How is legislation formed in ireland

The general scheme, or draft heads, of a Government Bill undergoes scrutiny by an Oireachtas Committee before the text of the Bill is finalised. The relevant Oireachtas Committee may invite stakeholders to participate by attending meetings to discuss the general scheme or draft heads of the Bill.

At the end of the pre-legislative scrutiny, the Committee produces a report and lays it before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

The report makes recommendations on the Bill based on the Committee's scrutiny. The Committee invited three representative organisations to a public hearing on 21 November In February it published its report with recommendations to the Government on the final draft of the Bill.

You can find more examples of pre-legislative scrutiny reports on the dedicated webpages for individual Committees. Alternatively, the sponsor may ask the Business Committee to waive the need for scrutiny. The relevant Oireachtas Committee may invite stakeholders to participate by attending meetings to discuss the Bill, or by making submissions on the Bill.

After completing the pre-Committee Stage scrutiny, the Committee produces a report and lays it before the Houses of the Oireachtas. If it is recommended that the Bill proceed, the Bill sponsor may move the Order for Committee Stage the motion that progresses the Bill to Committee Stage without debate. If it is recommended that the Bill not proceed, the sponsor may still move a motion in the House to progress the Bill to Committee Stage, but the motion must be debated. If the motion is carried, the Bill can progress.

It then published a report which recommended that the Bill proceed to Committee Stage. There are two ways for Members to initiate a Bill. When a Bill is presented, provided it complies with Standing Orders, it is automatically added to the Order Paper and it proceeds to Second Stage. When a Member seeks leave to introduce a Private Members' Bill, the House may or may not grant leave.

Other Deputies may also present Bills, but must do so as a group of seven or more Deputies, and each group may present only one Bill at a time. Groups of five or more Senators may also present up to three Bills at a time. In the Seanad, it takes three Senators to introduce each Bill. There is no limit to the number of Bills a Member may seek leave to introduce.

Members are allocated a limited amount of time to make a statement on the law the Bill would create. They may also suggest other provisions they would like to be included in the Bill. Read a Seanad Second Stage debate. The Bill is examined section by section and amendments may be made. Committee Stage is a detailed examination of each section of the Bill and an opportunity for Government and Opposition Members to make changes to the text. Once each section of the Bill has been agreed to, the Bill is set down for Report Stage.

Before Committee Stage, Members who want to change a Bill may put down amendments, and a list of the amendments is published.

During the Committee Stage debate, Members are called on to move each amendment and discuss it with the Minister. There is no limit to the number of times a Member may speak on an amendment, so Committee Stage can be lengthy.

The Minister then says whether he or she accepts the amendment. Amendments arising out of Committee Stage are considered. Report Stage is the last opportunity for Members to make amendments to the text of a Bill. Members may not bring forward any new amendments, only amendments which arise from Committee Stage.

Unlike Committee Stage, Members may speak only twice on each amendment, and their second contribution is limited to two minutes. When all the amendments have been dealt with, the Bill is received for final consideration. Fifth Stage may be scheduled for another day, but is usually taken immediately after Fourth Stage. If the Government wants to introduce new amendments on Report Stage, it may do so by recommitting the Bill.

Effectively this returns the Bill to Committee Stage in respect of an individual amendment. In the short to mandate, before the unexpected, 'snap' election was called, only one Act had been passed, to set the budget for the year. Two other Bills were in the system - one Executive Bill concerning the licensing of pubs and clubs, which was well on its way to becoming law and one PMB which had been introduced at First Stage.

Both fell due to dissolution. Legislation The Mandate. Book now for the Assembly's Education Programme Invitation to a lecture by Dr Eamon Phoenix.

Rewind — a new historical archive launched by the BBC. There are currently two specialist judges. Are quasi-legal authorities commonly used?

Tribunals of Inquiry and Commissions of Investigation The Parliament has the power to establish tribunals of inquiry to investigate certain matters of public importance and can give any tribunal it sets up powers to, for example:. Hold public or private hearings. Make orders to force witnesses to attend and give evidence. Apply to the High Court if a person refuses to give evidence or is in contempt of the tribunal. If the tribunal considers that there is sufficient reason to do so, it can order any person to pay the costs of another person appearing before the tribunal or the costs of the tribunal itself.

This can happen if a person fails to co-operate with the tribunal or gives false or misleading evidence. At the end of the tribunal's investigation, it submits a report to the Parliament setting out its findings. In many cases, a tribunal of inquiry will also be given the power to make recommendations. The tribunal's function is purely fact-finding and investigative.

Although it can make recommendations, it does not make a binding judgment on the rights of individuals. Any statement or admission made at a tribunal cannot be used in evidence against a person in criminal proceedings.

However, sometimes the findings of tribunals can give rise to an investigation leading to independent criminal or civil proceedings. The Commissions of Investigation Act provides for the establishment of commissions of investigation that can investigate matters of significant public concern.

They are a less expensive and speedier method of investigating matters than a tribunal of inquiry. In certain circumstances, a tribunal of inquiry can be set up after a commission has reported.

A commission is set up by government order, which must be approved by the House of Representatives and Senate. The terms of reference are set by the government or by an individual minister.

These terms must be accompanied by statements setting out the likely duration and cost of an investigation. Disciplinary Tribunals Disciplinary tribunals are quite common within the professions, whether established by legislation for example, for solicitors, doctors and nurses or by contract for example, for accountants.

Disciplinary tribunals have important decision-making powers which can have a significant effect on an individual's professional career. Where such bodies are established by statute, the courts may be directly involved, as in the case of the disciplinary bodies for solicitors. In other instances, the decisions of these bodies are subject to judicial control either by means of judicial review or other private law remedies.

Ombudsmen Specialist ombudsmen have been appointed to deal with complaints about organisations. There are a number of ombudsmen, including the:. Ombudsman and Information Commissioner. Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. Regulators There are also a number of specialist regulators that regulate particular industries, such as the:.

Commission for Communications Regulation. Commission for Regulation of Utilities. Does the constitution provide for an independent judiciary? On appointment, judges make a solemn declaration that they will adjudicate impartially "without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. Security of Tenure Security of tenure is also a key aspect of judicial independence. Subject to a retirement age which is currently 70 in most instances , a judge holds office on good behaviour.

This means that a judge of the High Court, Court of Appeal or Supreme Court cannot be removed except for "stated misbehaviour or incapacity" and then only on resolutions passed by both Houses of the Parliament Article Similar guarantees for judges of the Circuit Court and District Court are provided for by statute. Independence of the Political Process A judge must be independent of the political process, since Article A judge is also barred from holding any other office or position of emolument.

Security of Remuneration Security of remuneration has also been traditionally regarded as a key feature of judicial independence, in particular:. The remuneration of judges must not be reduced during their time in office save for the imposition of taxes, levies or other charges imposed by law. Where reductions are made by law to the remuneration of persons paid out of public money in the public interest, provision may also be made by law to make proportionate reductions to the remuneration of judges.

Protection is therefore provided against any future arbitrary reductions designed to impinge judicial independence. How are members of the judiciary typically appointed? Appointment Judges must be appointed by the President Article While the formal appointment of judges is made by the President, this power is exercised only on the advice of the government.

The Judicial Appointments Advisory Board is charged with identifying persons and informing the government on their suitability for appointment to judicial office. The Board consists of the following 11 people:. The Chief Justice. Three persons identified as suitable by the Minister for Justice.

The Board advertises for applications for judicial appointments and forwards a list of seven suitable candidates, subject to certain exceptions, to the government, without any ranking as to suitability, although the government is not obliged to appoint from this list. Qualifications The Board can only recommend persons with the relevant qualifications. The minimum qualifications for judges vary according to the court to which a person is to be appointed, as follows:.

For appointment as a judge of the Circuit and District Court Bench, the person must be a practising barrister or solicitor of at least ten years' experience.

Litigation Civil and Criminal. Do the courts use an adversarial, non-adversarial or other system? Ireland has a predominantly adversarial court system. Who is responsible for gathering evidence? Civil Cases The parties are responsible for gathering evidence. Once litigation is reasonably anticipated, parties are advised to retain all relevant documents.

Discovery disclosure of documents usually takes place after the filing of all the formal documents in the case has concluded. The discovery process involves the disclosure of relevant documents by one or all parties to the proceedings.

A party must make a written request for voluntary discovery by the other party of all documents now or previously in its possession, power or procurement which are relevant to the dispute. If a party refuses a request for voluntary discovery, an application is usually made to have the disputed categories determined by a judge. Once discovery has been agreed or ordered by the judge, an affidavit of discovery is sworn by each party which lists all relevant privileged and non-privileged documents.

The documents are then made available for inspection, unless exempt from production for reasons of legal privilege. The obligation does not require the investigator to engage in disproportionate commitment of manpower or resources in an exhaustive search for every conceivable kind of evidence. The duty must be interpreted realistically on the facts of each case.

The obligation to seek out and preserve evidence must be reasonably interpreted and the relevance or potential relevance of the evidence needs to be considered. There is an obligation and responsibility on defence lawyers to seek material they consider relevant.

Is evidence independently examined before a trial? Civil Cases At present, there is no general requirement for witness statements to be prepared and exchanged before trial, unless the parties agree otherwise. In Commercial Court proceedings, however, the court directs the preparation and exchange of witness statements.

Witnesses can be cross-examined in their statements and may be permitted to expand the contents of their statement. There is no independent examination of evidence before the trial. Certain rules governing pre-trial procedure for chancery and non-jury actions are to become operational no date has been set yet Order 63C, RSC. These provide that:. Parties give advance notice if they intend to call expert evidence at trial.

In addition, they will have to serve a summary of that evidence on the other party no later than 30 days before the trial. The latter rule also applies in relation to witness statements where a witness of fact will be called at trial. At the case management or pre-trial conference stage or in the course of the trial, the judge can make an order specifying the nature of the evidence, or the witnesses, including expert witnesses, required to enable the court to determine the questions or issue arising in each or any module.

The parties will also be required to exchange witness statements under the new rules. Criminal Cases When the police force has completed its investigation, it sends a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions DPP in all but the most minor and routine cases.

The DPP, or an authorised officer of the DPP, decides whether to prosecute the offence on the basis of the evidence collected by the police. The prosecutor has discretion to determine whether:. There is a public interest in pursuing the prosecution. There is a reasonable prospect of conviction before a reasonable judge or jury bearing in mind that the criminal burden of proof is beyond reasonable doubt.

In making the decision, the prosecutor must assess the admissibility, relevance, sufficiency and strength of the evidence that will be presented at the trial. Justice must be administered in public in the courts except in special and limited cases prescribed by law Article Before ordering proceedings to be heard in camera where the public have restricted access to the hearing , the court must be satisfied that a public hearing of all or part of the proceedings would operate to deny justice in the particular case.

Civil cases that can be heard in private include family law proceedings. Are reporting restrictions typically imposed in relation to a trial? Civil Cases There are generally no reporting restrictions before, during or after the trial. The Courts and Civil Law Miscellaneous Provisions Act allow bona fide members of the press to attend in camera hearings in family and childcare proceedings see Question A further example of where there may be reporting restrictions is where a person whose civil case revolves around their medical condition can apply to prohibit the publication of any details that would lead to the identification of that person.

This application will only be granted if the identification of the person would be likely to cause them distress. Criminal Cases In imposing reporting restrictions in relation to a trial, a trial judge must balance the accused's constitutional right to a fair trial in due course of law against the right of the media to freedom of expression and the right of the public to receive information.

To impose a ban on the contemporaneous reporting of a trial, a trial judge must be satisfied both that:. There is a real risk of an unfair trial if contemporaneous reporting is permitted. The damage that such improper reporting would cause could not be remedied by the trial judge by appropriate directions to the jury or otherwise.

There are further instances where reporting restrictions can be applied. For example, where the justice system has an interest in protecting the identity of victims, the name of the accused cannot be reported. In addition, certain reporting restrictions are applied where the victim of an alleged criminal offence is a child. What is the main function of the trial and who are the main parties to it? Civil Cases The trial is the principal method for resolving legal disputes that parties cannot settle themselves or through less formal methods.

The judge hears the evidence and decides on the claim, ensuring the fair and impartial administration of justice between the parties to an action. As a general rule, all issues are tried at the same time. However, issues of law may arise in the pleadings which lend themselves to being tried as a preliminary issue. Evidence is usually given orally by the parties and their witnesses, who can be cross-examined.

However, the court can order evidence to be taken otherwise than orally. Where there is sufficient reason and justice requires it, evidence of a particular witness can be taken by affidavit. Certain types of proceedings, for example, judicial review, are also usually based only on affidavit evidence. The court can also order evidence to be taken out of court by examination of the witness by a person appointed by the court.

Factual and expert witnesses are generally called to give evidence at trial. Criminal Cases The main purpose of the trial is to allow the prosecution to present what it considers to be credible evidence relevant to an alleged crime and to prove its case. It is for the defence to argue for an acquittal or conviction on a lesser charge.

The judge plays an active role in the trial, as does counsel for the prosecution and defence. What is the main role of the judge and counsel in a trial? Role of Judiciary In cases where there is a jury, issues of fact are determined by a jury and issues of law are reserved for the judge. The judge decides whether evidence is admissible. The judge also gives directions about the duties of the jury before deliberation on the verdict.