Where every figure comes from

Checked 15 Oct 2026rules version 2026-10.

Nothing on this site is hard-coded in a page. Every tool and guide reads a versioned rules file in which each block names its Act, its sources and the date it was checked. This page is that file, in words, with the venue file beside it.

How the reading is done

  • The Courts Service, the Garda, the Legal Aid Board, the Departments and the Irish Statute Book allow crawlers and are read with an honest user agent, never a headless browser or proxy. The Courts Service asks for a ten-second delay and blocks its document store, so its Annual Report is downloaded once by hand.
  • Citizens Information and the RSA block automated reads and are read by hand; nothing is scraped from either.
  • The site never reads a court list, a court report or a judgment about a named person; the Courts Service’s per-venue notices are mirrored as headline, date and link only.
  • The rules file is re-read against the Acts each quarter, on every fees order and penalty-point order, and every 1 January. A weekly check flags anything not verified in 90 days.
  • Some blocks below are marked as awaiting a hand check against the Act: their wording came from the Courts Service's pages, Citizens Information, the RSA, the Garda or law-firm commentary because the Statute Book refused automated reads during research.

The District Court

To be checked against the Act

Courts of Justice Act 1924 and Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961

Summons, charge sheet, bail and the first appearance

To be checked against the Act

Criminal Justice Act 1984, Bail Act 1997, Courts (No. 3) Act 1986 and the District Court Rules

Legal aid

To be checked against the Act

Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962

Fixed charge notices

To be checked against the Act

Road Traffic Act 2010, Part 3

Penalty points

To be checked against the Act

Road Traffic Act 2002 (as amended)

Drink and drug driving

To be checked against the Act

Road Traffic Act 2010, sections 4 and 5, as amended in 2016 and 2018

Other road traffic offences

To be checked against the Act

Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2024

Drugs, public order, assault, theft and damage

To be checked against the Act

Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001, Criminal Damage Act 1991, Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977 to 2016

What the court can do

To be checked against the Act

Probation of Offenders Act 1907, Criminal Justice Act 2006, Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act 1983

Fines and the poor box

To be checked against the Act

Fines Act 2010

Appeals

To be checked against the Act

District Court Rules, Order 101

Criminal records and spent convictions

To be checked against the Act

Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016

Civil and small claims

To be checked against the Act

District Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2014 and the District Court (Digital) Rules 2025

Family law in the District Court

To be checked against the Act

Domestic Violence Act 2018, Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act 1976, Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, Children and Family Relationships Act 2015

Licensing

To be checked against the Act

Licensing Acts 1833 to 2018 and the Intoxicating Liquor Acts

Children

To be checked against the Act

Children Act 2001

Courts Service statistics

To be checked against the Act

Courts Service Annual Report

Key dates

The court venues

Details to be confirmed with each office

98 venues in 24 districts, version 2026.10, checked 2026-10-15; re-read each court term.

The tracker and the updates log

The rule-change tracker and the updates log (checked 2026-10-15) may cite only these hosts; the tests fail on any other:

Official record
irishstatutebook.ie, oireachtas.ie, api.oireachtas.ie, gov.ie, justice.ie, transport.gov.ie, courts.ie, legaldiary.courts.ie, data.courts.ie, csol.ie, garda.ie, vetting.garda.ie, rsa.ie, ndls.ie, legalaidboard.ie, judicialcouncil.ie, dppireland.ie, probation.ie, cso.ie, revenue.ie, citizensinformation.ie, hse.ie, lawreform.ie, revisedacts.lawreform.ie, eur-lex.europa.eu
Press report
rte.ie, irishtimes.com, irishexaminer.com, thejournal.ie, irishlegal.com, breakingnews.ie, independent.ie, businesspost.ie, con-telegraph.ie, westernpeople.ie, ireland-live.ie, limerickleader.ie, fleet.ie, anglocelt.ie
Organisation
lawsociety.ie, lawlibrary.ie, aji.ie, flac.ie, safeireland.ie, womensaid.ie, mensaid.ie, samaritans.org, pieta.ie, drugs.ie, mqi.ie, iprt.ie, icclr.ie, citizensinformationboard.ie, drugsandalcohol.ie, legal-island.com, insuranceireland.eu, odo.ie
Law-firm commentary
kodlyons.ie, harringtons.ie, businessandlegal.ie, mhc.ie, mccannfitzgerald.com, arthurcox.com, williamfry.com, algoodbody.com, lavellepartners.ie, rdj.ie, maples.com, mcinerneysolicitors.com, legalblog.ie

Helplines and official routes

  • Support lines (Samaritans, Pieta, HSE: Your Mental Health, Women's Aid, Men's Aid, Safe Ireland, HSE Drugs and Alcohol Helpline, Merchants Quay Ireland), checked 2026-10-15.
  • The Courts Service’s offices index, boundaries map, Legal Diary, news page and CSOL, checked 2026-10-15.

Information, not legal advice. Where a page and the Act differ, the Act is right. Corrections to hello@courtswise.ie with the page and the source. Last verified 2026-10-15. CourtsWise is an independent site, 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. It covers the District Court of the Republic of Ireland only. For decisions about your own case, ask the judge for legal aid or speak to a solicitor regulated by the Law Society of Ireland.