Irish Law

Ireland operates a common law legal system under a written constitution, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted by popular referendum on 1 July 1937 and brought into force that December, which stands as the cornerstone of the Irish legal order and the ultimate source of authority for every branch of government. The system follows the British parliamentary model in its separation of legislative, judicial and executive power, but with a popularly elected president rather than a monarch, and its courts hold the power of judicial review to strike down legislation inconsistent with the constitution. Irish law draws on several layers: the constitution itself, statutes passed by the Oireachtas, judge-made common law, secondary legislation in the form of statutory instruments, European Union law, and international law, with a statute book that reaches back more than eight hundred years, incorporating pre-independence enactments that remain compatible with the current constitution.