Richard Johnson (judge), Date of Birth, Place of Birth

Richard Johnson (judge)

Irish judge, born 1937

Date of Birth: 27-Oct-1937

Place of Birth: Blennerville, Munster, Ireland

Profession: judge, lawyer

Nationality: Ireland

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Richard Johnson (27 October 1937 – 4 August 2019) was a former Irish judge, who served as President of the High Court from November 2006 until October 2009.
He was the second most senior Irish judge after the Chief Justice John L.
Murray. He was also under the terms of the Constitution of Ireland by virtue of that office an ex-officio member of the Supreme Court.
In the absence of the Chief Justice, he acted as a member of the Presidential Commission. Johnson was born in Blennerville, County Kerry and studied law at University College Dublin (UCD).
He qualified as a barrister at the King's Inns in 1960.
He practised on the South Western Circuit (Kerry, Limerick and Clare) until he became Senior Counsel in 1977.
As a Senior Counsel he practised on the Munster Circuit and in Dublin until 1987.
He was appointed to the High Court in 1987.
His father was a district court judge for a number of years and his son and daughter are barristers.
The Government nominated Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns on 7 October 2009. After his retirement as President, he gave an interview to the media in which he suggested the legislature should revisit the issue of whether the death penalty should be allowed as punishment for particularly serious crimes, such as murder committed in the course of armed robbery.
Limerick Mayor Kevin Kiely supported the proposal as a response to the continuing increase in murders in Ireland.