Luke Fox (judge)

Luke Fox (c.1757-1819) was a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland in the early 19th century. In 1805, he was accused of judicial misconduct over his handling of a number of cases. Three petitions were presented to the House of Lords alleging that he had allowed his political preferences to sway his conduct as a judge. He was accused of trying to persuade a grand jury to find a verdict for political reasons, fining a High Sheriff for tardiness without good cause, and insulting a trial jury.

The Prime Minister urged the Lords to abandon the case against Fox; they complied with his request, and he continued to serve for a further eleven years.

Biography

He was born in County Leitrim, the fifth son of Michael Fox of Tully, a small landowner.[1] Luke graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1779 and entered Lincoln's Inn in 1781. He was called to the Irish bar in 1784 and went on the north-western circuit. He was an excellent lawyer, and to further his career he joined the Whig Club and wrote political pamphlets for the Whig Party. In 1790 he made an extremely advantageous marriage to Anne, daughter of Richard Annesley and Mary Tottenham, and niece of Charles Loftus, 1st Marquess of Ely. Through Lord Ely's patronage he entered the Irish House of Commons as member for Fethard, and later sat for Mullingar. His initial attitude to the Act of Union 1800 was ambiguous, but in the last stages of the Bill his services were of such value to the Crown that he was among the first barristers to reach the bench after the Union. He died three years after his retirement, at Harrogate.[2]

Character

Fox was a superb advocate, but notoriously bad tempered, and so untrustworthy that it was said that Fox was the perfect name for him.[3] Daniel O'Connell described him as "morose, sour and impetuous".[4] The strange conduct which led to his abortive impeachment is difficult to explain, even allowing for his hot temper. He was accused of partisan political motives; on the other hand as Ball remarks,[5] the Robert Emmet rising and the murder of the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Arthur Wolfe, 1st Viscount Kilwarden, had left the whole judiciary in an extremely agitated state, and better tempered men then Fox could be excused for behaving strangely.

Fox's eventual acquittal did not redeem his reputation with his colleagues, many of whom thought him unfit for office. It is significant that when in 1803 a series of scurrilous attacks on the Irish Government were published by the radical English journalist William Cobbett by an anonymous writer using the pen-name "Juverna", who from the internal evidence can only have been an Irish judge, Fox was immediately suspected of being the author, despite his vehement denials. In fact, the author was another High Court judge, Robert Johnson, who after a long delay was prosecuted and convicted of seditious libel, and forced to retire under threat of being removed from office.[6]

References
  1. Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926 p.331
  2. Ball The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 p.331
  3. Ball The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 p.236
  4. Geoghegan, Patrick M. King Dan- the rise of Daniel O'Connell 1775-1829< Gill and Macmillan 2010 p.64
  5. The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 p.245
  6. Nash, Michael L. The Removal of Judges Under the Act of Settlement 1701 Glion Institute of Higher Education 2007

Sources
  • Volcansek, Mary L. (1996). Judicial Misconduct: A Cross-National Comparison. Gainesville, Fla.: University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1421-2.
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