Customer Service

Customer Charter
Complaint form
Customer Service Action Plan
Customer Service Officer

We are committed to providing a high quality and professional service to all users of the courts. Our Customer Charter sets out the standard of service you may expect in your dealings with us.

Ethics and Professionalism

We will conduct our business to the highest standards of ethical and professional behaviour in an atmosphere of mutual respect and courtesy.

Courtesy

We will deliver our services promptly, courteously, efficiently and to the best of our ability. We will be polite and professional in all our dealings with you.
We will act with integrity, impartiality and fairness at all times.

Equality and Diversity

We will deal with you in a fair and open manner irrespective of race, gender, socio-economic status, language, disability, and/or other social attributes.

Visits to our offices

All visitors to our offices will be treated with respect, courtesy and efficiency.

We will do our best to ensure your privacy when you conduct business in our offices.

Correspondence

We will reply to letters within 15 working days. If it is not possible to send a full reply we will send you an interim reply, explaining the position.

We will reply fully to e-mails within 7 working days.

Our correspondence will identify the writer's name and/or position, the address of the court office, a direct telephone number and an e-mail address.We will use clear language which is understandable and concise.

Contact details for each court office are listed on this site.

Telephone

Members of staff answering the telephone will identify themselves and their office. If our staff cannot help you immediately, they will take your details and let you know when you may expect to hear from us.
We will endeavour to take your call without undue delay. Offices which have a message facility will return your call within one working day. Not all of our offices have message facilities. But, we are in the process of rectifying this.

Access to information

We will promptly provide clear and correct information. In cases where we cannot release information, we will explain why.

We will make available the Courts Service's information leaflets in all our public offices and on this site.

We will make available certain relevant court forms (such as those relating to Small Claims and Personal Probate Applications) to members of the public in court offices and on this site.

Other forms are available in the Rules of Court for the various jurisdictions.

While we are happy to provide information, the Courts Service cannot provide legal advice.

Service through Irish

If you write to us in Irish we will reply in Irish. We will make every effort to accommodate customers who wish to conduct their business through Irish.

We publish our corporate documents in Irish (for example Strategic Plan, Customer Service Action Plan, Customer Charter and Annual Report).

We publish some of our information leaflets in Irish, and we are working to expand the range of information available in Irish. We will meet our commitments under the Official Languages Act, 2003.

Physical Access

We are seeking to ensure that court facilities are safe, accessible and convenient to use. There will be clear sign-posting to assist your movement within court buildings. There should be appropriate signage directing you to courthouses and court offices.
We are implementing a structured programme to provide quality access for people with disabilities, including those with hearing and sight difficulties. We particularly welcome comments from customers which might help us to improve access to and within our buildings.

Help us to help you

We can help you best if you:

• provide any information you have which is relevant to your inquiry.
• provide any documents and reference numbers you have which are relevant.
• follow any checklists or guidelines which you have been given.
• treat our staff and other customers with courtesy and respect.

Let us know

We welcome your comments, suggestions and views on any aspect of our service because we believe that this will help us to provide an improved service.

Please let us know if you are particularly pleased with any aspect of our service.

You may contact the Quality Customer Service Officer at the Courts Service, Phoenix House, 15/24 Phoenix Street North, Smithfield, Dublin 7. email: QCSO@courts.ie

Complaints

If our service falls short of what you consider to be acceptable, then we have in place a formal customer complaints procedure. Copies of our complaints procedure leaflet  are available in all of our public offices.

If you are not satisfied with the service you receive from the Courts Service, you should make your complaint as soon as possible.

You can do this by asking to speak to the office manager. Where possible, he or she will try to rectify the situation without delay. If you do not obtain a satisfactory result, or if for any reason you would prefer not to complain at the time, you should make your complaint in writing using the Customer Complaint form.

All complaints will be dealt with promptly and in an objective and courteous manner.

Written complaints will be investigated fairly and impartially.  All written complaints will be logged and receipt will be acknowledged within 5 working days. All written complaints will be investigated by an official who was not involved in the matter giving rise to the complaint.

Where the complaint relates solely to the actions of the Courts Service, a substantive reply will normally be sent to you within 20 working days.

Where it is necessary to consult others, or if the complexity of the matter requires more time, a revised response time and a progress report will be issued.

Note:

The judiciary is independent in its functions. Accordingly, any decision, finding, judgement or ruling of the courts can only be addressed through the courts.

Certain quasi-judicial decisions made by staff of the Courts Service can only be appealed to court (for example, decisions made by certain officials of the High Court and County Registrars).

Complaints about legal professionals or other bodies must be addressed to the appropriate organisation.