Understand Irish Legal Framework

3-02-17

Laura Connolly

Judges have the jurisdiction to adjudicate on civil and criminal cases in Ireland. The differences between these cases are as follows;

Civil Law in Ireland

Civil law is usually dealing with private disputes between one or more people or legal entities and the result is usually a monetary reward. If a person wishes to bring a case against an individual or a corporation because they believe they were wronged they can bring it to the civil courts.

An example of a civil action would be defamation cases or a breach of contract case.

Criminal Law in Ireland

Criminal Law is when an individual has committed a crime harming another person or committed an act that harmed society as a whole. Due to this the state takes action and the case is usually resolved by way of fine or a term of imprisonment. A major difference between civil and criminal cases would be that the prosecutor in a criminal case is not the victim of the crime but in fact the state itself.

At times when a case is of both a civil and criminal nature, then the criminal prosecution is usually completed before the civil case is heard.

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The Criminal Function of The Courts

District Court

The district court is the first court that criminal cases are brought to for preliminary hearings and they will then be sent to a higher court for sentencing.

For a light criminal offense the accused can agree to be tried summarily (without a jury) in the district court.

The Circuit Court

The Circuit Court has the jurisdiction to hear criminal cases apart from cases involving murder, rape, aggravated sexual assault, treason, genocide and piracy.They are tried instead by the Central Criminal Court (a subsection of The High Court).

The Circuit Court also hears appeals from the District Courts.

The High Court, The Central Criminal Court, and The Special Criminal Court

The High Court hears appeals from the Circuit Courts. When dealing with the criminal cases mentioned above the High Court is known as The Central Criminal Court. There is another court called The Special Criminal Court. The cases heard here are without a jury because of the threat of the jury being manipulated or threatened by individuals outside the court with connections to the accused. There is also no media coverage of specific details of the cases.

Appeals from the Central Criminal Court and The Special Criminal Court go to The Court of Criminal Appeal.

The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court hears appeals from the High Court.

The Appellate System

The Appellate System of The Irish Court System is simply how civil and criminal law cases can be appealed to the next higher court if the accused or prosecutor is unhappy with the outcome of the case.

Constraints on Court Reporting

Reporting on criminal/ civil justice for radio, print, tv and online news outlets in Ireland is always in demand in Ireland. As a trainee journalist is is essential that you are aware of the constraints on reporting from the courts to avoid being held in contempt of court.

  • The journalist does not have different rights to an ordinary citizen when attending sittings of the various courts. The courts are open to journalists and also the public. There is a specific area where the public can sit as well as journalists.
  • Some courts frequently hold in-camera sessions. This means in private. When a court session is in-camera the public and the press are not allowed in the court room. Specific details can not be released to the public. You can also not report on the Childrens Court.You cannot report details of the defendants in these cases as under 18s are almost always guaranteed anonymity.
  • Sub-judice means ‘under a judge’. The sub-judice rule is intended to prevent ‘trials by media,’ and to keep them fair. It is put in place to stop reporting that may influence the court or more importantly the jury. Publications should not produce/reproduce evidence which could ‘seriously’ prejudice jurors. Sub-judice comes into effect from the time of charge in court, not arrest.
  • Aswell as having no special rights when attending court sessions, Irish journalists also do not have the right to protect their sources. Enda Kenny has recently spoken out on how he thinks it is important that journalists have that right. If journalists can not guarantee the protection of their sources then they will most likely not get the information in the first place. The source will not give the journalist information if they believe their information will be handed over in court.

Personal Piece Assignment

“It’s like waking up from a dream in which things now make sense.”

I’m sure everyone has at least one time in their life where they experienced a revelation; they received information that changed their view point on a specific topic or on life as a whole. Mine occurred at the age of 14. It was as if up until that age my life was a huge, jumbled up jigsaw puzzle where none of the pieces fit together.

Continue reading “Personal Piece Assignment” →

Interview with Brendan Kelly

INTERVIEW WITH BRENDAN KELLY – Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at University College Dublin and consultant psychiatrist at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital

  1. . Recently I conducted an interview with Brendan Kelly, who is – Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at University College Dublin and consultant psychiatrist at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.
  2. Kelly holds master’s degrees in epidemiology, healthcare management and Buddist Studies. He holds doctorates in medicine, history, governance and law. He is also editor-in-chief of the Irish journal of psychological medicine.
  3. Kelly spoke to me about the mindset of certain individuals who believe that they are real-life vampires and why they may think so. He also tells me about certain cases where these so-called vampires, were noticed by the media and medical facilities.
  4. Some of his achievements include the Royal Irish Academy Writing Award for Schizophrenia: Solving the Puzzle and The Young Investigator Award, International Congress on Schizophrenia, USA.
  5. So I hope you enjoy the listen, it is really interesting to hear that certain things like this even exist in real life!

The Academy Awards 2016

This year was a record year for the Irish at the 2016 Oscars, securing a total of nine nominations.

The Academy Awards this year were a momentous occasion for the Irish film industry. Two Irish films were nominated for Best Picture, Lenny Abrahamson’s Room secured four nominations altogether, while John Crowley’s Brooklyn received three.

Continue reading “The Academy Awards 2016” →

1.3.The Location and Balance of Powers

To begin to assess the location and balance of powers within the map, I’ll start by examining the departments with the largest land mass. The land mass given to each department is based on the money allocated to them as of the 2015 budget.

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Social protection is the largest with 36.4% of the budget spent here. Next is health, where 23.8% is spent from the 2015 budget. Education and Skills has 16.8%. It then goes in order as follows;

Justice(4.3%),Transport(3.0%),Environment, Community & Local Gov.(2.5%),Agriculture, Food & The Marine(2.3%),Children & Youth Affairs(1.9%),Public Expenditure & Reform(1.9%),Defense(1.7%),Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation(1.5%),Foreign Affairs & Trade(1.3%),Finance(0.8%), Communications, Energy & Natural Resources(0.8%),Arts, Heritage & The Gaeltacht(0.5%),The Taoiseach(0.3%)

So, their land mass shows the money spent on each department, however, their importance is shown by their proximity to the department of The Taoiseach. As shown on the map is it seen that in closest proximity there is firstly The Oireachtas. After that, the Department of Justice & Equality. Then Defense, and Finance.

The furthest department from The Taoiseach is Arts, Heritage & The Gaeltacht. Followed by Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation. Then Transport, Tourism & Sport, and The Department of Agriculture, Food and The Marine.