Alongside the appointment of Mr Justice Kinney, Judge Mark McGarrity and Mark Reel have been appointed as County Court judges.

All three were sworn into office this morning before Dame Siobhan Keegan, the Lady Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.

Mr Justice Kinney graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 1983 and was admitted to the roll of solicitors in 1985. He practised as a solicitor from 1985 to 2007, becoming managing partner of Fitzsimons Kinney Mallon Solicitors in 1990. He was a member of the Council of the Law Society of Northern Ireland from 1996 to 2007.

He was appointed as chairman of the Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal in 2007 before his judicial career began with his appointment as a County Court judge in 2012. Since October 2021, he has been siting as an assigned Crown Court judge at the Laganside Courts in Belfast.

Mr Justice Kinney joins former solicitors Mr Justice Huddleston and Mr Justice McFarland on the current High Court bench.

Judge McGarrity graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 2003. He was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2004 and the Bar of Ireland in 2011. As a barrister, he principally practiced in criminal, coronial and administrative law.

He was appointed to the judiciary in 2019, serving first as a district judge in the magistrates’ courts before being appointed in 2021 to the position of presiding district judge in the magistrates’ courts, which involved leadership and management responsibility for summary courts throughout the jurisdiction.

Judge Reel read aeronautical engineering before reading law at Queen’s University Belfast. He has been a self-employed barrister since 1996 when he was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland.

He has a considerable range and depth of experience across the most serious Crown cases, including historic sex offences and civil litigation, including clinical negligence litigation and equity cases.

Brian Archer, president of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, said: “On behalf of the solicitor profession I wish to congratulate Mr Justice Kinney on his appointment to the High Court in Northern Ireland and wish him every success in his new role.

“I also wish to congratulate Presiding District Judge (MC) Mark McGarrity and Mr Mark Reel who were sworn in as County Court judges in Northern Ireland.”