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Republic of Ireland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Republic of Ireland Politics, sometimes defined as the art and science of government. ... Image File history File links COA_IRELAND.PNG Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign, independent state. ...

Constitution Referendum

Oireachtas Seanad Éireann Cathaoirleach: Rory Kiely Dáil Éireann Ceann Comhairle: Rory O'Hanlon President: Mary McAleese Council of State Presidential Commission

Government Taoiseach: Bertie Ahern Tánaiste: Mary Harney Departments of State Minister of State Opposition Leader: Enda Kenny Civil Service Local Government

Courts Supreme Court Chief Justice High Court Special Criminal Court

Elections Presidential (2004) European (2004) Legislative (2002) Constituencies By-elections Political Parties Politicians

EU Politics Foreign relations

See also An amendment may be made to any part of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the constitution of the Republic of Ireland, but only by referendum. ... The Oireachtas is the National Parliament of the Republic of Ireland. ... The Seanad Chamber The Seanad meets in the former picture gallery in Leinster House. ... Cathaoirleach (pronounced, ka-here-loch) is the title of the speaker of the sixty-member Irish upper house, Seanad Éireann (pronounced sch-anad air-inn). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Dáil Chamber Dáil Éireann is the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Republic of Ireland. ... The Ceann Comhairle1 is the chairman or speaker of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Republic of Ireland. ... Dr. Rory OHanlon (born 7 February 1934), Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann. ... The President of Ireland (Irish: Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of the Republic of Ireland. ... Mary Patricia McAleese (Irish name Máire Pádraigín Mhic Ghiolla Íosa; born 27 June 1951) is the eighth, and current, President of Ireland. ... The Council of State (Irish: Comhairle Stáit) is an organ established by the Constitution of Ireland to advise the President of Ireland in the exercise of many of her discretionary, reserve powers. ... The Presidential Commission (Irish: Coimisiún Uachtarán) is the collective vice-presidency of the Republic of Ireland. ... The Taoiseach (plural: Taoisigh) or, more formally, An Taoiseach, is the head of government of the Republic of Ireland and the leader of the Irish cabinet. ... Patrick Bartholemew Ahern (Irish name: Pádraig Parthalán Ó hEachthairn) (born 12 September 1951), commonly called Bertie Ahern, is an Irish politician. ... The Tánaiste (plural: Tánaistithe), or more formally An Tánaiste, is the deputy prime minister of the Republic of Ireland1. ... Mary Harney (born 11 March 1953) is an Irish politician who has been the leader of the Progressive Democrats (the fourth largest political party in Ireland) since 1993. ... The Irish Government contains a number of departments or ministries, known in the Republic of Ireland as a Department of State (Roinn Stáit in Irish). ... A Minister of State, in the Republic of Ireland, is a junior minister of non-cabinet rank, attached to one or more Departments of State of the cabinet. ... The Opposition Front Bench in the Republic of Ireland is a group of senior parliamentary opposition Teachtaí Dála who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the governments. ... The Leader of the Opposition (Ir Ceannaire an Fhreasúra) in the Republic of Ireland is the politician who, at least in theory, leads the Parliamentary Opposition bloc in the lower house of the Irish Parliament, Dáil Éireann. ... Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish politician, leader of the Fine Gael party and Leader of the Opposition in Dáil Éireann. ... The civil service (an stát-sheirbhís in Irish) of the Republic of Ireland consists of two broad components, the Civil Service of the Government and the Civil Service of the State. ... Local government in the Republic of Ireland is governed by the Local Government Acts, the most recent of which (Local Government Act 2001) established a two-tier structure of local government. ... The courts system in the Republic of Ireland consists of the Supreme Court, the High Court and a number of lower courts. ... The Supreme Court (Irish: Chúirt Uachtarach) is the highest judicial authority in the Republic of Ireland. ... Chief Justice John L. Murray is the current Chief Justice of Ireland. ... The Special Criminal Court is a juryless criminal court in the Republic of Ireland which tries terrorist and organized crime cases. ... The Republic of Ireland elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. ... The date for Irelands presidential election was set for 22 October 2004. ... The European Parliament Election, 2004 was the Republic of Ireland component of the European Parliament Election, 2004. ... The Irish general election of 2002 was held on Friday 17 May 2002, just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. ... The lower house of the Irish parliament, Dáil Éireann, currently contains 166 Teachtaí Dála (TDs), representing 42 parliamentary constituencies throughout the Republic of Ireland. ... This is a list of Irish by-elections, with the names of the incumbent and victor and their respective parties. ... There are a number of political parties in the Republic of Ireland, and coalition governments are common. ... This is an incomplete list of public-representative office-holders, elected and appointed, past and present, in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. ... The European Union or EU is a supranational and intergovernmental union of 25 European states. ... The Republic of Ireland is involved in a number of outstanding international disputes. ... Politics of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is an administrative region and one of four parts of the United Kingdom. ...

The High Court (Irish: An Ard-Chúirt) of the Republic of Ireland is a court which deals at first instance with the most serious and important civil and criminal cases, and also acts as a court of appeal for civil cases in the Circuit Court. It also has the power to determine whether a law is constitutional or not, and of judicial review over acts of the government. A court is an official, public forum which a sovereign establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ... The Court of First Instance, created in 1989, is a court of the European Union. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Appeal. ... The courts system in the Republic of Ireland consists of the Supreme Court, the High Court and a number of lower courts. ... Judicial review is the power of a court to review a law or an official act of a government employee or agent for constitutionality or for the violation of basic principles of justice. ...

Structure

The High Court is established by Article 34 of the Constitution of Ireland, which grants it "full original jurisdiction in and power to determine all matters and questions whether of law or fact, civil or criminal", as well as the ability to determine "the validity of any law having regard to the provisions of this Constitution". Judges are appointed by the President. However, as with almost all the President's constitutional powers, these appointments are made under "the advice of the Government". In practice, this means that the judges are nominated by the government and automatically approved by the President. The Constitution of Ireland is the founding legal document of the state known today as the Republic of Ireland. ... A judge or justice is an official who presides over a court. ... The President of Ireland (Irish: Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of the Republic of Ireland. ... In constitutional law, Advice is formal, usually binding instruction given by a constitutional officer of state to another. ...

There can be at most 32 ordinary High Court judges, however the president of the Circuit Court and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are ex officio judges of the High Court. Cases are normally heard by one judge, but the President of the High Court may order that a particular case be heard by three judges sitting together — a so-called divisional court. The Supreme Court (Irish: Chúirt Uachtarach) is the highest judicial authority in the Republic of Ireland. ... This page includes English translations of several Latin phrases and abbreviations such as . ...

The court normally hears cases in the Four Courts building in Dublin, although it also has regular sittings outside the capital. The Four Courts in Dublin is the Republic of Irelands main courts building. ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland (and the island of Ireland), located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. ...

As of 2005, Justice Joseph Finnegan was President of the High Court. Mella Carroll was the first woman to serve on the court and did so between 1980 and 2005. 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mella Elizabeth Laurie Carroll (March 6, 1934 - January 16, 2006) a former judge of the High Court in the Republic of Ireland. ...

Criminal cases

The High Court is known as the Central Criminal Court (Irish: An Phríomh-Chúirt Choiriúil) when it is hearing a criminal case. The Central Criminal Court has original jurisdiction for the following criminal offences:

• treason (as well as aiding or concealing treason)
• murder (as well as attempted murder and conspiracy to murder)
• piracy
• genocide (illegal in Ireland under the Genocide Act 1973)
• rape and other serious sexual offences

All Central Criminal Court cases are heard in front of a jury of twelve. The defendant can be convicted on a majority verdict of ten jurors. Appeals from the Central Criminal Court can be made to the Court of Criminal Appeal, and the sentence can be appealed as well as the verdict. In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to ones nation or state. ... Murder is both a legal and a moral term, that are not always coincident. ... In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more natural persons to break the law at some time in the future, so a natural person identified with the mind of a legal entity cannot conspire with the company alone. ... The Flag of 18th Century pirate Calico Jack This article is about sea piracy; for other uses of Piracy or Pirate, see Pirate (disambiguation). ... Genocide is defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) article 2 as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing... A jury is a sworn body of persons convened to render a rational, impartial verdict and a finding of fact on a legal question officially submitted to them, or to set a penalty or judgment in a jury trial of a court of law. ...

Civil cases

The High Court is the court of first instance for all civil cases where more than €38,092.14 is involved. It also has power of judicial review over the acts of the government, including the decisions of all inferior courts, and decisions made by tribunals of inquiry. The euro (plural euro, symbol: €; banking code: EUR) is the official currency of the European Union and single currency for over 300 million Europeans in the following twelve European Union member states: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain; collectively also known as... Judicial review is the power of a court to review a law or an official act of a government employee or agent for constitutionality or for the violation of basic principles of justice. ...

Non-criminal judgements of the High Court may be appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court (Irish: Chúirt Uachtarach) is the highest judicial authority in the Republic of Ireland. ...

See also

• Courts of the Republic of Ireland

The courts system in the Republic of Ireland consists of the Supreme Court, the High Court and a number of lower courts. ...

External links

• High Court — from the Irish government information website
• High Court — from the Courts Service website