High Court of Ireland

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 High Court is composed of its president, 35 ordinary judges, and additional judges being ex officio the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal, the President of the Circuit Court, and former chief justices and courts presidents who remain judges.

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 court normally hears cases in the Four Courts building in Dublin, although it also has regular sittings outside the capital.

Mella Carroll was the first woman to serve on the court and did so between 1980 and 2005.

The High Court is known as the Central Criminal Court when it is hearing a criminal case. The Central Criminal Court has exclusive jurisdiction for the following criminal offences:

All Central Criminal Court cases are heard in front of a jury of twelve people. 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.

The High Court is the court of first instance for all civil cases where the plaintiff is claiming more than €75,000 in damages in ordinary contract and tort claims, or €60,000 in damages in personal injuries actions, this being the upper limit of the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court.

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Wikipedia