During his week as the Distinguished International Jurist In Residence, Mr. Justice John Murray (seated), a member of the Irish Supreme Court, enjoyed breakfast with John Marshall students Brittany Anselmo (seated, left) and Sarah Wang (seated, right), and (standing from left) Patrick Collins, Pamela Szelung, Amanda Koehler, Melissa Soso and Shayan Davoudi.
Irish Supreme Court Justice John J. Murray met with students, faculty and guests as the 2013 Distinguished International Jurist-in-Residence the week of Sept. 16, 2013. His visit was hosted by the Center for International Law.
During his visit, Murray delivered a lecture on “Judicial Protection of Human Rights—European Perspectives and Challenges” to students and guests. John Marshall also co-hosted his presentation on “Constitutional Interpretation and Foreign Judgments—Comparative Views” at a luncheon sponsored by the Chicago Bar Association.
“Justice Murray’s years on the Supreme Court of Ireland, as well as on the Court of Justice of the European Union, place him in a unique position to reflect on both constitutional law issues, as well as on aspects of law in the European community,” said Virginia Russell, associate director of the Center.
Murray has been a member of the Supreme Court of Ireland since 1999, and served a term as the court’s chief justice from 2004 through July 2011. He serves as a member of the Council of State. From 1991 until 1999, Murray was a member of the Court of Justice of the European Communities (Luxembourg), and was vice president of the First Commission International Association of Judges. He is deputy chairman of the Advisory Panel of Experts on Candidates for election as judge to the European Court of Human Rights.
He has been a practicing attorney since 1967, and in 1981 he was called to the Inner Bar. He served two terms as the attorney general of Ireland including a five-month term in 1982, and a term from 1987 to 1991. He served as chairman of the Anti-Fraud Committee of the European Central Bank, and chairman of the ad hoc Ethical Committee of the European Commission.
Murray is chancellor of the University of Limerick, and has been a visiting professor of law at Université de Louvain in Brussells, Belgium, and has lectured around the world. He most recently participated at the invitation of the American Inns of Court in Washington as a symposium panel member with United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and Lord Nicholas Phillips, president of the United Kingdom Supreme Court.
