John Cooke (judge)

John Cooke (1944 – 29 April 2022) was an Irish lawyer and judge who served as a judge of the Court of First Instance between 1996 and 2008 and the High Court between 2008 and 2013. He practised as a barrister before and after serving as a judge.

John Cooke
Judge of the High Court
In office
25 November 2008 – 20 December 2013
Nominated byGovernment of Ireland
Appointed byMary McAleese
Judge of the Court of First Instance
In office
10 January 1996 – 15 September 2008
Personal details
Born
John D. Cooke

1944 (1944)
Died(2022-04-29)29 April 2022 (aged 78)
Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Alma mater

Early career

Cooke was born in 1944 to Kathleen and Richard Cooke, a barrister who practiced until he died aged 94.[1][2] He obtained BCL and LLB degrees from University College Dublin.[3] He became a barrister in 1966 and a senior counsel in 1980.[4] He was also called to the bars of Northern Ireland, England and Wales, and New South Wales.[1]

His case load was predominantly in commercial litigation and EU law, with expertise in competition law.[4][5] He appeared in cases in the EU courts.[6][7]

Judicial career

Court of First Instance

Cooke became a judge of the Court of First Instance in 1996.[1] He succeeded Donal Barrington as the Irish judge on the court.[8] His term was renewed in 2001 and he concluded his term early in September 2008.[5][9] He was the judge-rapporteur in Microsoft Corp. v. Commission.[5][10]

High Court

He was appointed to the High Court in November 2008.[11] He heard numerous cases involving asylum law while serving on the court.[12][13] He heard cases involving judicial review, competition law, injunctions, and insolvency law.[14][15][16][17] He approved the appointment of two provisional examiners to the QUINN group in March 2010.[18] He presided in hearings related to the bankruptcy of Seán Dunne.[19] His decision in Lofinmakin v. Minister for Justice Equality & Law Reform was upheld by the Supreme Court of Ireland.[20]

Cooke was appointed to chair the Constituency Commission in 2011, which produced reports to the Oireachtas in 2012 and 2013.[21][22][23][24] The 2012 report recommended reducing the number of members of Dáil Éireann by eight.[25]

He retired in December 2013.[26][27]

Later career

Cooke chaired an inquiry from June 2014 into allegations of surveillance of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.[28] His report found no evidence of bugging.[29] He was appointed chair of the Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal in 2015, with his term renewed in 2020.[30][31] He was appointed the sole member of a Commission of Investigation into the sale of loans by the National Asset Management Agency known as Project Eagle.[32] The timeframe to report was extended to June 2022 in March 2022.[33]

He acted for the Irish government in relation to the Ireland v Commission case.[34]

Personal life

He was married to Sally and had two children. He died in April 2022, aged 78.[4][35]

References
  1. "CURIA - General Court - Court of Justice of the European Union". curia.europa.eu. Archived from the original on 10 April 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  2. "Distinguished barrister ended career as Father of Bar". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  3. "John D Cooke (1944-2022)". Facebook. UCD School of Law. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  4. O'Brien, Tim (29 April 2022). "Former High Court judge John Cooke dies in Dublin hospital". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  5. Smyth, Jamie (16 February 2008). "Irish representative on European court resigns". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  6. "Case C-160/94: Commission v. Spain". Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  7. "Case C-84/95: Bosphorus v Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications". Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  8. "Barrington for Supreme Court". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  9. "Curia - CP0136en". curia.europa.eu. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  10. "Microsoft Corp. v. Commission (2007) T-201/04". Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  11. "No. 98 – 1451" (PDF). Iris Oifigiúil. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  12. McEnroe, Juno (20 February 2014). "'Very well-respected judge' with 50 years experience". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  13. "'I'm scared . . . but I can't bear to be parted from Abigail'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  14. Carolan, Mary. "Court rejects challenge to natural gas transmission network charges". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  15. Carolan, Mary. "IMO agrees to withdraw from GP fee cut protest". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  16. "Boxer appeals omission from squad". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  17. Carolan, Mary. "Liquidator appointed to Zoe firms". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  18. "Administrators for Quinn firms". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  19. O'Faolain, Aodhan. "House raid items not owned by Sean Dunne will be returned, court told". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  20. "Lofinmakin (a minor) & ors v Minister for Justice Equality & Law Reform [2013] IESC 49 (20 November 2013)". Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  21. "Commission to review Dáil and European Constituencies Established" (PDF). Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  22. "CONSTITUENCY COMMISSION REPORT 2012" (PDF). Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  23. "REPORT ON EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CONSTITUENCIES 2013" (PDF). Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  24. "Commission Report Team Members". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  25. Collins, Stephen. "Number of TDs to be cut by eight in commission proposal". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  26. Mac Cormaic, Ruadhan. "Courts face 'upheaval' over key judicial vacancies". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  27. "Ten judges to retire before 70pc pension super tax kicks in". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  28. Ó Caollaí, Éanna; McGee, Harry. "Retired High Court judge appointed to GSOC inquiry". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  29. "Cooke report finds no evidence of bugging of GSOC". Irish Examiner. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  30. "IFSAT Annual Report 2015" (PDF). Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  31. "IFSAT Annual Report 2020" (PDF). Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  32. McConnell, Daniel (25 March 2021). "Costs for State inquiry into Nama's Project Eagle sale top €3.1m". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  33. "NAMA Commission of Investigation - publication of Thirteenth Interim Report and statement". www.gov.ie. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  34. Foxe, Ken. "Apple tax case: Four individual lawyers paid over €500,000 each". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  35. Carolan, Mary (3 May 2022). "Judge John Cooke an 'exceptional man' who never lost sense of fairness, funeral told". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 May 2022. Judge Cooke (78) who had cancer, died at St Vincent's Private Hospital in Dublin on Friday. His sister Eleanor predeceased him last October.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.