Richard Barrett is an Irish barrister and government lawyer, laterally Deputy Director of the Attorney General's Office in Ireland.

From 2000 to 2002 he was the Head of Public Law at the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina advising on the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords.

From 2003 to 2006 he was the Bureau Legal Officer at the Criminal Assets Bureau in Dublin advising on the use of taxation and civil forfeiture powers in relation to the proceeds of crime.

In 2011 and 2012 he was Head of the Legal and Human Rights Office at the EULEX Rule of Law mission in Kosovo. He acted as an election law expert with the European Union on election missions in Sudan, South Sudan, Zambia, Kenya and Afghanistan.

Since 2014 he is the Irish member of the Venice Commission in which role he deals principally with electoral and judicial issues.