Richard Brennan

Col. Richard Brennan is a Barrister-at-Law in the Legal Service of the Irish Defence Forces (DF) and former National Legal Advisor to the Defence Forces during United Nations peacekeeping operations as a United Nations Military Observer. He is a legal scholar on international humanitarian law and the legal basis of peacekeeping missions.

Military career Brennan was commissioned as an officer in the Irish Defence Forces in 1991. He first deployed as an infantry officer on two tours in Lebanon with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 1995 and 2000.

Following extensive infantry service, the protection of civilians and victims of armed conflict, and the legal basis of peacekeeping operations and their contemporary challenges. Brennan has also lectured on the protection of civilians during peace operations and the legal nexus in peace operations. He has advocated for continued relevance and importance of international humanitarian law, even with the genesis of new terrorist groups and the ever evolving nature of conflict. He has also raised the question of the interface between human rights law and international humanitarian law, advocating for assurance that there is a clear distinction in the dichotomy between human rights obligations and law of armed conflict (LOAC) obligations. With Ireland’s traditional role in peace support operations and peacekeeping operations, a lack of clarity can prevent appropriate dissemination of the law, which in turn affects the consistency of its operational application on the ground.

Brennan spoke on general data protection regulation (GDPR) and its potential to drive major cultural changes at the Data Protection Conference in Dublin in 2018.

Brennan is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War and represented the Office of the Director of Military Prosecutions, Defense Forces (Ireland) at the International Association of Prosecutors European Regional Conferences at The Hague. He is also a Trustee of the CAFNBO Distress Fund, set up for the purpose of reliving distress among serving NCO’s.

Brennan is currently an appointed prosecutor with the Director of Military Prosecutions and serves as Brigade Legal Advisor at two Brigade Headquarters. He studied at the King's Inns in Dublin and was called to the Irish Bar in 2004 as a Barrister-at-Law. Brennan completed a Master's Degree (MA) in Leadership, Management and Defence Studies (LMDS) at NUI Maynooth in 2007. His dissertation for the 63rd Command and Staff Course on "Targeting in the modern Battle-Space" was awarded the "Gradam Taighde Na bhForsai Cosanta," The Defence Forces Award for Excellence for thesis research for best thesis. He completed the Advanced Laws of War course at the University of Liverpool under Dominic McGoldrick.

Brennan has instructed as class leader at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law and at the NATO/PfP School in Ankara, Turkey.