Judge Maureen Harding Clark is a judge of the War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague, to which she was elected by the UN three years ago following a nomination by the Government.
She was described in that nomination as "Ireland's leading woman criminal lawyer".
She had spent much of her career at the bar as a prosecuting counsel, prosecuting in many high- profile cases, including the first male rape case, marital rape case and the first money- laundering trial.
She has been described by colleagues as "tough-minded" and "an opponent to be feared".
Some of this toughness was born of her personal circumstances, as a young single parent of two and one of only about 20 women at the bar when she started in 1975.
She became State prosecutor for Tipperary in 1985, a position she held until she became a senior counsel in 1991. After this she mainly prosecuted in the Central Criminal Court.
Until the age of 12, she was brought up in Malaya, where her Scottish Presbyterian father worked as an engineer and where she was educated by French nuns.
Sociable and a good raconteur, she is deeply appreciative of her family and friends, especially those who helped her get through her early days at the bar.