Thomas F. O'Higgins

This article deals with the Irish politician Thomas F. O'Higgins (1916–2003). For the father and politician of the same name, see Thomas F. O'Higgins senior .

Thomas "Tom" Francis O'Higgins, Jnr. ( Irish Tomás Ó hUiginn * 23. July 1916 in Cork , † 23. July 2003 in Dublin ) was an Irish politician of Fine Gael , president of the Supreme Court ( Supreme Court ), and judges at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) .

biography

Tom O'Higgins came from the influential O'Higgins family of politicians. His father, Thomas F. O'Higgins senior, was a long-time MP and temporarily a minister, while his younger brother Michael O'Higgins was also a MP and Senator. He was also the nephew of Kevin O'Higgins .

He himself first studied law and then worked as a lawyer. He began his political career in 1948 when he was first elected to the Dáil Éireann as a candidate for the Fine Gael . There he represented the interests of the constituency of Leix-Offaly until 1969 (from 1961 the constituency was called Laoighis-Offaly ) and finally until 1973 of the constituency of County Dublin-South .

On June 2, 1954, Taoiseach John A. Costello appointed him as Minister of Health in his cabinet. He was a member of this until the end of Costello's tenure on March 20, 1957.

When the party chairman of the Fine Gael, James Dillon , renounced a candidacy against President Éamon de Valera in his favor before the presidential elections in 1966 , there was a small sensation, as O'Higgins lost to the incumbent by only 1 percent difference .

In the 1973 presidential election , O'Higgins ran again as a candidate for the Fine Gael. Since the previous incumbent de Valera was no longer allowed to stand as a candidate, this time he ran against the previous Deputy Prime Minister ( Tánaiste ) and Health Minister Erskine Hamilton Childers as a candidate for Fianna Fáil. This time, however, Tom O'Higgins lost quite a bit with a 4 percent difference and around 48,000 votes less than Childers.

In 1973 he decided not to run for the lower house again. Instead, he was named President (Chief Justice) of the Supreme Court , the highest judicial authority in Ireland, by President Childers in 1974 . He held the post of Chief Justice until 1985. In this capacity he was next to the Chairman of the House of Commons ( Ceann Comhairle ), Seán Treacy , and the President of the Senate ( Cathaoirleach ), James Dooge , twice during his tenure, from November 17 (death of Erskine Hamilton Childers ) to December 19, 1974 as well as from November 22 (resignation of Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh ) to December 3, 1976 member of the so-called Presidential Commission (Coimisiún na hUachtaránachta), which in the event of the early resignation of a president until a new president takes office, the office of the Head of state leads. During his tenure as chief judge, among other things, the judgment of the continuing illegality of homosexuality took place in 1983 , which was later revoked by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) .

Following his work as Chief Justice, O'Higgins was a judge at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) from 1985 to 1991 .

swell

• Irish Ministries
• Short biography on rulers.org
• Entry on the side of the Oireachtas