Court Rules

The below amendment(s) have been made to this instrument which can be viewed by clicking on the link(s):

No37-S.I. No. 666 Of 2004: District Court (Children) Rules 2004
No37-S.I. No. 152 Of 2007: District Court (Children Summonses) Rules 2007
No37-S.I. No. 408 Of 2007: District Court (Children) Rules 2007
No37-S.I. No. 567 Of 2016: District Court (Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence And Dna Database System) Act 2014) Rules 2016

Proceedings involving children

1 (1) In this Order:

“the Act” means the Children Act, 2001 (No. 24 of 2001);

“the Court” means the Children Court.

(2) Subject to the Act, a Judge may adjourn business from a sitting of the District Court to a sitting of the Children Court for the same district and vice versa.

(3) Nothing in this Order shall prevent the Court, subject to the Act, from making any order when sitting as the Children Court which it could make at a sitting of the court sitting as the District Court and vice versa.

(4) Any reference in any Form to the “District Court” instead of the “Children Court” shall be taken as a reference to the Children Court and shall not invalidate such Form.

2 (1) Save as otherwise provided in this Order, in criminal proceedings in the Children Court, the provisions of Orders 13 to 36 shall apply, as modified or extended by the provisions of this Order.

(2) Rule 7 of  Order 23 and rules 1 and 2 of  Order 24 shall not apply in proceedings in the Children Court.

3 Forms no. 37.1 to 37.26 Schedule B shall be the Forms to be used in criminal proceedings in the Children Court. Where no suitable Form is provided for in this Order, the Forms provided for in Orders 13 to 36 of these Rules may be used in proceedings in the Children Court, entitled in the “Children Court” and otherwise modified as required by the circumstances of the case or as provided in this Order.

4 The procedure to be followed and the forms to be used in any application in relation to a compensation order made under the Criminal Justice Act, 1993 which involves a child are prescribed in  Order 33 of these Rules.

5 Subject to the Act and the preceding rules of this Order, the provisions of the Summary Jurisdiction Rules, 1909 (S.R. & O. 952) dated July 31, 1909 made under section 133(7) of the Children Act, 1908 shall, by operation of section 5 (1) of the Children Act, 2001, with any necessary modifications, apply to proceedings under the Act.

6 Notwithstanding any provision of  Order 14, all persons shall be excluded from sittings of the Children Court except –

(a) officers of the court

(b) the parents or guardian of the child concerned,

(c) an adult relative to the child, or other adult who attends the court pursuant to section 91 (6) of the Act,

(d) persons directly concerned in the proceedings,

(e) bona fide representatives of the press,

(f) such other persons (if any) as the court may at its discretion permit to remain. However the order or decision of the Court (if any) in any such proceedings shall be announced in public.

7, Where the Court imposes one or more of the conditions specified in section 90(1) of the Act on the release on bail of a child, such condition shall be endorsed on the recognisance.

8. Where an accused child is before the court charged with an indictable offence with which the court has jurisdiction to deal summarily if the accused does not object, the judge shall inform the accused child of his or her right to be tried by a jury and if the accused child (inquiry having been made of him or her by the judge) consents to the case being tried summarily, and, the case is not one of an offence which is required to be tried by the Central Criminal Court or manslaughter and the court is of opinion that the offence constitutes a minor offence fit to be tried summarily (or, where the child, having had the opportunity to have the assistance of his or her parent or guardian, adult spouse, an adult relative accompanying him or her, wishes to plead guilty, to be dealt with summarily), the court, having taken account of the age and level of maturity of the child concerned and any other facts that it considers relevant, may take the accused child’s plea and try him or her summarily.

9. Where an accused child is before the court charged with an offence which is required to be tried by the Central Criminal Court or with manslaughter and wishes to plead guilty and the Court is satisfied that he or she understands the nature of the offence and the facts alleged, then, if the accused child signs a plea of guilty the judge may by order ( Form 37.16 Schedule B) and with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions (which consent may be conveyed as provided in rule 4 of  Order 24), or, where appropriate, of the Attorney-General, send him or her forward for sentence with that plea to the court to which, if he or she had pleaded not guilty, the accused could lawfully have been sent forward for trial.

10. An order imposing a community sanction shall be in the Form 37.17, Schedule B. Any application made under section 136 of the Act shall be preceded by the issue and service, at least four days before the date upon which the application is to be heard, on the accused, the parents or guardian of the accused, and any other person directly affected by the order, of a notice in the Form 37.18, Schedule B.

11. Where it appears to the court, on application in that behalf by a member of the Garda Síochána that a child has failed, without reasonable cause, to comply with an order in force imposing a community sanction or any condition to which such order is subject, there shall be issued a summons to the child to appear before it in the  Form 37.19, Schedule B. Unless the Court has excused the parents and/or guardian of the child from appearing, pursuant to section 90(5) of the Act, such summons to appear shall also be addressed to the parents and/or guardian of the child. If the child shall fail to appear in answer to said summons, the Court may issue a warrant in the Form 37.20, Schedule B for his or her arrest. The order of the Court on the hearing of the application shall be in the Form 37.21, Schedule B.

12 Where the court orders an accused child to pay a fine, costs, or compensation and the child is in default, the Court may, on the application of the prosecutor therefor, issue a warrant in the  Form 37.22, Schedule B, for the arrest of the child to be brought before the Court to answer such default. Alternatively, application may be made by the prosecutor for an order under section 110 of the Act. Such application shall be preceded by the issue and service, at least four days before the date upon which the application is to be heard, on the accused, the parents or guardian of the accused and any other person directly affected by the order, of a notice in the Form 37.23, Schedule B. The order of the Court on the hearing of the application shall be in the  Form 37.24, Schedule B.