Legal career of Mary Robinson

Portrait of Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson in 2014

The legal career of Mary Robinson (Irish: Máire Mhic Róibín;[1] née Bourke), which occurred prior to her becoming President of Ireland in 1990 (and was largely concurrent with her time in Seanad Éireann), lasted over 22 years. Made a barrister in 1967, Robinson specialised in constitutional, criminal, and European community law.

Robinson served as counsel in several landmark cases in Ireland, which established the right of women to sit on juries, that the Irish state had a responsibility to provide legal aid in civil cases, and that the Irish state was in breach of human rights law by criminalising homosexual relations.

  1. ^ "The President Mary Robinson". Office of the President of Ireland. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.