By Megan Barrett
|Published 08 June 2026
On the 6th of January 2026, the Minister for Justice Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O’Callaghan, published the General Scheme of the Civil Reform Bill 2025 (the "Bill"). The Bill's primary purpose is to implement the "majority" of the recommendations made in the Review of the Administration of Civil Justice (the Kelly Report, 2020).
If enacted, the Bill will introduce significant and wide-ranging changes to civil litigation in Ireland, including; (1) an overhaul of the Judicial Review process, (2) new rules governing Discovery / Production of Documents (3) changes in Civil Procedure (4) Increase to court jurisdiction limits and (5) other provisions,
Below, we have discussed these proposed changes in detail.
The Bill proposes to place Judicial Review on a statutory basis and sets out a requirement for the court to consider the public interest when determining whether to grant relief.
Whilst the Bill allows for the court’s discretion in granting a remedy on foot of a Judicial Review application, it goes on to provide that the court shall not grant such relief unless it is satisfied that a number of conditions have been met;
(i) the respondent has acted unlawfully,
(ii) the applicant has suffered harm or prejudice,
(iii) any error of law, or procedural error, was material to the decision,
(iv) the interests of justice, taking into account the interests of the applicant and the public interest, require such a remedy to be granted, and
(v) the granting of the remedy provides a significant benefit to the applicant.
Under the Bill an application for leave to apply for judicial review may, subject to limited exceptions, only be sought “by a person directly affected by the act which is the subject of the application and who has a sufficient interest in the matter.”
The Bill abolishes Order 31 of the Rules of the Superior Courts, Order 32 of the Circuit Court Rules and Order 45B of the District Court Rules and introduces new timelines and requirements on parties.
Discovery will no longer be dealt with once all pleading have closed and instead, the Bill provides for the parties to produce all documents they intend to rely on at trial within 28 days of the service of the “claim form” and within 42 days of the service of a defence. The Bill allows for longer periods to produce Discovery if the parties agree or if the Courts permits.
Under the Bill parties are also required to exchange all additional documents they intend to rely on no later than 28 days prior to trial. It is further proposed that parties may not rely on any documents not disclosed within this timeline without leave from the Court.
Conduct Principles
The Bill sets out the below "conduct principles" in which all parties are to adhere to in Civil Proceedings;
(a) matters of law and fact arising in the proceedings which are at issue between the parties should, at as early a stage and to the extent as is practicable, be identified, defined, narrowed (where possible) and prioritised or sequenced,
(b) proceedings should be conducted in a manner which is just, expeditious and likely to minimise the costs of those proceedings, and
(c) the parties should use alternative dispute resolution procedures, where appropriate, to settle the whole or part of the proceedings where practicable and should be facilitated in doing so.
Presumed Adjournments
Part 4, Head 16 of the Bill provides for a Presumption Against Granting of Adjournments. Under this heading it states that the Court shall not grant an adjournment, extension or stay, unless satisfied that there is sufficient reason for doing so, and that it would be in the interests of justice to do so.
The Bill states that an agreement between the parties to an adjournment, extension or stay on proceedings shall not in itself be sufficient reason.
The Bill goes on to list certain factors the Court is to consider when determining whether to grant an adjournment. One of which is whether, the parties have adhered to the "conduct principles", the Bill allows for the Court to grant adjournments even if the Court finds that a party has not adhered to these principles, however in doing so the Court "shall impose a penalty" on the party or parties seeking an adjournment. The penalty is to reflect the extent of the non-adherence and the impact on the efficient ordering of the business of the court.
Discontinuance
Part 4, Head 17 of the Bill provides that prior to the Case been set down for trial, and if there has been a no steps taken in the proceedings by a party for six months, the other party to the proceedings may serve a notice of their intention to lodge an application for deemed discontinuance.
The Bill provides a list of headings which is deemed as "a step" in progressing the proceedings. The Bill further provides that it is sufficient for a party who has not taken any steps, to reply to the other party's Notice and advice that they await a document from a third party prior to progressing proceedings. In this regard the Bill lists certain information that is to be shared with the other party in such correspondence.
Following the expiration of 28 days, if the party has still not taken any steps, then an application for deemed discontinuance can be filed with the Court. A civil proceeding is deemed to be discontinued on the date of the lodging of a valid application
The Bill allows the Court, on application set aside the Discontinuance within 3 months of its filing if;
(a) there is good and sufficient reason for doing so, and
(b) the circumstances that resulted in the failure to make progress in the proceedings were outside the control of the party subject to the notice of discontinuance.
Pre Action Protocols
The Bill allows for The Minister to make pre-action protocols for specified areas of litigation and if made, these must be complied with prior to initiating proceedings.
Personal Injury Claims
Plaintiffs in Personal Injuries Proceedings are required to distinguish between pre-existing injuries and those the Subject of the Claim.
In this regard the Bill amends S2 the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 with the insertion of a new paragraph; S10(2)( h) “full particulars of any relevant pre-existing medical condition, both injuries and illnesses, and distinguish those from the injuries that are the subject of the claim.”
Claim Notice
A "Claim Notice" is to replace all existing originating documents, with the Bill stating that a full list of originating documents is currently being collated.
Costs
Parties who are awarded their costs in civil proceedings will be subject to a strict time limit of 3 months from the conclusion of proceedings to provide a bill of costs.
If a party having served their Bill of Costs fails to apply to the Chief Legal Costs Adjudicator for adjudication within such period as may be specified by Rules of Court, then the person who is the subject of the order to pay costs may apply for such adjudication.
The Bill provides that such party will not be entitled to any interest otherwise due under the Courts and Court Officers Act 2002 if they fail to abide by this timeline.
Circuit Court
The Bill proposes increasing the Circuit Court monetary limit from €75,000 (€60,000 for Personal Injuries Cases) to €100,000.
District Court
The Bill proposes an increase in the District Court’s monetary limit from €15,000 to €20,000.
The Bill seeks to address long-standing challenges identified in the Kelly Report and represents a significant step towards modernising Ireland’s civil justice system. However and of note, the Bill fails to include any proposed amendment to the current District Court costs scale, notwithstanding its recommended increase to the Courts jurisdiction. The Bill also fails to comment on any Circuit Court costs scale.
Given the significance of the Bill and the impact it will have on Civil Litigation, we will be closely monitoring and tracking its debate and progress through the legislative process in Dail Éireann. It will be interesting to see if any issues arise or if any significant changes to the proposals will be adopted before the Bills enactment.
Watch this space for further updates.
