(LifeSiteNews) — A pro-abortion judge in Northern Ireland has recused himself from judging a “buffer zone” law case against a Catholic pro-life activist after being accused of “apparent bias.”

County Court Judge Ciaran Moynagh heard the appeal of Claire Brennan, who was charged for peacefully praying in front of an abortion facility in Northern Ireland, on September 2 this year. However, shortly after, it became known that Moynagh had engaged in extensive pro-abortion and pro-LGBT activism in his legal career.

Brennan submitted a complaint to the Lady Chief Justice’s Office, accusing Moynagh of “apparent bias” and demanding that he be removed from judging the case in order to guarantee a fair trial.

On November 11, the judge announced that he would recuse himself. “[Mrs Brennan] is correct that I have carried out litigation on the issues of abortion,” he acknowledged.

He argued that he did not believe he had any actual bias; however, he still decided to step down from the case.

“However, in recognition of the importance of maintaining public confidence in the impartial administration of justice and to ensure that justice is not only done but seen to be done, I have decided out of an abundance of caution to recuse myself from further involvement in this matter … the matter will now be re-listed again for the 27 November,” he said.

According to Christian Concern, Moynagh’s pro-abortion and pro-LGBT activism included:

• Receiving the Humanist of the Year award in 2018 for campaigning on abortion and humanist marriage rights.
• Representing a mother denied an abortion in Northern Ireland, supported by Amnesty International.
• Publicly criticizing the criminalization of abortion pills.
• Representing a same-sex couple in the Ashers Bakery case, who sued a Christian couple for declining to bake a cake with a pro-gay “marriage” slogan.
• Judge Moynagh has described his legal work as “challenging the status quo” on abortion, same-sex “marriage,” and trans rights.

Brennan is a Catholic mother of four. As LifeSiteNews reported previously, she was arrested for praying and holding a pro-life sign inside a so-called “buffer zone” outside Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, Co. Derry, on October 3, 2023. She was sentenced to a fine of £750 ($953) on December 2, 2024, by the Coleraine Magistrates’ Court.

READ: Catholic woman from Northern Ireland convicted for praying in front of abortion facility

Moynagh had previously been a partner at Phoenix Law and was only recently appointed as a judge. Brennan’s case was his first in the new position.

“All I wanted was a fair trial,” Brennan said. “As soon as I discovered his past activism on abortion, I knew that this had to be exposed and that it was simply not right that he should be presiding over my case.” “Every person deserves a fair trial, especially in a case as sensitive and significant as this. The public must have confidence that justice is being administered impartially, not influenced by extreme ideological views.”

“I took a peaceful stand outside Causeway Hospital to pray for the unborn and to defend the freedom of Christians to express their faith in public,” she continued. “These censorship zones are a dangerous overreach that criminalise compassion and silence prayer. I am challenging this law not just for myself, but for the protection of the unborn and for the future of religious freedom in Northern Ireland.”

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which supports Brennan in her case, said, “Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done. Judicial impartiality is the bedrock of a fair society, and it is right that Judge Moynagh has now recused himself.”

“However, it is extraordinary and unprecedented for a judge to be recused in such circumstances,” Williams continued. “There must now be serious scrutiny of how this situation was allowed to arise. Given Judge Moynagh’s history of activism on abortion and LGBTQI issues, his fitness to serve when adjudicating on cases involving these issues must be urgently reviewed at the highest levels. He should never again preside over a case relating to abortion in Northern Ireland.”

She said that the “censorship zones” around abortion facilities are a “chilling attack on freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to peaceful protest.”

“The unborn are members of the human family, the most vulnerable among us, and good law must protect them,” Williams stressed.

“Since abortion laws changed in Northern Ireland, the number of unborn lives lost has surged,” she added.

“We stand with Claire as she seeks justice, not only for herself, but for the unborn and for the fundamental freedoms of every citizen in the United Kingdom.”