Anthony J. Hederman

Anthony James Hederman (11 August 1921 – 10 January 2014) was an Irish judge and barrister who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1981 to 1993 and Attorney General of Ireland from 1977 to 1981.

Anthony J. Hederman
Judge of the Supreme Court
In office 1 July 1981 – 14 January 1993
Nominated by	Government of Ireland
Appointed by	Patrick Hillery
Attorney General of Ireland
In office 6 July 1977 – 29 June 1981
Taoiseach	Jack Lynch Charles Haughey
Preceded by	John M. Kelly
Succeeded by	Peter Sutherland
Personal details
Born	(1921-08-11)11 August 1921 Naas, County Kildare, Ireland
Died	10 January 2014(2014-01-10) (aged 92) Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland
Political party	Fianna Fáil
Education	Castleknock College
Alma mater	University College Dublin King's Inns

Early life

He was born on 11 August 1921 in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland.^[1] He was educated at Castleknock College, a private Roman Catholic boys' school in Dublin where he developed a useful network of contacts.^[2][3] His contemporaries at school included the future Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave.^[3] He went on to obtain an honours degree in legal and political science from University College Dublin. He was a member of Fianna Fáil and for a time in the 1960s was joint Honorary Treasurer of the party (along with Neil Blaney).^{[citation needed]}

Legal career

Hederman was called to the Bar in 1944.^[4] He mainly undertook prosecutions and other State work.^[1] He was Attorney General of Ireland from July 1977 to June 1981.^[5] In 1981, he was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland and served there until 1993. He was the sole dissenter in the X Case judgement. He was later appointed as the president of the Law Reform Commission.^[6] He died in 2014. After his death the UCD Student Legal Service society named its annual moot court competition in honour of the late Mr Justice Hederman.^[7]