Ireland
Originally compiled by Jill Newell in 1993.Updated by Gerry Power, Access Librarian, Spring 2004.
Updated by Hester Swift, Foreign and International Law Librarian, Summer 2007.
Introduction
Ireland is a unitary state covering twenty-six of the thirty-two counties that make up the island of Ireland; it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1922. (The remaining six counties form Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.) At independence, existing UK law was brought into Irish law. The constitutional name of the state from 1922 to 1937 was the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann). In 1937 the Irish Free State was abolished and the present Constitution came into effect: since then the name of the state has been Eire, or in the English language, Ireland.
Under the Constitution, the national parliament is called the Oireachtas (Assembly). It comprises the President and two Houses: a House of Representatives (Dáil Eireann) and a Senate (Seanad Eireann).
From 1922 to 1937 Irish (Gaelic) and English had equal status as official languages, but since 1937 Irish has been the first official language and English the second. In practice most official publications are in English or bilingual.
Ireland joined the European Union in 1973 and adopted the Euro in 2002.
Primary sources: constitution and legislation
The Constitution
Ireland has a written constitution (Bunreacht na hEireann) dating from 1937. Amendments are made by bills passed by the Oireachtas, which become Acts only if confirmed by referendum. The result of the referendum is published in the Iris Oifigiúil (Official Gazette), and the text of the Act appears at the beginning of the appropriate annual volume of the Acts of the Oireachtas.
Consolidated amended editions of the Constitution are published periodically by the Stationery Office, Dublin, under the title Constitution of Ireland; IALS has the 2003 and 1951 editions. The Constitution is also reproduced in Kelly, The Irish Constitution (various editions held at IALS).
The Constitution is available in English and Irish on the website of the Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister).
Legislation: primary
Individual acts and annual bound volumes of acts are published by the Stationery Office Dublin in two editions: Irish and English, or English only. The bilingual edition is published several years in arrears, but publication of the English edition is more timely. The Institute's Library is fortunate to have complete and up-to-date coverage of Irish primary legislation as follows:-
Acts of the Oireachtas (Irish & English edition) 1922-
Acts of the Oireachtas (English edition) 1982, 1986-
The Acts of the Oireachtas series includes Chronological Tables of the Statutes, 1922-1995 (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996) and Index to the Statutes, 1922 to 1982, with table and supplement for 1983 to 1985 (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1992).
Irish Current Law Statutes Annotated contains Irish statutes as enacted, along with commentary and legislative history, a citator list amendments and regularly updated lists of statutes. The Library has it from 1984, when it was launched, to 1997, then from 2005 onwards. It is published by Round Hall Press in Dublin.
Electronic sources
The website of the Office of the Attorney General, Ireland offers the Irish Statute Book, which contains three databases:
Acts of the Oireachtas, 1922-2005, arranged by year, and as published by the Stationery Office
Statutory Instruments 1948-2005, and Statutory Rules, Orders and Regulations, 1922-1947
Chronological Table of the Statutes of Ireland 1922-2004 (lists amendments to statutes)
Another source of full text legislation for the Irish Republic is BAILII, the British and Irish Legal Information Institute. BAILII provides full text of Irish statutes from 1922 to 2005; the data is based on the Irish Statute Book (see above).
IRLII (the Irish Legal Information Initiative) also provides statutes from 1999 to 2005.
For more recent Irish legislation, see the website of the Houses of the Oireachtas, which provides acts from 1997 to the current year (plus some earlier acts - and bills from 1997 onwards). Top of page
Legislation: secondary
Secondary legislation is published as Statutory Instruments, (which were called Statutory Rules and Orders before 1948), and these are made under powers conferred by Acts. The Library's holdings of secondary legislation are as follows:-
Statutory Rules and Orders, (English edition) 1934-1947 (IALS lacks 1922-1933)*
Statutory Instruments, (Irish & English edition) 1948-
*Statutory Rules and Orders prior to 1948 were not published in bound volumes, so loose issues had to be collected together by libraries and specially bound. IALS was fortunate to obtain some of these volumes (1934-1947 inclusive) as a donation from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Library.
An official Index to the Statutory Instruments ( formerly Index to the Statutory Rules, Orders and Regulations) is published irregularly by the Stationery Office Dublin. This index does not cumulate, and is held in the Library from 1922 onwards.
An unofficial index to Irish secondary legislation is the Index to Irish Statutory Instruments, Volumes 1-3, compiled by R.F. Humphreys, Dublin, Butterworth (Ireland), Ltd., 1988, covering the period 1922-1986 inclusive. (Contents: Volume 1: Statutory Instruments; Volume 2: Enabling Acts; and Volume 3: Subject Index). This valuable comprehensive work is held at IALS.
Lists of statutory instruments are found in Irish Current Law Statutes Annotated (see primary legislation, above).
Electronic sources
As noted above, the full text of S.I.s, and of Statutory Rules, Orders and Regulations, are available in the Irish Statute Book database (1922-2005).
Legislation before 1922
In this guide the emphasis is on the Library's holdings of legislation for independent Ireland, from 1922 onwards, but the Library does have earlier editions of statutes for Ireland (as a whole). The earliest collection held is Statutes at Large passed in Parliaments held in Ireland, 1199-1413, 1 volume; and 1310-1800, in 20 volumes, published 1786-1801. For legislation affecting Ireland from 1801 to 1921, the sources are the same as for the United Kingdom.
Law reports
The Library has a full set of pre-twentieth century Irish nominate reports on microfilm, as well as having some printed volumes. Regular series of law reports began to appear in Ireland in the 1820s. The main current series is the Irish Reports , 1838 onwards, published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for Ireland. The Library's holdings of this series are as follows:
Irish Reports , 1st Series, Irish Law Reports , 1838-1850
Irish Reports , 1st Series, Irish Equity Reports , 1838-1850
Irish Reports , 2nd Series, Irish Common Law Reports , 1850-1866
Irish Reports , 2nd Series, Irish Chancery Reports , 1850-1866
Irish Reports , 3rd Series, Irish Reports, Common Law , 1866-1878
Irish Reports , 3rd Series, Irish Reports, Equity , 1866-1878
Irish Reports , 4th Series, Law Reports, Ireland , 1878-1893
Irish Reports , 5th Series, 1894 onwards
Law reporting in Ireland hit a low point in the 1950s until the early 1980s, partly due to the extremely small market which existed then, and the lack of resources to report all important decisions of the courts. Because of this situation it was decided that the unreported typescript judgments of the High Court, Court of Criminal Appeal and Supreme Court should be circulated to third level colleges with law faculties, and an annual digest of these judgments (the Index to Supreme Court and High Court Written Judgments, known as the `Pink Sheets') was published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for Ireland.
In 1981 the situation was improved with the publication of a new series reporting judgments from the superior courts: Irish Law Reports Monthly, 1981 onwards, Round Hall Press, Blackrock, Co. Dublin. Retrospective volumes have also been published, for 1976-1980 inclusive, plus a useful Index to Irish Law Reports Monthly, 1976-1990 and 1991-1995. This series is held in the Library.
Every Monday since March 1989 the Irish Times newspaper has published synopses of judgments known as the Irish Times Law Reports. They may be cited in court as they are reported by practising barristers. The Library does not collect these judgments.
Other series containing law reports, which are in the Library, are:
Irish Law Times Reports: comprising cases argued and decided in the Courts of Justice in all Ireland, Volumes 1-114, 1867-1980. (Volumes 1-60, 1867-1926 issued as part of the Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal) Dublin, A. Thom; continued by: Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal, New Series, May 1983 onwards (includes the Irish Law Times digest section summarising all Superior Court reserved judgments, mentioned above); now known as Irish Law Times and published by Thomson Round Hall.
Irish Jurist, together with the Irish Jurist Reports, Volumes 1-31, 1935-1965. Dublin, Jurist Publishing Co.; continued by The Irish Jurist, New Series, 1966 onwards. Dublin, University College.
There are also several series of subject law reports in the Library:
Judgments of the Court of Criminal Appeal, edited by G.L.Frewen. 1924-1983 in 2 volumes. Dublin, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for Ireland. (contains formerly unreported judgments)
Judgments of the Court of Criminal Appeal, edited by E. Casey. 1984-1989, 1 volume. Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Round Hall Press. (Cited as 3 Frewen, see above)
Reports of Irish Tax Cases, 1923/32 -1949/64. Dublin, Stationery Office, for the Revenue Commissioners.
Selected Employment Appeals Tribunal Cases, 1978 -1985. (Supplement to the Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland)
Employment Law Reports, 1990 onwards. Round Hall Press, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
Electronic sources
Subscribers to LexisNexis Butterworths in the UK have access to a database of Irish case law, including the Irish Reports since 1950, judgments of the Court of Criminal Appeal (1950-1983), and unreported cases since July 1985. LexisNexis Butterworths is available to academic Library users via the IALS Electronic Law Library.
Many full text decisions of Irish courts are available free on the internet:-
BAILII (The British and Irish Legal Information Institute) presents selected decisions of the Supreme Court from 1998 onwards, with some landmark decisions since 1965. Data is supplied and processed by the Law Faculty at University College Cork, and recent cases come from the Irish Courts Service. Selected High Court decisions are also available from 1997 onwards, with selected landmark decisions since 1933. Also available on BAILII are the Irish Competition Authority decisions (1992-2001) and the Irish Information Commissioner's decisions (1998 to date).
Courts Service Ireland provides judgments of the Supreme Court (2001 onwards), the Court of Criminal Appeal (2004 onwards) and the High Court (2004 onwards), plus background information on the history and organisation of the Irish courts and other relevant information.
IRLII, the Irish Legal Infomation Initiative, provides a complete index to judgments of the Irish High Court, Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeal from 1997 onwards, plus the full text of leading cases (arranged by subject).
The Law Information Service of the Boole Library at University College Cork provides an index to unreported judgments from 1993 onwards.
Tribunals of Inquiry
Some matters of public concern in Ireland are investigated by tribunals of inquiry set up by the Oireachtas and vested with the powers and privileges of the High Court. The tribunal usually prepares interim reports and a final report with recommendations. Several recent prominent tribunals are listed on the Irish Government's public information website; there are links to websites for some tribunals which are still active.
Digests
The Library has all of the volumes of the Digest of the Irish Reports and Irish Law Times Reports (otherwise known as the Irish Digest) as from the first volume, covering 1867-1877 and compiled by W. Green, up to and including the most recent volume covering 1994-1999 and compiled by J.M. Clancy.
The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting began an annual Index to Supreme Court and High Court Written Judgments (known as the `Pink Sheets') in 1976. They were intended to be an interim service because of the late publication of law reports and are available in the Library up to and including 1989.
Another publication which could be described as a digest, and to which the Library subscribes, is the Annual Review of Irish Law, 1987 onwards. Round Hall Press, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
Treatises
The Library has a good basic collection of treatises on Irish law. At IALS, treatises are either arranged by jurisdiction (classmarks beginning with G; note that Irish titles are at either GA5 or GA7) or by subject (classmarks beginning with S).
Recent Irish treatises include:-
Byrne, R. and McCutcheon, J.P. The Irish Legal System, 5th edition. Tottel, 2007.
Kelly, J.M. The Irish Constitution, 4th edition by G. Hogan and G. Whyte. Dublin, Lexis Nexis, 2003.
O'Malley, T. The Round Hall guide to the sources of law. Dublin, Round Hall, 1996.Saunders, G (ed.) Taxation in the Republic of Ireland. Croydon, Tolley, 2001.
Shatter, A. Family law in the Republic of Ireland. Dublin, Butterworth (Ireland), 1997.
Periodicals
The Library has good coverage of the well-established Irish law journals:
Dublin University Law Journal , 1976-
Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, 1969/70- (now known as the Gazette of the Law Society of Ireland)
Irish Criminal Law Journal , 1991-
Irish Journal of European Law , 1992-
Irish Jurist , 1849- (various series)
Irish Law Times , 1867- (various series)
Journal of the Irish Society for Labour Law , 1982-
Law Reform Commission Annual Report , and other consultation and working papers.
We have in the Library a useful bibliography of Irish periodical articles, which covers Ireland as a whole (including Northern Ireland): Paul O'Higgins, A Bibliography of Periodical Literature relating to Irish Law, Belfast, Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 1966; Plus First Supplement, 1973; and Second Supplement, 1983. The main work and the two Supplements cover periodical literature to 1981 inclusive.
Irish law journals and legal topics are given good coverage in both Index to Legal Periodicals and the Legal Journals Index. This is available on Westlaw UK, which academic Library users can access via the IALS Electronic Law Library.
The Irish Legal Information Initiative runs a free periodicals index website, LegalPeriodicals.org. A total of 15 Irish journal titles have been indexed (1997- ) by members of the Law Department at University College Cork. Users can search by author or title words, or browse the list of subject keywords.
Electronic resources
BAILII - the British and Irish Legal Information Institute, providing case law, legislation, reports of the Irish Law Reform Commission and decisions of the Irish Competition Authority and Irish Information Commissioner
Citizens' Information - Irish government website for the general public, including information about tribunals of inquiry
Courts Service Ireland - background information on the history and organisation of the Irish courts, plus judgments of the Supreme Court (2001 onwards), the Court of Criminal Appeal (2004 onwards) and the High Court (2004 onwards)
Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) - full text of the Constitution and other official information
Guide to Irish Law by Dr. Darius Whelan, as published on the Globalex website, June 2005
Houses of the Oireachtas (Parliament) - recent acts and bills
Index of unreported judgments provided by the Boole Library at University College, Cork
Iris - an online union catalogue for Irish academic and research libraries
Irish Law Site - hosted by the Faculty of Law at University College, Cork, provides a useful set of Irish legal links, an email discussion list, Irish legal news, legislation and case law
Irish Statute Book - legislation from 1922 onwards, provided by the Office of the Attorney-General
IRLII, the Irish Legal Infomation Initiative, providing a complete index to judgments of the Irish High Court, Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeal from 1997 onwards, the full text of leading cases (arranged by subject) and legislation
LegalPeriodicals.org - index to around twenty Irish legal journals provided by IRLII
- Page last updated: 22 July, 2011
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