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Tony Hunt (judge)
Irish barrister, High Court judge since 2014 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Tony Hunt is an Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the High Court since October 2014, and is the senior presiding judge of the Special Criminal Court. He previously served as a Judge of the Circuit Court from 2007 and 2014.
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Education
Hunt attended University College Dublin from where he obtained a BCL degree in 1984.[1] He subsequently attended the King's Inns to study to become a barrister.[2]
Legal career
Hunt was called to the Bar in 1986.[2] He was an appointee of the Bar Council to the Superior Court Rules Committee.[3]
Much of his practice was spent appearing in criminal trials as prosecuting counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions. He acted in trials involving assault,[4] sexual assault,[5] manslaughter,[6] drugs offences,[7] and tax offences.[8] He acted for defendants in traffic offences,[9] and sexual assault cases.[10]
Hunt also represented clients in cases involving injunctions,[11] contracts,[12] and personal injuries.[13]
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Judicial career
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Circuit Court
His career on the bench began in May 2007 when he was appointed a judge of the Circuit Court.[14] From March 2012, he was assigned to the Midland Circuit.[2]
He was a member of the Circuit Court Rules Committee.[15] He replaced Yvonne Murphy as a member of the Working Group on Efficiency Measures in the Criminal Justice System for the Circuit and District Courts in February 2012.[16]
High Court
Hunt was elevated to the High Court in October 2014, coinciding with multiple vacancies created on the court following the creation by the Court of Appeal.[17]
Hunt frequently hears cases from the Central Criminal Court, including those involving murder,[18] manslaughter,[19] and rape.[20] In 2015, he was the judge in the trial of Graham Dwyer arising out of the murder of Elaine O'Hara. The trial lasted 46 days and attracted much media and public attention.[21] In 2023, he was the judge in the trial of Jozef Puška, arising out of the high-profile murder of Ashling Murphy.[22] Hunt has also heard extradition applications.[23]
He is the senior presiding judge of the Special Criminal Court.[24] He has heard cases concerning dissident republicanism and the Hutch–Kinahan feud, including the shooting of Gareth Hutch,[25] Dessie O'Hare,[26] and the kidnapping of Kevin Lunney.[27][28] In May 2020, he described the Kinahan organisation as having a "hierarchical structure" containing "cells and sub-cells" to engage in "execution-type murders" related to international "organised drugs and firearm trafficking".[29][30] This was the first time a judge had outlined the organisation in such a way in court.[31]
References
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