This page is part of the Court Officers Act 1926 exhibition.
Return to the exhibition
A general modernisation of the courts administration would have to await the establishment of the Courts Service by the Courts Service Act 1998, following on the recommendations of the Working Group on a Courts Commission, established in October 1995 and chaired by Mrs Justice Susan Denham.
The Courts Service was established on the 9th November, 1999 as an independent statutory agency with a Board and Chief Executive, with the statutory remit to:
(a) manage the courts,
(b) provide support services for the judges,
(c) provide information on the courts system to the public,
(d) provide, manage and maintain court buildings – a responsibility previously shared between local authorities and the Office of Public Works,
(e) provide facilities for users of the courts, and
(f) perform such other functions as are conferred on it by any other enactment.
The new agency took over the responsibility previously held by the Minister for Justice for overall administrative supervision of court staff and management of the budget allocated to the courts, and integrated the offices and staff supporting the courts at all jurisdictional tiers into a single unified administrative structure. The Minister for Justice retained a responsibility to the Oireachtas for Estimates Vote (budget) for the courts, while the Chief Executive of the Courts Service became accountable to the Oireachtas for the manner in which funds voted were spent, subject to safeguards designed to assure the independence of the judicial function.
Reflecting the independent status of the Courts Service, court staff now became civil servants in the Civil Service of the State, as opposed to being Civil Servants in the employ of the Department of Justice.
Since the Courts Service's establishment new courthouses have been built around the country, including the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin, while many historic court buildings have been modernised. A new Family Courts complex adjacent to the Four Courts will deliver a modern, purpose-built centre for family law in the near future.
As we mark the centenary of the Act, the Courts Service has reached the half-way point of our 10-year Modernisation Programme, which aims to achieve our Strategic Vision 2030. Our ambition is for a modern, transparent court system that is easier to access and more efficient for all court users. We are transforming how we engage and communicate with and provide information to court users, using plain language and a more user-focused approach.
We have been making technological strides - introducing a Unified Case Management System (UCMS) to replace almost 150 legacy systems. We are also developing the UCMS for the Judiciary, enabling them to view court documentation digitally. The Courts Portal, recently launched in 2026 for probate and Circuit Family Law applications, enables users to file documents and make payments online, with plans to extend its use to other areas in the coming years.
Despite the succession of changes and reforms experienced by Ireland's courts administration in the past 100 years, many of the key provisions of the 1926 Act – specifying the business of court offices and the duties of court officers within those offices - remain in place and are as relevant today as they were on their enactment. Just as importantly, the principles expressed in the Act respecting control by the Judiciary of the judicial business of the courts, and consultation with the Judiciary on matters affecting the operation of the courts, have been carried forward into subsequent legislation regulating and modernising the transaction of court business.
Thus, the Courts Service Act 1998 expressly precludes the Courts Service, its Board or Chief Executive, when exercising their powers and functions, from interfering with the conduct of the judicial business of the courts or impugning the independence of a judge in the performance of his or her judicial functions, or a person other than a judge – e.g. a county registrar - in performing limited functions of a judicial nature. Processes for consultation with the senior judiciary of the court concerned in the establishment of Combined Court Offices and designation of centralised court offices have also been incorporated into the relevant Acts.
This policy has been further strengthened by strong representation of the Judiciary on the Courts Service's Board and by the active participation by representatives of the Judiciary in committees of the Board and in a range of Courts Service projects and initiatives designed to modernise and improve the operation of the courts.
In this way, the foundations and principles laid down by the Court Officers Act 1926 can be said to remain very much part of Ireland's modern courts administration of today.
