Disclaimer

CourtsWise gives information, not legal advice. Nothing on this site is advice about your own case, no page or tool predicts what a judge will do, whether legal aid will be granted or how a charge will end, and reading it does not create a solicitor-client relationship with anyone.

What the content is

The guides describe the law and practice of the District Court of the Republic of Ireland as published in the Acts, the statutory instruments, the District Court Rules and the Courts Service’s, the Garda’s and the Legal Aid Board’s official guidance, with the date each page was last checked. The tools apply those published rules to the dates and figures you enter. What a court does in a particular case turns on facts, a plea and a record that only the judge can weigh.

Figures

Fixed charges, points, fine classes, disqualification periods, fees and limits come from the named primary source and carry the date they were checked. Where a figure is marked as awaiting a check against the Act, the sources page says so. The court’s own figure for a fine, a fee or a date is the one that applies, and the court office is the place to confirm a date.

Statutory wording

The Irish Statute Book blocked automated checks when this site was researched, and Citizens Information and the RSA block automated reads, so some wording was taken from those pages by hand and from law-firm commentary and is marked in the site’s configuration, and on the sources page, as awaiting a check against the Act. Where a page and the Act differ, the Act is right.

Changes in the law

Fixed charges, points and fees change by order, and 2026 brought a dispute over legal aid fees that changed what happens in court day to day. The rule-change tracker records what is in force, what is enacted but not commenced and what is only announced, and keeps them apart. A page that was accurate when verified may be overtaken; check the date on it.

Your own case

For decisions about your own case, ask the judge for legal aid at your first appearance if you may qualify, or speak to a solicitor regulated by the Law Society of Ireland. If a court date, a charge or what is happening at home is too much, the support page carries the numbers to ring.

Independence

CourtsWise is not affiliated with the Courts Service, An Garda Síochána, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Legal Aid Board, the Road Safety Authority or any Government department, and no State body or regulator has reviewed its content.