Appealing a refusal of a taxi licence

• Being a suitable person,
• History of criminal record,
• Failure to provide required information.

Who can help 

• You must send a formal notice letting An Garda Síochána know that you intend to make an appeal to the court.
• There is a specific form for this, often referred to as a Section 35 form.
• This notice should be sent at least seven days before you intend to make the application at the Court Office.
• You can deliver the notice by hand to An Garda Síochána or send it by post. You should keep a copy of the notice for your records.

How to make your court application 

You can download your application form Form 40D.01.Appeal of a Refusal of a Taxi Licence or contact your localcourt office and they can send an application form to you by post. The person making the application it the claimant and the person you are making the application against is the respondent, the Chief Superintendent of an Garda Síochána.

You will need to include the following information to complete your application:

• District court number and area. Please see our map, this can be found here.
• A record number which will be inserted by the court office,
• Enter the enactment which is the section of the legislation that is relevant to your application - The Taxi Regulations Act 2003, Section 3,
• Your full name and address,
• the respondent's full name and address,
• the date and time of court which the court office will give you,
• details of what you are asking the judge to do,
• reasons why you are appealing the decision,
• list of documents you intend to rely on or use in court, including the written refusal and attach copies,
• the address of the court office where you filed your application.

Stamp fee

You must pay the appropriate court fee for your application.The free for this application is €25. This civil application fee can be paid at your local court office (or in Dublin, at the Stamping Office in the Áras Uí Dhálaigh building in the Four Courts complex). You can pay these fees by card or cash. The office will check your application, give it a record number, issue it, and return the form to you.

Serving your application 

You must then send a copy of your application to the respondent - The Chief Superintendent of an Garda Síochana from your district. This is called serving the application Please see our serving and proof of service page for more information.

The Respondent must be notified at least fourteen days prior to the court date by registered post. Your post office will give you a certificate of postage. You should retain a copy of this for your records.

Submitting your application

A copy of the stamped application with the declaration of service attached must be lodged in your local District Court office at least seven days prior to the court date.

The judge may make the following decisions

• Confirm the Garda decision so that orignal refusal stands,
• Allow the appeal, requiring the Gardaí to grant the taxi licence,
• Allow the appeal with conditions attached,
• Dismiss your application,
• Adjourn your case for more information.

Preparing for court 

Going to court can be a stressful experience. See our preparing for Civil Law court pages for more information on how to prepare.

You will be asked to give evidence in the Court room and you should be prepared to answer any questions the Judge may ask you.