Kevin Dixon (attorney general)

Kevin Dixon (22 October 1902 – 7 June 1959) was an Irish barrister and judge who served as a Judge of the High Court from 1946 to 1959 and Attorney General of Ireland from 1942 to 1946.

Kevin Dixon
Judge of the High Court
In office
1 May 1946 – 7 June 1959
Nominated byGovernment of Ireland
Appointed bySeán T. O'Kelly
8th Attorney General of Ireland
In office
10 October 1942 – 30 April 1946
TaoiseachÉamon de Valera
Preceded byKevin Haugh
Succeeded byCearbhall Ó Dálaigh
Personal details
Born(1902-10-22)22 October 1902
Dublin, Ireland
Died7 June 1959(1959-06-07) (aged 56)
Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partyFianna Fáil
Spouse(s)Mary McEoin (m. 1934; d. 1959)
Children3
EducationBelvedere College
Alma materUniversity College Dublin

He was born in Dublin and educated at Belvedere College and University College Dublin. He was called to the bar in 1926 and became a Senior Counsel in 1940. He served as Attorney General of Ireland from 1942 to 1946[1] when he was appointed a judge of the High Court where he served until his death in 1959.

He was generally considered the best Irish Chancery judge of his time with a particular knowledge of trade union law and the law of charities. Despite the inevitably dry subject matter of many of his judgements, some of them display a considerable sense of humour.[2] He was the High Court judge in the celebrated Constitutional test case O'Byrne v Minister for Finance[3] on the interpretation of the guarantee that a judge's salary shall not be reduced, a subject which remains controversial today. Dixon's ruling that notwithstanding the guarantee judges are liable to pay income tax was upheld by a majority of the Supreme Court. It was generally agreed that only his premature death prevented his promotion to the Supreme Court of Ireland.

References
  1. "Gallery of previous Attorneys General - 1940 to 1954". Office of the Attorney General. 2010. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  2. For example his view in Roundabout Ltd. v Beirne [1959]I.R.435 that the Courts do not object to legal subterfuges as long as they are successful.
  3. [1959]I.R. 435
Legal offices
Preceded by
Kevin Haugh		 Attorney General of Ireland
1942–1946		 Succeeded by
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
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