Customer service

Help and support

If your query relates to a court case, please contact the relevant court office. Find a court office.

Customer charter

The role of the Courts Service is to manage and support the courts nationwide, making sure everyone can access the system in a way that’s fair, impartial, respectful and responsive.

This customer charter outlines the standards you can expect when interacting with us and the commitments we make to you that guide our work.

At a glance

1. Respect, equality and fairness — You will be treated with respect, no matter your personal situation or background.
2. Clear and accessible information — You will be able to find the information you need about the court system easily.
3. Simple response to queries — You will be treated politely and get your questions answered quickly, no matter how you contact us.
4. Support access to courts — You will have access to court facilities throughout your journey. Additional help will be available for those with extra needs.
5. Listen, learn and improve — We will listen carefully to your feedback and make changes to improve our service.

Read the full customer charter

Data protection

We (the Courts Service) collect your personal information to manage your complaint in line with our Customer Service Charters and our Policy on Management of Unacceptable Actions.

Your personal information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Statement.

Compliments, comments and complaints

We want to hear your feedback — good or bad — to help us improve our service.

Compliments

You can submit a compliment by:

• completing our online customer comments form
• emailing [email protected]

Complaints

The Courts Service aims to deliver services that meet your needs in a friendly, courteous and efficient manner. If our service falls short of what you consider acceptable:

1. Make your complaint as soon as possible by contacting the office manager of the relevant Courts Service office. They will try to resolve the issue without delay.
2. If you do not get a satisfactory result, or you would prefer not to complain at the time, complete the online form or email [email protected].

Write to us

Our commitments when handling complaints

• We will resolve complaints, where possible, at first instance.
• We will acknowledge all complaints within 3 working days, setting out the name and contact details of the officer investigating your complaint.
• We will investigate and issue a reply within 15 working days. If this is not possible, we will send an interim reply explaining the position and when a substantive response will issue.
• We review complaints to identify improvements needed in the overall service provided.
• All complaints will be treated promptly, fairly, impartially and in confidence.

If you are unhappy with the outcome

If, after receiving our decision, you feel the matter has not been resolved to your satisfaction, you may appeal to the Office of the Ombudsman:

Tel: 01 639 5600
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ombudsman.ie

What is not covered by this procedure

• Under the Constitution, judges are independent in the exercise of their judicial functions. The conduct of a court case or a decision made is a matter entirely for the judge. It is not open to the Courts Service to comment on or intervene in such matters.
• Any decision, finding, judgment or ruling of the courts can only be addressed through the courts.
• Quasi-judicial decisions made by officers of the court (for example, County Registrars in their role as Under-Sheriffs, the Master of the High Court, Legal Costs Adjudicators and other officers of the High Court exercising quasi-judicial functions) can only be appealed to the court. These officers are independent in the exercise of their quasi-judicial functions.
• Complaints about legal professionals or other bodies must be addressed to the appropriate organisation.

Privacy

We use your information to handle your feedback or complaint. For details, read our Privacy Statement.