Politics

Ms Justice Caroline Costello appointed president of Court of Appeal

Judge succeeds Mr Justice George Birmingham who has retired

Ms Justice Costello is the daughter of the former attorney general and president of the High Court Declan Costello and the granddaughter of former Fine Gael taoiseach John A Costello. Photograph: Alan Betson
Pat Leahy
Tue Sept 10 2024 - 19:36

Ms Justice Caroline Costello has been appointed as the president of the Court of Appeal, the country’s second-highest judicial office.

After a Government decision to nominate her to the position during the summer, Ms Costello was formally appointed by President Michael D Higgins on Tuesday. The post became vacant following the retirement of Mr Justice George Birmingham last month.

Having graduated from University College Dublin in 1982 with a BA in History and Classics, Ms Justice Costello later attended the University of Oxford and the King’s Inns. She is a barrister since 1988 and had a practice largely focused on commercial, banking and insolvency law.

She was appointed a judge of the High Court in 2014 and heard many high-profile cases, including bankruptcy proceedings involving developer Sean Dunne. Ms Justice Costello has been an Appeal Court judge since 2018.

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She presided over the hearing of mammoth litigation against Facebook arising from complaints to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner by Austrian lawyer and data privacy activist Max Schrems concerning EU-US data transfers.

She made a reference of key issues in that litigation to the Court of Justice of the EU which resulted in a landmark ruling on privacy rights.

Ms Justice Costello is the daughter of the former attorney general and president of the High Court Declan Costello and the granddaughter of former Fine Gael taoiseach John A Costello.

Pat Leahy

Pat Leahy

Pat Leahy is Political Editor of The Irish Times