The Irish Courts

Civil cases deal with disputes between individuals. Criminal cases involve the prosecution of crimes.
The District Court is the lowest court in the Irish court system. It deals with more minor criminal offences and civil cases involving sums of less than €6,348.69 (£5,000 in old Irish money).
The Circuit Court deals with more serious criminal offences and civil cases involving greater amounts of money.
The High Court deals with the most serious civil and criminal cases. When sitting as a criminal court it is called the Central Criminal Court and there is a jury.
The Special Criminal Court is used to try those accused of being members of paramilitary organisations such as the IRA, or of leading organised crime.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in Ireland. It usually hears appeals about technical points of law.

Resource summary

	Created by Esther Barron almost 10 years ago