The Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737 was passed by the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two ch ...

in 1737. The statute was primarily directed at the perceived problem caused by the widespread use of

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and

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in courts but has had the effect of excluding autochthonous languages, given that it excludes the use of "''any other tongue or language whatsoever''". The Act was controversial among Irish language advocates, due to the fact that in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

, a court proceeding could not be carried out in the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

. The Act forbade the use of any language but

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

in court proceedings and all courts in the jurisdiction followed it. The equivalents of this Act passed for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in 1731 and for

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in 1733 were repealed for both countries in 1863. Northern Ireland is thus the only jurisdiction in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

that currently retains this legislation. The New Decade, New Approach agreement, which restored the devolved government in Northern Ireland on 9 January 2020, provided for legislation to amend the

Northern Ireland Act 1998 __NOTOC__ The Northern Ireland Act 1998 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allowed Westminster to devolve power to Northern Ireland, after decades of direct rule. It renamed the New Northern Ireland Assembly, established by ...

that, among other changes, was repeal of the 1737 act. This Act will be repealed by section 4 of the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022 once it is brought into force.

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Full text of the original Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737 (c.6).Revised statute as it currently stands.Droim láimhe is diúltú glan don Ghaeilge (''Total rejection of Irish Gaelic''.) Mark Durkan, MLA, MP questions the Minister for Justice, Mr David Ford, MLA. (''Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams supports the abolition of the Act'')Céim Siar Maidir le Stádas na Gaeilge ó Thuaidh
(''A blow to the status of the Irish Gaelic Language in the North of Ireland''.) Repealed Irish legislation Acts of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) 1737 in Ireland 1737 in law Courts of Ireland before 1922 Courts of Northern Ireland Language legislation

See also

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