John Aloysious Edwards (born 3 January 1960) is an Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the Court of Appeal since November 2014. He previously served as a Judge of the High Court from 2007 to 2014.

Edwards attended Castleknock College until 1978.^[1] He attended University College Dublin where he obtained a BCL degree and a Diploma in European Studies. He also attended Trinity College Dublin and received qualifications in arbitration.^[2] He trained to be a barrister at King's Inns. He is undertaking a PhD.^[2]

He was called to the Bar in 1983 and became a Senior Counsel in 1998.^[3] His practice at the bar was centred on criminal law and judicial review.^[4] He frequently appeared for both the Director of Public Prosecutions and defendants in criminal trials, including those involving murder,^[5] arson,^[6] pornography,^[7] fraud,^[8] drugs offences,^[9] assault,^[10] terrorism offences,^[11] and sexual offences.^[12] He was the State Prosecutor for County Kerry for ten years.^[3]

He is an adjunct professor in the School of Law at the University of Limerick and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.^[3]

Edwards was appointed a High Court judge in May 2007.^[4] He was the judge in charge of the Extradition and European Arrest Warrant list from 2011 to 2014.^[3]

He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in December 2014.^[13]

He has held several positions within his role as judge, including membership of the Superior Courts Rules Committee,^[14] the European Association of Judges,^[15] and the Second Study Commission of the International Association of Judges.^[16] He joined the Association of Judges of Ireland at its foundation in 2011 and served a two-year term as president from November 2017.^[17]

He is currently one of three members of the Irish panel of Ad hoc judges at the European Court of Human Rights.^[18]