Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC is an international human rights lawyer and an expert in accountability for crimes against journalists. She leads the international legal teams for the bereaved family of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia; for Hong Kong publisher and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai; for hundreds of BBC News Persian and Iran International journalists targeted transnationally by Iran; and (jointly with Amal Clooney) for Maria Ressa, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist in the Philippines. Gallagher has given expert evidence to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on gender-based violence and risks to female journalists, as well as to parliamentary inquiries in the UK, Ireland, Canada, and Australia, and to the Council of Europe and UNESCO, on journalists’ safety. 

Gallagher acts in many cases involving arbitrary detention, and has secured the freedom of imprisoned journalists, cartoonists, and human rights defenders in countries worldwide. She is a commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission; Ireland’s special rapporteur on child protection; an adjunct full professor at University College Dublin; and a board member of CPJ. In January 2024 she was awarded the President of Ireland’s Distinguished Service Award.