Ireland has a common law legal system. Sources of law include the Constitution, legislation, case law, and EU law.
The Irish Courts system includes five tiers of courts with the following hierarchy:
The Courts Service of Ireland, which is responsible for managing the courts and supporting the judiciary, has a website that provides detailed information about how the courts work and provides access to a glossary of legal terms.
The Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann) was enacted in 1937. Amendments to the Constitution can only be made by Referendum.
Primary legislation consists of Acts passed by the Oireachtas (Irish parliament). A bill must be passed by the two Houses of the Oireachtas (Dáil and the Seanad). After the President signs the bill into law, it becomes an Act and is added to the Statute Book.
Secondary legislation aka statutory instruments includes ministerial orders, regulations, rules, bye-laws, and schemes. Secondary legislation is not enacted by the Oireachtas. Most laws introduced each year are Statutory Instruments rather than Acts of the Oireachtas. The power to enact statutory instruments is delegated to other bodies, such as the Government Ministers, local authorities, and regulatory bodies.
Case law from Ireland can be found via the following online databases and websites:
Subject law collections provide access cases and legislation from Ireland and other countries pertaining to a specific subject area. Using a subject law collection is particularly helpful when you are comparing the laws of more than one country.
For additional suggestions on subject-specific collections of laws, please see GlobaLex's Foreign Law - Subject Law Collections on the Web research guide.