Court of Appeal Legal Diary, 2025-09-30

• Judgment Date: 30 September 2025
• Issuer: Court of Appeal

BAN CHUIRT ACHOMHAIRC (CHOIRIÚIL)
THE COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL)

NOTICES - updated 14th May 2025

The Court of Appeal Office Criminal in The Criminal Courts of Justice building is conducting business by appointment only.
An appointment may be arranged via email to courtofappealcriminal@courts.ie. Documents will be accepted by hand arrangement - please phone the court of appeal office at (01) 7988004 when you are in the CCJ building outside Court 16, by post or via DX (No. 262001).

APPEALS FOR HEARING
All Appeals are being conducted by way of a physical hearing unless otherwise directed by the Court.

LODGING OF DOCUMENTS FOR CRIMINAL APPEAL HEARINGS
Parties are required to lodge all document pertaining to criminal appeal hearing no later than 4 weeks prior to the hearing date. Parties should note that a new Practice Direction, CA 15, shall come into effect on the 26th of May 2025 and must be complied with by all Parties to a Criminal Appeal. CA 15 was signed by the President today and is available to download from www.Courts.ie

LODGING OF BOOKS OF APPEAL (CIVIL APPEALS ONLY)
Parties are required to lodge complete books of appeal (in hard and soft copy) not later than 4 weeks prior to the date of the appeal in accordance with Practice Direction CA06 or such other date as shall be fixed by the Court. This must include the transcript of the DAR or approved note of the judgment of the High Court where appropriate and a joint book of authorities. A party who has been authorised to file the books of appeal may file the books in accordance with this direction notwithstanding the failure of another party to the appeal to furnish its written submissions to such party for inclusion in the books of appeal.


In the event that the books are not lodged within the time fixed, the appeal shall be relisted in the next directions list in the Court of Appeal for mention. If the books are not lodged by the latter date, the Court may make an order extending the time for the late filing of the books of appeal for such short period as it deems appropriate subject to an order that the appeal shall stand struck out for failure to comply with the directions of the court. In the event of a failure to comply with such order the appeal shall be struck out. Where an appeal is listed in the directions list by reason of the foregoing, the party in default may be liable for the costs arising from attendance at the directions list.

Parties should lodge the books of appeal (including the books of authorities) in hardcopy (x 3) and also in soft copy via the ShareFile platform.

A revised version of Practice Direction CA06 came into effect on the 1st day of June 2022, a copy of which is available on the Courts website, www.courts.ie.


CASE MANANGEMENT LIST
The weekly Case Management List before the Judge in charge of the Directions List will be conducted by way of hybrid hearing in Court of Appeal Criminal (CCJ-Court 16).
This means that the Judge and the Registrar will be sitting in the Courtroom physically and that Parties can either attend physically or attend remotely by means of the VMR platform.

While it is intended to have a list every Friday in term practitioners are advised to check the Legal Diary on an ongoing basis to confirm that there is a list scheduled on a Friday where a matter is required to be listed for case-management. The court office will also be able to confirm the dates of such lists.

In relation to civil appeals listed in case management and accordance with provisions of Order 86A Rule 16(1) the directions book is to be lodged in the office by close of business on the preceding Friday.


VIRTUAL MEETING ROOM (VMR) DETAILS FOR FRIDAY LISTS - IMPORTANT
Parties are asked to note that the Virtual Meeting Room (VMR) details for the Case Management List on each Friday will be furnished to them directly by e-mail from the Court of Appeal Office on the Tuesday preceding the Friday listed. Parties are advised, in this regard, to ensure that e-mail contact details furnished to that Office remain valid /are fully up to date. Any party may attend the Court physically.


DELIVERY OF JUDGMENTS
Judgments are delivered physically in the Courtroom and parties will be notified prior to the date.
Written judgments of courts may be delivered electronically if directed by the Court and in such cases will be delivered by means of a copy of the judgment being sent electronically to the parties and a copy, subject to such redactions as would ordinarily apply, being posted as soon as possible on the Courts Service website. The date and time of delivery will be notified to parties. The parties may be invited to communicate electronically with the Court on issues arising (if any) out of the judgment such as the precise form of order which requires to be made or questions concerning costs or they may be requested to attend physically to address the Court on these issues. If there are such issues and the parties do not agree in this regard concise written submissions should be filed electronically with the Office of the Court of Appeal by emailing courtofappealcriminal@courts.ie within 14 days of delivery subject to any other direction given in the judgment.
CIVIL APPEALS FOR HEARING IN THE CRIMINAL COURTS OF JUSTICE
Civil appeals with a custody element i.e. Article 40 habeas corpus, extradition, bail and judicial review arising out of criminal proceedings are now dealt with by the criminal office which is situated on the 4th Floor of the Criminal Courts of Justice Building, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8. The civil office will continue to issue the Notice of Appeal and identify whether the appeal comes within the category of appeal to be heard in the Criminal Courts of Justice and allocate the next available case-management list in the Criminal Courts of Justice for a directions hearing. The file will then be transferred to the criminal office and all subsequent documents in the appeal process are to be lodged in the criminal office which will have responsibility for the management and listing of the appeal. Any enquiries in relation to such appeals should be made to the criminal office by email to courtofappealcriminal@courts.ie or by telephone on (01) 7988004.

Sentence appeals and undue leniency applications
See Practice Direction (CA02) for requirements as to materials (reports, testimonials etc) for the use of the court in sentence appeals and undue leniency applications. Practitioners are urged to ensure that any such materials are furnished to the court office at least two weeks in advance of the remote hearing date to facilitate the transmission of the materials to the Court. Please note that as and from the 26th of May 2025, CA 15 must be complied with in respect of Sentence severity and undue leniency Appeals. Practitioners are also reminded that there is no necessity to apply to Court for the preparation of a Governor's Report or an Educational Report so that such Reports are available in the event of the Court finding an error in principle in the sentence imposed by the court of trial. On receipt of an email to the court office (in good time in advance of the hearing date) specifying the nature of the Report required, the date of the appeal hearing and the prison where the appellant or respondent (as the case may be) is incarcerated the office will request the required Report from the relevant prison.

Chief Prosecution Solicitor - service of documents and notification of any intended application
Practitioners are reminded of the requirement to serve on the Chief Prosecution Solicitor for the Director of Public Prosecutions written submissions lodged in or transmitted via email to...