Dáil Courts

The Dáil Courts (also known as Republican Courts) were the judicial branch of government of the Irish Republic, which had unilaterally declared independence in 1919. They were formally established by a decree of the First Dáil on 29 June 1920, replacing more limited Arbitration Courts that had been authorised a year earlier. The Dáil Courts were an integral part of the Irish Republic's policy of undermining British rule in Ireland by establishing a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. They continued in operation until shortly into the life of the Irish Free State, which was established on 6 December 1922, after the approval of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The precursor of the Dáil Court system was a forum for arbitration commonly known as the Sinn Féin Court. In 1904, Arthur Griffith had reiterated the idea of National Arbitration Courts in every county: At a meeting of the Ministry of Dáil Éireann on 23 June 1919, it was decided to set up a committee on Arbitration Courts. Unlike the rules that then regulated who could become a Justice of the Peace, women were expressly eligible to become judges in the new courts. The general idea of Parish and District Courts on the lines of those then operating in South County Mayo, County Galway and West County Clare was approved. The Parish Courts were usually arbitrated by local Irish Republican Army, Catholic clergy, or Sinn Féin figures who had authority in the area. In appearance they were less formal than the British civil courts and its officers did not wear regalia associated with the legal profession of the time such as gowns and wigs. They filled a vacuum created by the conflict, and sought to persuade people who were inclined to fear the IRA's revolutionary nature that an independent Ireland would not set aside personal and property rights. During the war, the courts gradually extended their influence across most of the country, usurping the British law courts as the British government lost its authority in the eyes of the majority.