Honorific-Prefix: | The Hon. Mr. Justice |
Conor Dignam | |
Office: | Judge of the High Court |
Term Start: | 6 December 2021 |
Nominator: | Government of Ireland |
Appointer: | Michael D. Higgins |
Nationality: | Irish |
Conor Dignam is an Irish judge and lawyer who has served as a Judge of the High Court since December 2021. He was formerly a barrister.
Dignam studied political science at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 1992. He subsequently obtained a diploma in legal studies and trained to be a barrister at the King's Inns.[1]
He was called to the Bar in 1996 and became a senior counsel in 2011. He practiced in the area of public law, with specialisations in child and health law.[2]
The Health Service Executive appointed Dignam and Siobhán Phelan to represent interests of an unborn child in PP v. HSE in 2014.[3] He acted for the Garda Síochána, Nóirín O'Sullivan and Martin Callinan at the Disclosures Tribunal.[4]
He chaired an inquiry into the Leas Cross scandal in 2010 and was commissioned to write an investigative report arising out of the 'Grace' case.[5] [6]
Outside of practice, he was appointed a board member of Community Law & Mediation in 2020 and was the vice chair of the Bar Council of Ireland. He served as chair of the Bar Council's human rights committee and was a Bar Council representative on the Superior Courts Rules Committee.[7] [8]
Dignam was one of three people nominated by the government in November 2021 to be appointed judges of the High Court.[9] He was appointed on 6 December 2021.[10]