The District Court ( ga, An Chúirt Dúiche) is the main court of
summary jurisdiction Summary jurisdiction, in the widest sense of the phrase, in English law includes the power asserted by courts of record to deal ''brevi manu'' with contempts of court without the intervention of a jury. Probably the power was originally exercisable ...
in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. It has responsibility for hearing minor criminal matters, small civil claims, liquor licensing, and certain
family law
Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations.
Overview
Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include:
* Marri ...
applications. It is also responsible for indicting the accused and sending them forward for trial at the
Circuit Court and
Central Criminal Court A Central Criminal Court refers to major legal court responsible for trying crimes within a given jurisdiction. Such courts include:
*The name by which the Crown Court is known when it sits in the City of London
*Central Criminal Court of England ...
.
Jurisdiction
The civil jurisdiction is limited to damages not exceeding €15,000; the court has no
equitable jurisdiction.
The court has the power to renew licences for the sale of intoxicating liquor and grant licences for lotteries.
The family jurisdiction of the court includes the power to award guardianship, grant protection or barring orders, and award maintenance of up to €150 a week per child or €500 per week for a spouse.
The criminal jurisdiction is limited to
summary offences – i.e. offences heard without a jury where the maximum punishment is 12 months imprisonment.
Indictable offences may also be tried by the court provided the accused, the judge and the
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members of ...
agree. In such a case the maximum penalty imposed by the judge for the indictable offence can not exceed 12 months imprisonment. Murder, treason, rape and aggravated sexual assault are crimes that can not be disposed of summarily in such a manner.
Bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countrie ...
hearings for offences triable by both the District Court itself and the
Circuit Court are heard here also with a right to appeal to the
High Court for a refusal to grant bail. Most of the offences are usually minor as the more serious cases are sent to the Circuit Court and Central Criminal Court. The District Court continues to hold
indictment
An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...
hearings for the more senior criminal court, although since 1967, the court no longer has any discretion whether or not to send forward the accused, as long as the DPP serves a book of evidence on the accused.
Appeals
All judgements of the District Court in both civil and criminal trials can be appealed to a
''de novo'' hearing in front of the Circuit Court. The decisions of a District Court judge can also be
judicially reviewed by the High Court.
Organisation
The court consists of a president and sixty-three judges. Although, strictly speaking, there is just one District Court, in reality for the purposes of the administration of justice the country is divided into a Dublin Metropolitan District (covering the same area as the
Garda Síochána's
Dublin Metropolitan Area) and 25 District Court areas. At least one judge is assigned to each District Court area and a significant number of judges are normally assigned to the Dublin Metropolitan District. The District Court sitting in a particular location is normally referred to as (name of town) District Court, e.g. Tullamore District Court.
Judges
Judges of the District Court, other than the President, are styled e.g. Judge John Smith (or sometimes, as District Judge John Smith, or simply Judge Smith) and addressed in court as "judge". This style is relatively recent, prior to the Courts Act 1991, judges of the District Court were known as justices of the District Court or commonly as district justices and styled e.g. District Justice John Smith or Justice Smith (N.B. not ''Mr'' Justice Smith as this was and is the style of a superior court judge).
The President, as an ex-officio judge of the Circuit Court, is entitled to the style of a circuit judge, so is styled e.g. His/Her Honour Judge Smith instead.
President of District Court
The President of the District Court was established under the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961 Part 4.
History
The current District Court was established in 1961. However, the jurisdiction vested in it stems from the earlier courts of
petty sessions. Petty sessions were originally held by
justices of the peace, who were lay people (and in Ireland, typically members of the
Protestant Ascendancy
The ''Protestant Ascendancy'', known simply as the ''Ascendancy'', was the political, economic, and social domination of Ireland between the 17th century and the early 20th century by a minority of landowners, Protestant clergy, and members of th ...
), as preliminary hearings for
quarter sessions and the
assizes). From 1836, the justices acted under the supervision of
resident magistrates. The Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851 regulated petty sessions, organising the country into petty sessions districts and providing for the appointment of clerks of petty sessions. A series of Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Acts, beginning in 1851, vested petty sessions with summary jurisdiction in minor criminal matters. Both these Acts are still on the statute book, though heavily amended. In Dublin, the divisional magistrates exercised similar power to petty sessions under the Dublin Police Acts.
During the
War of Independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which resi ...
, the
Royal Irish Constabulary retreated to barracks, and petty sessions could not be held in most of the country. A system of
Dáil Courts was set up by the
First Dáil
The First Dáil ( ga, An Chéad Dáil) was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919 to 1921. It was the first meeting of the unicameral parliament of the revolutionary Irish Republic. In the December 1918 election to the Parliament of the Un ...
to replace them. A Dáil parish court exercised summary jurisdiction in IRA-controlled areas. After the outbreak of the
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...
, however, the Provisional Government decided to "revert" to the British courts, pending the report of a commission headed by
Lord Glenavy on
what would replace them. It decided, however, immediately to make changes to summary jurisdiction by dismissing all remaining resident magistrates and terminating the commissions of justices of the peace, many of whom had resigned anyway. It then proceeded to appoint 27 new resident magistrates who would sit alone without justices of the peace, giving them the title of district justices. The District Justices (Temporary Provisions) Act 1923 changed the name of petty sessions to district courts and confirmed the appointment of the existing district justices.
The Dáil parish courts were wound-up separately.
The District Court of Justice was formally established in 1924, replacing the renamed district courts and the Dublin Metropolitan Police Court. The Courts Acts of 1961 replaced this court with the current District Court.
See also
*
Children Court
References
External links
District Court - Courts Service of Ireland
{{Judiciary of the Republic of Ireland, state=collapsed
Courts of the Republic of Ireland