Maureen Harding Clark (born 3 January 1946) is an Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia since June 2019, a Judge of the High Court from 2006 to 2014, a Judge at the International Criminal Court from 2003 to 2006, and a Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia from 2001 to 2003.^[1]

Early life and education

Clark was born to an Irish Catholic mother and a Scottish Presbyterian father in Scotland. When she was two years old, her family moved to Malaysia where she and her sister attended an English school run by French nuns.^[2] At that time, she also learned Malay.^[2] The school they attended in Malaysia was located in Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur.^[3] When she was twelve years old, the family moved to Ireland^[2] where she attended the Muckross Park College in Dublin.^[3] In 1964, Clark began studying at the University of Lyon where she obtained a diploma in French language.^[3]

In 1965, Clark returned to Ireland and studied law at the University College Dublin,^[3] where she met her husband.^[2] Following her graduation with a BCL degree,^[3] she and her husband settled in the United States, where they had two children.^[2] After an amicable separation, she and the children returned to Ireland, where she followed up her studies at Trinity College Dublin.^[3] While at the university, her lecturer was Mary Robinson,^[2][4] who later became President of Ireland. In 1975, she completed her studies and became a Barrister-at-Law at the Honourable Society of King's Inns.^[3]

In 2021, she was made an honorary fellow of Trinity College Dublin.^[5]

Legal career

Following her graduation in 1975^[6] Clark was a barrister in the South Eastern Circuit^[4][7] in a variety of cases.^[7] In 1985, she assumed as the State Prosecutor for Tipperary.^[2] In 1991, she became a Senior Counsel.^[3][2] The same year, she quit her job in Tipperary^[2] and became a prosecutor at the Central Criminal Court in Ireland.^[8] She was described as "tough-minded", and "If she was prosecuting, you knew you were prosecuted".^[2] She led the prosecution in the first money-laundering trial in Europe, as well as the first marital rape and male rape trials in Ireland.^[3] In 2004, she was appointed a member of the Irish Human Rights Commission.^[9]

Judicial career

In June 2001, Clark was elected as one of the 27 so-called ad litem judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) by the General Assembly of the United Nations.^[10] She was assigned to a trial concerning human rights violations.^[11] By March 2003, her chamber had sentenced Mladen Naletilić Tuta to 20 years' and Vinko Martinovic to 18 years' imprisonment.^[12] In 2003, she assumed as a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) where she was tasked with the organization of the trials and the establishment of a judicial infrastructure.^[13] On 10 December 2006, she resigned from her post at the International Criminal Court after being appointed a High Court judge.^[14] In 2019, following her nomination by the UN secretary-general António Guterres, the King of Cambodia Norodom Sihamoni^[6] appointed Clark as a judge of the Supreme Court of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, the court at which the leaders of the Cambodian Khmer Rouge are to be tried.^[15]

In December 2006, Clark became a Judge of the High Court of Ireland,^[16][17] a post she held until 2014.^[18] She was also the judicial visitor for the Trinity College Dublin between 2009 and 2020.^[15]