Court organization in Ireland
The judicial system in the Republic of Ireland consists of the Supreme Court , the High Court (supreme civil and criminal courts) and a number of lower courts. The Republic of Ireland has a system of civil law and serious offenses are usually tried by jury. The High Court as well as the Supreme Court have the possibility to examine laws and other state tasks for their constitutionality. Except for special cases, all legal proceedings must be negotiated in public.
Superior courts
The Supreme Court and the High Court were introduced by the Constitution of Ireland . The Supreme Court is the highest instance of Irish jurisdiction, but usually only checks whether all laws have been complied with. The decisions and judgments of the Supreme Court are final. The High Court also has the ability to interpret the constitutional texts. The High Court also hears the most serious criminal and civil cases and serves as the court of appeal for the lower courts.
Lower courts
The Supreme Court and the High Court are the only courts established by the constitution. The other courts were introduced by law. Below these two courts are the Circuit Court and the District Court . The Circuit Court deals with offenses that must be heard by a jury and that are below the requirements (e.g. amount of damage) of the High Court. The District Court deals with all other cases.
The constitution only names two cases in which serious crimes can be tried without a jury: proceedings before a military court and special courts that can be set up by parliament ( Oireachtas ) if it deems it necessary in the interests of public order. One such court is the Special Criminal Court , which hears cases relating to organized crime or terrorist groups.
Appointment and dismissal of judges
Judges are appointed by the Irish President on the basis of the Cabinet's proposals (which are, however, binding). The procedure for dismissing a judge from one of the two upper courts is laid down in the Constitution, but the law has extended this procedure to the lower courts. A judge can therefore only be dismissed from his office in cases of abuse of office or incapacity and if this has been decided jointly by both Houses of Parliament in a resolution. With such a resolution, the judge is then dismissed by the president. A judge's salary cannot be reduced while he is in office.
2013 referendum
In July 2013, a government bill passed both houses of the Irish Parliament to create an additional court of appeal . This Court of Appeal is to be located between the High Court and the Supreme Court. The new Court of Justice will mainly take on tasks for which the Supreme Court was previously responsible, and the increase in which in recent years has led to a severe overload with a correspondingly long duration of proceedings. As this is an amendment to the Irish Constitution, the bill will be put to the vote by the Irish people. October 4, 2013 was set as the date for this referendum .
The Court of Appeal is now working. The first published judgment is from November 9, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Official website of the referendum commission ( memento of the original from September 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on September 21, 2013
- ↑ Referendum on Abolition of Seanad and Court of Appeal to be held on Friday 4th October Press release on the Irish Government News Service website of July 24, 2013, accessed on September 21, 2013
- ^ Courts Service of Ireland: Rayan Restaurant Ltd -v- Kean & Ors: Judgments & Determinations: Courts Service of Ireland. Retrieved September 6, 2019 .
