Anthony J. Hederman

He was born on 11 August 1921 in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland.[1] He was educated at Castleknock College, a private Roman Catholic boys' school in Dublin where he developed a useful network of contacts.[2][3] His contemporaries at school included the future Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave.[4] He went on to obtain an honours degree in legal and political science from University College Dublin. He was a member of Fianna Fáil and for a time in the 1960s was joint Honorary Treasurer of the party (along with Neil Blaney)

Hederman was called to the Bar in 1944.[5] He mainly undertook prosecutions and other State work.[1] He was Attorney General of Ireland from July 1977 to June 1981.[6] In 1981, he was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland and served there until 1993. He was the sole dissenter in the X Case judgement. He was later appointed as the president of the Law Reform Commission.[7] He died in 2014. After his death the UCD Student Legal Service society named its annual moot court competition in honour of the late Mr Justice Hederman.[8]