David Keane (judge)

He first qualified as a solicitor in 1992 and then converted to become a barrister in 1998. He became a senior counsel in 2009.^[3] He trained and subsequently practised in the offices of future judge Garrett Sheehan and worked at the Chief State Solicitor's Office from 1997 to 1998.^[1] His practice at the bar focused on criminal law, administrative law and civil litigation.^[3] He was a council member of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties from 1992 to 1994.^[1]

He was involved in the cases Heaney & McGuinness v Ireland in relation to Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Cogley v RTÉ which established rules relating to public interest and defamation in the press.^[1] He represented RTÉ at the Barr Tribunal and the Flood Tribunal.^[4][5] He also appeared at the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.^[1]

In 2008, he was nominated by the Government of Ireland to be one of three candidates to be put forward for election to the European Court of Human Rights.^[6] He came in second place to Ann Power, and therefore, he was not elected.^[7]

He was appointed a Judge of the High Court in July 2013.^[8] Keane was appointed through application to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board.^[9] He has heard cases including those involving matters of family law,^[10] liquidation,^[11] personal injuries,^[12] immigration law,^[13] and medical negligence.^[14]

He heard a constitutional challenge of electoral gender quotas legislation in 2016 from a Fianna Fáil candidate who was not selected for election. His decision that the plaintiff did not have locus standi was successfully appealed to Supreme Court of Ireland.^[15] He presided over a case initiated by Seán Gallagher seeking damages from RTÉ for airing a misleading tweet during a televised debate during the 2011 Irish presidential election. The matter was subsequently resolved outside of court.^[16]

In 2018, he accused lawyers of professional misconduct by omitting certain details from their arguments before him in a trial involving the removal order of a Polish citizen from Ireland.^[17] He threatened the lawyers in question with having to pay litigation costs,^[18] however, no further action was taken by him.^[19]

In May 2019, Keane had 22 cases awaiting judgment for at least two months, the highest amount among his High Court colleagues.^[20]