contradicting some of the concrete evidence presented to the court. He realised that the reason he felt predisposed to believing the witness was because he had many of the same mannerisms of Lord Neuberger’s own late father.

Lord Neuberger also gave his views on the recent Miller case, after which High Court judges were made the subjects of the infamous “Enemies of the People” front page of the Daily Mail.

He said the accusation of pro-EU bias on the part of the judiciary was simply untrue, and hoped that the media assault on the judiciary was not “a harbinger of things to come”.

As one of Ireland’s longest-ever serving judges, Ms Justice Denham used her address to reflect on the major changes in the Irish judicial system during her long career.

She said that the inclusion of women in the judiciary and the wider legal sector has been the most obvious change during her career. She reflected that in 1983, only 183 women in the State held solicitor’s papers, whereas today the majority of solicitors in Ireland are female.

She spoke of her earlier court experiences, in which she was regularly the only woman in the court room, and how this contrasts with her experience today now that 37 per cent of Ireland’s judges are women.

Ms Justice Denham spoke also of the huge improvements to the court buildings throughout Ireland, much of which was overseen by her and the independent Courts Service, founded during her time in office.

She spoke of the state of disrepair of many of the courthouses she first worked in, remembering them as damp, cold and often dirty rooms heated only by a turf fire. She recalled an incident in the CircuitCcourt where the late Mr Justice Thomas Finlay adjourned a trial after the room became flooded, quipping: “It appears the thatch is leaking”. Since then, over €500,000,000 has been spent on rejuvenating Ireland’s courthouses, as well as building several new court buildings.

Speaking as chair of the ceremony, Mr Justice Frank Clarke spoke of his admiration for the three judges, particularly his predecessor. He said: “There have been few changes in Irish law in the last few decades that have not been preceded by a Denham judgment.”

He congratulated the Hibernian Law Journal on their inaugural awards ceremony, noting that the present committee had set the bar especially high for future awards through the selection of very prominent jurors.

Kevin Burns, Irish Legal News