17 February 2017
Appointments to the Court of Appeal
Her Majesty The Queen has approved the appointment of The Honourable Mr Justice Stephens, The Honourable Mr Justice Deeny and The Honourable Mr Justice Treacy as Lord Justices of Appeal in Northern Ireland. They will be sworn into office later this year at the Royal Courts of Justice.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Sir Ben Stephens was educated at Manchester University. He was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 1977, to the Bar of England and Wales in July 1978 and to the Bar of Ireland in 1996. He took Silk in 1996. He was a senior member of the Government Civil Panel of Counsel from 2004 to January 2007. He was appointed as a High Court Judge in 2007. He was nominated as Hague Convention Liaison judge for international cases involving child abduction. He was a Parole Commissioner from 2009 to 2011 and he is Chairman of the Council of Law Reporting for Northern Ireland.
Sir Donnell Deeny was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and Queen’s University, Belfast. He was called to the Bar in 1974 and took Silk in March 1989. He is a former Chairman of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and High Sheriff of Belfast. He is the Chairman of the United Kingdom Spoliation Panel, Pro-Chancellor of the University of Dublin and President of the Irish Legal History Society. He was appointed as a High Court Judge in 2004.
Sir Seamus Treacy was educated at Queen’s University Belfast. He was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 1979 and took silk in 1999. He was called to the Bar of Ireland in September 1990 and to the Inner Bar of Ireland in 2000. He practised as a barrister from 1980, concentrating mainly on human rights, criminal law, judicial review and public inquiries. He was appointed as a High Court Judge in 2007. He is the author of various legal papers and has spoken regularly at conferences on human rights, criminal law and fair employment issues.
ENDS
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