The Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877 was an Act of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

that brought about a major reorganisation of the superior courts 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 created a Supreme Court of Judicature, comprising the High Court of Justice in Ireland and the Court of Appeal in Ireland. It mirrored in Ireland the changes which the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 had made in the

courts of England and Wales The courts of England and Wales, supported administratively by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales. The United Kingdom does not have ...

Provisions

The Act marked the fusion of the administration of

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

and equity in Ireland, although not a merger of the jurisdictions themselves. Prior to the Act coming into force a litigant had to sue in equity in the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

and at common law in the common law courts of the Common Pleas, the

Exchequer In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's '' current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government rev ...

, and the Queen's Bench. Mirroring earlier legislation applying to England and Wales, the Act merged these four courts to become a single High Court of Justice in Ireland; the old courts continued as divisions of the new court. Amending legislation later abolished all but the King's Bench Division and Chancery Division of the High Court. The Act also created a new Court of Appeal in Ireland.

Partition and subsequent developments

The "Supreme Court of Judicature in Ireland" that was created by the 1877 Act was abolished by the

Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 67) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill ...

, s. 38; in its place were established a separate Supreme Court of Judicature for each of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

and Southern Ireland, together with an overarching "High Court of Appeal for Ireland" with appellate jurisdiction for the whole of Ireland. The two new Supreme Courts of Judicature were constituted on a similar basis to the court they replaced, with both being made up of a High Court of Justice and a Court of Appeal (ss. 39, 40).

Irish Free State and the Republic of Ireland

The

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independ ...

was established on 6 December 1922, comprising the territory which had been designated as Southern Ireland. Article 75 of the

Constitution of the Irish Free State The Constitution of the Irish Free State ( ga, Bunreacht Shaorstát Eireann) was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution,Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act 1922, an act of the United Kingdom Parliament. Subsequently, the

Courts of Justice Act 1924 The Courts of Justice Act 1924 ( ga, Acht Cúirteanna Breithiúnais, 1924) was an Act of the Oireachtas (No. 10 of 1924) that established a new system of courts for the Irish Free State (now Ireland or the Republic of Ireland). Among the new c ...

transferred the jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice to the court of the same name created by that Act, and the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice. Both these jurisdictions have been continued by subsequent legislation. The Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877 has not been repealed in the Republic of Ireland and thus remains part of its law; the Act was expressly preserved by the Statute Law Revision Act 2007.

Northern Ireland

the Act was repealed by the

Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978 The courts of Northern Ireland are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in Northern Ireland: they are constituted and governed by the law of Northern Ireland. Prior to the partition of Ireland, Northern ...

.''Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978''
, sch. 7. However, that Act established a new Supreme Court of Judicature that is of largely the same shape as that established under the 1920 Act, although it also includes a Crown Court in Northern Ireland (which tries indictable offences). Since the establishment of the

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (initialism: UKSC or the acronym: SCOTUK) is the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom for all civil cases, and for criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. As the United ...

, Northern Ireland's Supreme Court has been known as the Court of Judicature in Northern Ireland.

References

Sources

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