The Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Mr Alan Shatter T.D., today announced the publication of the Courts Bill 2013.The Bill has two purposes, the first of which is to modify the in camera rule applicable to Family Law. The second purpose of the Bill is to increase the monetary jurisdiction limits of the Circuit and District Courts in civil proceedings.
The Bill proposes to change the monetary limits on the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court and District Court in civil proceedings to €75,000 and €15,000 respectively. However, in personal injury actions, the revised monetary jurisdiction limit of the Circuit Court will be €60,000. In relation to the proposed changes to the monetary jurisdictions of the Circuit and District Courts, given that it is more than two decades since the jurisdictions were last amended a review is certainly warranted. However, as the District Courts, and particularly the Circuit Court, are presently struggling under their existing work loads, it is clear that Donegal Courts will not have enough resources to deal with the pressure which inevitably will be placed on them by the dramatically increased workload.