Jim O'Callaghan

The Family Courts Act 2024 will introduce “important changes” to the delivery of family justice in Ireland.

These changes will include full-time specialist judges assigned to deal with family law within new family court divisions, each run by a new principal judge, and the possibility to provide divorce applications at both District and Circuit Court level.

Mr O’Callaghan said: “It is a priority for me, and the Government, to ensure that the family courts are more user-friendly, less costly and place the needs of children at the centre of family law proceedings.

“I am very pleased today to announce the Implementation Plan for the Act. I recently informed Cabinet of the plan’s contents which is the first step to implementing significant changes in how the family courts will operate. My priority is to create an accessible, efficient, and child-centred family courts system. 

“Following the outcome of extensive stakeholder consultation last year, the best approach, both in terms of minimising disruption to the operation of the courts, as well as ensuring lasting change, is a phased implementation that will start at the beginning of the legal term in January 2027.

“Over three phases, new family courts will be stood up incrementally across the country, bringing the family courts into operation in selected locations over a series of stages before a full national roll-out.

“This approach will allow implementation to proceed in a manner that takes account of the needs of court users, staff, and practitioners.”

A planning phase dedicated to setting up the necessary foundations to implement phase one has already commenced and will run until the end of this year. Alongside the implementation of each phase, evaluation and refinement will take place to inform the approach adopted for the subsequent phases.

Mr O’Callaghan added: “This phase will involve a concentrated period of activity and engagement, encompassing a significant volume of work for the Courts Service, the judiciary, and other stakeholders to ensure the first family courts are operational by January 2027.

“The volume and complexity of changes required to fully implement the Act will require a co-ordinated and collaborative approach from a wide variety of stakeholders over the course of the coming years.

“However, the plan sets out the overarching direction of travel for implementation, acting as a high-level roadmap indicating the approach to implementation and the initial work required to support it.

“An Implementation Steering Group has been established to provide oversight and monitoring of the implementation process and to drive co-ordination and collaboration between key stakeholders. The Group will produce a more detailed project plan for publication in the autumn.”