Brian Kerr, Baron Kerr of Tonaghmore
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary | |
---|---|
In office 1 July – 30 September 2009 | |
Preceded by | The Lord Carswell |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland | |
In office 2004–2009 | |
Nominated by | Tony Blair |
Appointed by | Elizabeth II |
Preceded by | Sir Robert Carswell |
Succeeded by | Sir Declan Morgan |
Personal details | |
Born | Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland | 23 February 1949
Died | 1 December 2020 | (aged 72)
Nationality | British, Irish |
Spouse |
Gillian Widdowson (m. 1970) |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
Brian Francis Kerr, Baron Kerr of Tonaghmore,
Early life
Kerr was born on 22 February 1948 to James William Kerr and Kathleen Rose Kerr (née Murray) of Lurgan in County Armagh.[2]
He was educated at
Judicial career
Northern Ireland
In 1993, Kerr was appointed a Judge of the
Kerr regarded the introduction in 1971 of
As was usual for the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland,
United Kingdom Supreme Court
On 29 June 2009, he was created Baron Kerr of Tonaghmore, of Tonaghmore in the County of
Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore dissented from the controversial judgment of the Supreme Court in R v Gnango, in which the court held that a person could be an accessory to his own murder.[10]
In the 2016 Article 50 "Brexit", and 2019 prorogation of Parliament, cases before the Supreme Court, Lord Kerr was a "close questioner of the government submissions".[11]
Asked to specify which had been his most important case, Kerr opted for the 2018 legal challenge to Northern Ireland abortion law brought by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. The law prohibited abortion, even in cases of rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormality, and four of the seven justices, including Lord Kerr, ruled that this made the law in Northern Ireland incompatible with human rights legislation. "One only has to read the dreadful circumstances of the young women who were courageous enough to give … an account of their experiences in order to be struck how dreadful those experiences were... It was an extremely important case and one which I was very pleased to be part of."[6]
In 2014, Ulster University awarded Lord Kerr an honorary doctorate in law.[12]
In August 2020, it was announced that he would retire on 30 September 2020.[13]
Defence of judicial review
Following his retirement Lord Kerr defended the practice of judicial review and the £56m cost of creating the Supreme Court in Parliament Square. He could understand that ministers might be "irritated by legal challenges which may appear to them to be frivolous or misconceived", but
if we are operating a healthy democracy, what the judiciary provides is a vouching or checking mechanism for the validity [of] laws that parliament has enacted or the appropriate international treaties to which we have subscribed... the last thing we want is for government to have access to unbridled power.[11]
Personal life
Kerr married Gillian Widdowson in 1970, and the couple had two sons. He was a
Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore died in the early hours of 1 December 2020, aged 72.[16][17]
Lady Kerr died in July 2022.[18]
Arms
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See also
- List of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Lords
- List of Northern Ireland members of the Privy Council
- The Public Prosecution Service v William Elliott, Robert McKee
- R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
- R (Miller) v The Prime Minister and Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland
References
- ^ "UK Supreme Court Judgments 26th June 2013 – Part 1". UK Supreme Court YouTube. UK Supreme Court. 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
"The judgment in this case will be given by Lord Kerr", spoken in the presence of Lord Kerr by his colleague Lord Neuberger.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U22949. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b c "Appointment of two Lords of Appeal in Ordinary". 10 Downing Street. 8 April 2009. Archived from the original on 15 April 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ^ Irish Times Trust. 11 January 2004. Archived from the originalon 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ "Privy Council Appointment (Sir Brian Francis Kerr)". 10 Downing Street. 6 February 2004. Archived from the original on 9 September 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- ^ a b Bowcott, Owen (19 October 2020). "Lord Kerr: 'respectable arguments' for both jury and non-jury trials". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ "Sir Brian Kerr Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland". The Times. London, UK. 21 April 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- ^ "Sir Brian is last ever Law Lord". BBC News Online. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- ^ "Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland". 10 Downing Street. 18 June 2009. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- ^ R v Gnango [2011] UKSC 59 (14 December 2011)
- ^ a b Bowcott, Owen (19 October 2020). "UK needs judges to limit government power, says Lord Kerr". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ^ University, Ulster (7 November 2016). "Inspiring Excellence: University of Ulster Honorary Graduates". Archived from the original on 28 September 2015.
- ^ "New appointment to the UK's top appeal court". UK Supreme Court. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- ^ "Catholic appointed new lord chief justice". The Irish News. 12 December 2003. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- Independent News & Media. Archived from the originalon 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ "Former Lord Chief Justice for Northern Ireland Sir Brian Kerr, has died". Armagh I. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ "Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore: Former Supreme Court judge dies at 72". BBC. 1 December 2020.
- ^ "Passing of Lady Gillian Kerr". Law Society of Northern Ireland. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage. 2019. p. 3207.