Family Courts Act 2024
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Amendment of Act of 2010 | ||
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88. The Act of 2010 is amended— | ||
(a) in section 50(6), by the substitution of “Family District Court district” for “District Court district”, | ||
(b) in section 51(3)— | ||
(i) by the substitution of “Family District Court” for “District Court”, and | ||
(ii) by the substitution of “€50,000” for “€15,000”, | ||
(c) in section 52A— | ||
(i) in subsection (2), by the substitution of “Family District Court” for “District Court”, | ||
(ii) in subsection (3)— | ||
(I) by the substitution of “by the Family District Court” for “by the District Court”, and | ||
(II) by the substitution of “before the Family District Court” for “before the District Court”, | ||
(iii) in subsection (4)— | ||
(I) in paragraph (c), by the substitution of “Family District Court” for “District Court”, and | ||
(II) in paragraph (d), by the substitution of “Family District Court” for “District Court”, | ||
(iv) in subsection (5), by the substitution of “Family District Court” for “District Court”, | ||
(v) in subsection (6), by the substitution of “Family District Court” for “District Court”, | ||
(vi) in subsection (7), by the substitution of “Family District Court” for “District Court” in both places where it occurs, | ||
(vii) in subsection (9)(b), by the substitution of “Family District Court” for “District Court”, and | ||
(viii) in subsection (13), by the substitution of “Family District Court” for “District Court”, | ||
(d) in section 53(1), in the definition of “court”— | ||
(i) in paragraph (a), by the substitution of “Family High Court” for “High Court” in both places where it occurs, | ||
(ii) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “Family Circuit Court” for “Circuit Court”, and | ||
(iii) in paragraph (c), by the substitution of “the Family District Court” for “the District Court” in both places where it occurs, | ||
(e) in section 110(1), by the substitution of “either of the civil partners or on the joint application of both civil partners” for “either of the civil partners”, | ||
(f) by the insertion of the following section after section 110: | ||
“Joint application for ancillary orders | ||
110A. In proceedings for a grant of a decree of dissolution under section 110 (amended by section 88 of the Family Courts Act 2024), following the making of a joint application for such a decree after the coming into operation of the said section 88 , the applicants may apply jointly in the proceedings concerned for any order referred to in this Part and such order may be made by the court under this Part before, on or after the grant of the decree of dissolution.”, | ||
(g) in section 139— | ||
(i) by the deletion of the definition of “Circuit Court”, and | ||
(ii) by the insertion of the following definitions: | ||
“ ‘Family Circuit Court’ means the Family Circuit Court when it is exercising its jurisdiction to hear and determine civil partnership law proceedings or transferring civil partnership law proceedings to the Family District Court or the Family High Court; | ||
‘Family District Court’ means the Family District Court when it is exercising its jurisdiction to hear and determine civil partnership law proceedings or transferring civil partnership law proceedings to the Family Circuit Court or the Family High Court;”, | ||
(h) in section 140— | ||
(i) in subsection (1), by the substitution of “the Family District Court, the Family Circuit Court and the Family High Court have concurrent jurisdiction” for “the Circuit Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the High Court”, | ||
(ii) in subsection (2)— | ||
(I) by the substitution of “Family District Court, and the Family Circuit Court on appeal from the Family District Court, have concurrent jurisdiction with the Family High Court” for “District Court, and the Circuit Court on appeal from the District Court, have concurrent jurisdiction with the High Court”, | ||
(II) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a): | ||
“(a) subject to section 67 of the Family Courts Act 2024, they do not have jurisdiction to make an order under one of those sections for the payment of a periodical sum at a rate greater than €1,500 per week for support of a civil partner or €500 per week for the support of a dependent child of the civil partners,”, | ||
(III) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “Family High Court” for “High Court”, and | ||
(IV) in paragraph (c)— | ||
(A) by the substitution of “Family District Court” for “District Court” in both places where it occurs, and | ||
(B) by the substitution of “Family Circuit Court” for “Circuit Court”, | ||
(iii) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2): | ||
“(2A) The Family District Court shall not have jurisdiction to hear and determine proceedings— | ||
(a) under section 4, or | ||
(b) for a decree of nullity under section 107. | ||
(2B) Subject to section 67 of the Family Courts Act 2024 and subsection (2D), the Family District Court shall not have jurisdiction in civil partnership proceedings under this Act where the market value of any land to which the proceedings relate exceeds €1 million. | ||
(2C) Subject to section 67 of the Family Courts Act 2024 and subsection (2D), where proceedings are brought in the Family District Court and the court is of the view, on the basis of the evidence before it, that the market value of the land to which the proceedings relate exceeds €1 million, the court shall transfer the proceedings to the Family Circuit Court, but any order made or act done in the course of such proceedings before such transfer shall be valid unless discharged or varied by order of the Family Circuit Court. | ||
(2D) The Minister may by order increase the amount referred to in subsections (2B) and (2C) up to a maximum amount of €2 million where he or she considers it appropriate to do so having regard to— | ||
(a) changes in the market value of land, | ||
(b) the need to minimise the costs of proceedings, and | ||
(c) the guiding principles in section 8 of the Family Courts Act 2024. | ||
(2E) Every order made by the Minister under subsection (2D) shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House sits after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.”, | ||
(iv) in subsection (4), by the substitution of “Family District Court and the Family Circuit Court may be exercised by the judge of the relevant Family District Court district or Family Circuit Court circuit” for “Circuit Court may be exercised by the judge of the circuit”, | ||
(v) by the deletion of subsection (5), | ||
(vi) in subsection (5A), by the substitution of “In this section” for “In subsection (5) and the following subsection”, | ||
(vii) by the deletion of subsections (5B), (6), (7), (8) and (9), and | ||
(viii) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (10): | ||
“(10) Subject to section 67 of the Family Courts Act 2024, the Family District Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine a question arising out of section 34 where the value of the household chattels intended to be disposed of or removed or actually disposed of or removed does not exceed €50,000.”, | ||
(i) by the deletion of sections 143 and 144, | ||
(j) in section 145, by the substitution of “ section 96 of the Family Courts Act 2024” for “ section 40 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 ”, | ||
(k) in section 171, in the definition of “court”, by the substitution of “Family High Court, Family Circuit Court or the Family District Court” for “High Court, the Circuit Court or the District Court”, | ||
(l) in section 196— | ||
(i) in subsection (1), by the substitution of “Family Circuit Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the Family High Court” for “Circuit Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the High Court”, | ||
(ii) in subsection (2)— | ||
(I) by the substitution of “Family District Court, and the Family Circuit Court on appeal from the Family District Court, have concurrent jurisdiction with the Family High Court” for “District Court, and the Circuit Court on appeal from the District Court, have concurrent jurisdiction with the High Court”, | ||
(II) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a): | ||
“(a) subject to section 67 of the Family Courts Act 2024, they do not have jurisdiction to make such an order for periodical payments at a rate greater than €1,500 per week,”, | ||
(III) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “Family High Court” for “High Court”, and | ||
(IV) in paragraph (c)— | ||
(A) by the substitution of “Family District Court” for “District Court” in both places where it occurs, and | ||
(B) by the substitution of “Family Circuit Court” for “Circuit Court”, | ||
(iii) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2): | ||
“(2A) Subject to section 67 of the Family Courts Act 2024 and subsection (2C), the Family District Court shall not have jurisdiction in proceedings on applications for orders for redress referred to in section 173 where the market value of any land to which the proceedings relate exceeds €1 million. | ||
(2B) Subject to section 67 of the Family Courts Act 2024 and subsection (2C), where proceedings on applications for orders for redress referred to in section 173 are brought in the Family District Court and the court is of the view, on the basis of the evidence before it, that the market value of the land to which the proceedings relate exceeds €1 million, the court shall transfer the proceedings to the Family Circuit Court, but any order made or act done in the course of such proceedings before such transfer shall be valid unless discharged or varied by order of the Family Circuit Court. | ||
(2C) The Minister may by order increase the amount referred to in subsections (2A) and (2B) up to a maximum amount of €2 million where he or she considers it appropriate to do so having regard to— | ||
(a) changes in the market value of land, | ||
(b) the need to minimise the costs of proceedings, and | ||
(c) the guiding principles in section 8 of the Family Courts Act 2024. | ||
(2D) Every order made by the Minister under subsection (2C) shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House sits after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.”, | ||
(iv) in subsection (5), by the substitution of “Family District Court and Family Circuit Court may be exercised by the judge of the relevant Family District Court district or Family Circuit Court circuit” for “Circuit Court may be exercised by the judge of the circuit”, | ||
(v) by the deletion of subsection (6), | ||
(vi) in subsection (6A), by the substitution of “In this section” for “In subsection (6) and the following subsection”, and | ||
(vii) by the deletion of subsections (6B) and (7), | ||
(m) by the deletion of section 198, and | ||
(n) in section 199, by the substitution of “ section 96 of the Family Courts Act 2024” for “ section 40 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 ”. |