Irish Times15 October 2026
Review of Legal Services Regulatory Authority to follow its first decade of operation
Attorney General Rossa Fanning notes ‘limited’ take-up of solicitor-barrister partnerships since 2024 introduction
The District Court, explained, with your dates and figures worked out
What did you get? A notice, a summons, a charge sheet, a court date.
Your points, your payment windows, your band, your court date and your appeal deadline, worked out from the Acts for your own dates. Every figure cites a dated official source. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Entry 1
A fixed charge notice
Pay, nominate, or let it go to court?
The three payment windows as dates, and the points either way.
Entry 2
A summons
What does the envelope mean, and when?
Your court date, your courthouse, and what happens at the first appearance.
Entry 3
A charge sheet and bail
What can the court do, and can I get legal aid?
The band, the minimum the Act fixes, and the legal-aid tests.
Entry 4
A court date already
What do I bring, and what happens after?
- Fine and payment planner
- Spent conviction calculator
- Small claims checker
- Maintenance worksheet
- Court day checklist
The checklist, the fine schedule, the appeal clock, the record.
Which court?
The courthouse named on your paper is the one to attend. Not sure which? The first three characters of an Eircode give the area. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Checked 16 Oct 2026
Law and the courts in the news
Law Society Gazette15 Oct 2026
Airport slots 'not a property right', CJEU rules
The Court of Justice of the EU ruled that the 32 million passenger cap at Dublin Airport can be taken into account when allocating slots to airlines, in a case referred by the High Court in a challenge by the DAA and airlines to the cap.
Law Society Gazette15 Oct 2026
LSRA marks ten years of legal regulation
The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) has marked ten years as Ireland's independent regulator of legal services with an event in Dublin on 14 October. Since 1 October 2016 it has set up the Roll of Practising Barristers and an independent service for complaints about solicitors and barristers.
Irish Examiner15 Oct 2026
EU court backs Dublin Airport's 32 million passenger cap in landmark ruling
The European court's decision sends the dispute back to the High Court as the Government pursues legislation to remove the restriction
Law15 Oct 2026
Tracker started
First check of the Irish Statute Book, the Oireachtas, courts.ie, gov.ie Justice and Transport, garda.ie and the Law Society Gazette. The €520 flat fee in force since 1 July with services withdrawn in most districts; section 4 of the Road Traffic Act 2024 in force since 31 March 2025; the Family Courts Act 2024 not commenced; no sentencing guideline adopted; no Legal Aid, Intoxicating Liquor or spent-convictions Bill published.
The District Court in 2025
342,791 criminal offences, 51% of them road traffic, and 98,617 legal aid certificates
Nine in ten criminal matters in the State are dealt with in the District Court. Most people who get a notice, a summons or a charge sheet have never been near a court, and want their own dates and figures before they ring anyone. The tools give the dates and the figures; the guides say what the court can do, and when legal aid or a solicitor is the next step.
- Step 1What did I get?A fixed charge notice, a summons or a charge sheet: what it is, what the dates are, and what happens if you do nothing.
- Step 2What can the court do?The maximum the Act allows, the minimum it fixes, and the options a judge has, from the Probation Act to a disqualification. Never a prediction.
- Step 3Can I get legal aid?The two tests, the statement of means, and the 2026 dispute explained. Legal aid comes before any solicitor enquiry on this site.
The tools · 12, all free
Your own dates and figures, laid out as a list entry
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to a server, and no tool predicts what a judge will do, whether legal aid will be granted, or how a charge will end: those are decisions a court makes on facts a tool cannot weigh.
Tool 1FreeHow many points, and when do they go?Penalty points calculatorYour running total from the points you have and the offence on the notice, the fixed-charge figure and the court figure side by side, the date each block expires, and whether the 12-point threshold (7 for learners and novices) is crossed.Work out my points →Tool 2FreeWhen do I have to pay by?Fixed charge notice clockThe 28 days at the charge, the further 28 at half as much again, and the third payment option at double before the court date, as dates on a clock bar, with the points difference between paying and being convicted and a calendar reminder.Check my dates →Tool 3FreeFixed penalty, or court?Drink and drug driving checkerFrom your reading and licence type: whether a fixed penalty notice applies or the matter goes to court, the minimum disqualification the Act fixes for that band, the fine and custody the court can impose, and what a conviction means for your record.Check my band →Tool 4FreeHow long have I got?Court date and appeal clockDays to your court date with the courthouse card, the 14-day window to appeal a conviction to the Circuit Court as a date, a warning when a date has passed and a bench warrant may have issued, and a calendar reminder.Check my dates →Tool 5FreeAm I likely to get legal aid?Legal aid checkThe two tests in the 1962 Act, means and gravity, applied to what you enter: likely, at the judge's discretion, or unlikely, with the statement of means to prepare and the civil legal aid route for family matters. The judge decides, not this page.Check my position →Tool 6FreeHow do I pay a fine?Fine and payment plannerThe class your fine falls in, the due date, an instalment schedule over twelve months under the 2014 Act, what happens in default and in what order, and the poor box explained.Plan the payments →Tool 7FreeWhen is my record clear?Spent conviction calculatorThe date a conviction becomes spent under the 2016 Act, or why it cannot be, the one-conviction rule and the motoring and public-order carve-outs, what Garda vetting and a police certificate will show, and the travel questions.Work out the date →Tool 8FreeCan I use the Small Claims procedure?Small claims checkerWhether your claim fits (the €2,000 cap, the excluded categories, the time limit), the €25 fee, the steps from CSOL to the Registrar to the judge, and where to go instead when it does not fit.Check my claim →Tool 9FreeWhat should I bring to a maintenance hearing?Maintenance worksheetBoth parties' net income and outgoings and the children's costs on one sheet, with the District Court's limits of €500 a week for a spouse and €150 a week per child. Irish law has no formula; the judge weighs needs and means.Build my worksheet →Tool 10FreeWhat do I bring, wear and say?Court day checklistA printable checklist for your matter and stage: documents, the summons or charge sheet, the statement of means, references, the bail bond; the courthouse card; what to wear, how to address the judge, where to sit, and a character reference template.Build my checklist →Tool 11FreeWhich court, and where is the office?Court finderA town or an Eircode to your district, the courthouse, the office phone and hours, the sittings, and the Courts Service's own notices for that venue.Find my court →Tool 12FreeWhere do I keep the dates?Case fileA private, dated timeline in your own browser: the paper you received, the dates from the clocks, bail conditions, the fine schedule, the appeal deadline, attached evidence, and what to bring on the day. Export and import as a file; never synced.Open my case file →
The guides · 94 at launch
Thirteen chapters, from the envelope to your own courthouse
Chapter 1
Something arrived
A summons, a charge sheet and bail, a fixed charge notice, the third payment option, a TV licence summons, and the summons that never arrived.
6 guides
Chapter 2
Road traffic
Penalty points, the full list of offences, the 12 and 7 thresholds, speeding, no insurance, no NCT or tax, phones, dangerous and careless driving, learners, and contesting a notice.
12 guides
Chapter 3
Drink and drug driving
The limits, the first offence, the disqualification bands, drug driving, refusing the test, getting your licence back, insurance after a ban, and the record.
8 guides
Chapter 4
Drugs
Section 3 possession, the Adult Caution Scheme, section 15, a first offence, the Drug Treatment Court, and what a conviction means for travel, vetting and work.
6 guides
Chapter 5
Public order, assault, theft and damage
Sections 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9, drunk and disorderly, section 2 and section 3 assault, shoplifting, criminal damage, harassment and stalking, civil restraining orders, knives, and the peace bond.
10 guides
Chapter 6
At court
The first appearance to the hearing, pleas, adjournments, bail, disclosure, legal aid and the 2026 dispute, representing yourself, what to wear, a character reference, interpreters.
11 guides
Chapter 7
Sentences and outcomes
What the court can do, the Probation Act, the poor box, fines and instalments, suspended sentences, community service, disqualification, the record, spent convictions, vetting and travel.
10 guides
Chapter 8
Appeals and warrants
The 14 days to the Circuit Court, staying a disqualification, bench warrants, a missed date, case stated and judicial review.
5 guides
Chapter 9
Family law in the District Court
Safety, protection and barring orders, the hearing, maintenance and its limits, enforcement, guardianship, custody and access, and the Family Courts Act.
8 guides
Chapter 10
Civil and small claims
The Small Claims procedure, a debt claim notice against you, claims up to €15,000, instalment orders, personal injuries, and dog, noise and neighbour applications.
6 guides
Chapter 11
Licensing
The annual licensing court, renewals, special exemption orders, occasional licences, and Garda objections.
4 guides
Chapter 12
Young people
A child charged, the Garda Youth Diversion Programme, the Children Court, rights at the station, and the juvenile liaison officer.
4 guides
Chapter 13
Your court
The busiest venues, hand-written: the Criminal Courts of Justice, Dolphin House, Cork city, and the Dublin suburban courts with Bray.
4 guides
Rules version 2026-10, checked 15 October 2026, the Road Traffic Acts, the Criminal Justice Acts and the District Court Rules as amended. Every rule is traceable to a source: Courts Service: about the District Court · Courts Service: District Court sittings by district · Criminal Justice Act 1984, section 11 (revised, Law Reform Commission) · Courts Service Annual Report 2025 · Citizens Information: bail and surety · Bail Act 1997 (Irish Statute Book) · Courts Service: two seminal District Court cases (podcast, DPP v Doyle) · Citizens Information: criminal legal aid · Legal Aid Board: the Garda Station Legal Advice Revised Scheme · Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962 (Irish Statute Book) · Law Society: criminal legal aid, extracts from Oireachtas debates (2026) · RTÉ: criminal legal aid scheme, solicitors withdraw services (2 July 2026) · The Irish Times: barristers support solicitors as withdrawal continues (5 October 2026) · Citizens Information: penalty points for driving offences · all sources.