Adrian Hardiman

One commentator wrote that "Hardiman’s greatest contribution ...was the steadfast defence of civil liberties and individual rights" and that "He was a champion of defendants’ rights and a bulwark against any attempt by An Garda Síochána to abuse its powers".

One commentator wrote that "Hardiman’s greatest contribution ...was the steadfast defence of civil liberties and individual rights" and that "He was a champion of defendants’ rights and a bulwark against any attempt by an Garda Síochána to abuse its powers". His concern for individual rights was not confined to Ireland: in February 2016, he criticized what he described as the radical undermining of the presumption of innocence, especially in sex cases, by the methods used in the UK's Operation Yewtree inquiry into historical sex allegations against celebrities, and he also criticized "experienced lawyer" and then US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for allegedly declaring in January that "every accuser was to be believed, only to amend her view when asked if it applied to women who had made allegations against her husband", former US President Bill Clinton.

In a tribute following his death in 2016, President Michael D. Higgins said Justice Hardiman "was one of the great legal minds of his generation", who was "always committed to the ideals of public service". He was described as a "colossus of the legal world" by Chief Justice Susan Denham.

Hardiman died on 7 March 2016 at the age of 64. The eulogy at his funeral, which took place in the Church of the Holy Name in Ranelagh, was delivered by Michael McDowell. He said: "The fates have robbed us of someone who simultaneously excelled in his many different personae as husband, father, grandfather, an original thinker, an advocate and, for so many who are here, simply that of a loyal friend."

Hardiman received the rare honour of being appointed directly from the Bar to the Ireland's highest court. Prior to his elevation to the Supreme Court in 2000, he had a successful practice as a barrister, focusing on criminal law and defamation, after being called to the Irish bar in 1974.

Hardiman was married to Judge Yvonne Murphy, from County Donegal, a judge of the Circuit Court between 1998 and 2012, who conducted important inquiries relating to sex abuse including the Murphy Report and the Cloyne Report. She has been chair of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby homes.

He joined Fine Gael while a student in University College Dublin, and stood (unsuccessfully) for the party in the local elections in Dún Laoghaire in 1985. In 1985, he became a founder member of the Progressive Democrats, but left the party when he was appointed to the Supreme Court. He remained very friendly with the former party leader and ex-Tánaiste, Michael McDowell, who was a friend at college and while both were active members of Fine Gael, a fellow founding member of the party, and best man at his wedding.

Politically, Hardiman supported the liberal side in Ireland's debates over abortion, being active in the "anti-amendment" campaign during the 1982 Abortion Referendum and later represented the Well Woman Centre in the early 1990s. After his death, he was described by Joan Burton as a liberal on social issues. But he could be an outspoken opponent of Political Correctness, such as when he rejected the Equality Authority's attempt to force Portmarnock Golf Club to accept women as full members. He also believed that certain decisions, such as those involving public spending, were better left to elected politicians rather than unelected judges, regardless of how unpopular that might sometimes be in the media (which he tended to hold in low esteem) and among what he described as the "chattering classes".

He was educated at Belvedere College, Dublin, and University College Dublin, where he studied history, and the King's Inns. He was president of the Student Representative Council at UCD and Auditor of the Literary and Historical Society (UCD) and won The Irish Times National Debating Championship in 1973.

Adrian Hardiman (21 May 1951 – 7 March 2016) was an Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2000 to 2016.

Adrian Hardiman was born on 21 May 1951, in Coolock, Dublin. His father was a teacher and President of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI).