Minister Shatter announces that increases in the monetary jurisdiction of the Circuit Court and District Court will come into force on 3 February

“This marks another milestone” in court reform.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Alan Shatter, T.D., today confirmed that Part 3 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 (No. 32 of 2013), which increases the monetary jurisdiction of the Circuit Court and District Court, will take effect from the 3rd of February 2014. The Act increases the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court to €75,000 and of the District Court to €15,000. In regard to personal injury actions, the revised monetary jurisdiction limit of the Circuit Court will be €60,000. This will result in a substantial amount of court litigation previously dealt with at Circuit Court level initiated on or after the 3 February 2014 being dealt with in the District Court and such litigation which up to now had to come before the High court being dealt with in the Circuit Court.

The Minister has also signed rules of court which are due to come into effect on the 3rd February 2014 to coincide with the increase in jurisdiction of the District Court and Circuit Court which will consolidate the rules affecting the civil procedures of the District Court. This involved an extensive revision of the existing rules of court so that, in regard to civil procedures (apart from family law and licensing), they are as self-contained and as easy to follow as possible. They also introduce some fundamental changes to how civil proceedings in the District Court can be commenced.

In addition, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, the Minister has signed new fees orders in respect of the Supreme Court and High Court, the Circuit Court and the District Court which will also apply from 3rd of February. The increase in fees takes into account CPI indexation and also the new procedural changes in litigation at District Court level such as interim applications to Court for discovery and rulings in personal injury cases in respect of minors or persons with a disability.

Speaking today, Alan Shatter TD., Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence said, “The changes to the jurisdiction limits of the Circuit and District Courts should ultimately lead to reduced legal costs for individuals and companies involved in litigation. It is crucial that parties involved in legal conflict do not incur more legal costs than are necessary in circumstances in which they have to resort to litigation. It is also important that our court jurisdictions keep substantially in line with inflation and that our higher courts are not unnecessarily overburdened with appeals that could and should be properly dealt with at a lower level.

It is over 20 years since the monetary jurisdiction of our courts was changed. These are important and substantial court jurisdictional reforms which are in the public interest. Their commencement on 3 February 2014 marks another milestone in the modernisation of our legal system and structures. I am pleased that the revised jurisdictions will now come into force on 3 February.”