What the Civil Reform Bill 2025 Could Mean for Personal Injury Litigation in Ireland

Personal injury litigation in Ireland may be facing one of its most practical shake-ups in years under the General Scheme of the Civil Reform Bill 2025.

The Scheme, published on the 6^th January 2026 details changes in the context of Judicial Review litigation but several of its proposed changes would also affect how personal injury cases are dealt with. Importantly, this is a General Scheme, so the final Act may differ from the current proposals and it also remains to be seen how long it will take for these proposals to actually be enacted.

So what are the key proposals?

1.  Changes to Court Jurisdiction

The Bill proposes increasing the monetary jurisdiction of the Circuit Court from €75,000 to €100,000. It also proposes increasing the monetary jurisdiction of the District Court from €15,000 to €20,000. If enacted, these changes would be significant and in all likelihood, many personal injury cases may fall within the Circuit Court instead of the High Court. As Circuit Court cases, are, in theory, expected to move faster, it is hoped that cases will be resolved more quickly however that remains to be seen given the undoubted increase in workload for the Circuit Court.

For injured parties, choosing the correct court may become even more important as the Bill also proposes cost consequences for certain High Court actions where the damages recovered fall within lower bands.

One would hope that if the Court jurisdictions are being increased, so too should the Judicial Guidelines for compensation be reviewed.

2. Improved Discovery

One of the biggest proposed changes is the replacement of the existing discovery, inspection and production procedures in civil cases. Discovery is the process where parties are required to hand over relevant documents to each other and often comes towards the end of a case after lengthy and costly Court applications.

Under the proposed new system, parties would have to produce documents, early on, which they intend to rely on at trial, which are relevant and material to the outcome of the case. A claimant would need to produce the documents following service of their claim and the Defendant would need to do so once they have filed their defence.

The Bill also proposes that parties must produce additional documents not later than 28 days before trial if those documents have become relevant and material because of pleadings, affidavits, witness statements, expert reports or other submissions.

A party may not be allowed to rely on, at trial, documents that were not produced in accordance with the proposed document-production regime, unless the court gives permission.

For claimants, this may allow them to better prepare for a case by getting the documents, the Defendants intend to rely on, before a case is heard, instead of facing the possibility of trial by ambush.

The documentation to be produced may also change as the Bill aims to have more focused documentation requests. Too often, wide ranging and disproportionate requests for discovery are seen and the Bill should hopefully change that. The practical message is that parties may need to be more focused when seeking documents and more organised when producing them.

The Bill also deals with production of documents by non-parties. A Court may order a non-party to produce documents where production is relevant and material to the outcome of the proceedings, necessary for the administration of justice, and the documents are not in the power, possession or control of the parties. In personal injury litigation, this could be important where documents are held by, for example, a hospital, employer, public authority, occupier, contractor, insurer.

3. Pre-Action Protocols

The Bill proposes new powers for the Minister to make pre-action protocols for specified areas of litigation. A pre-action protocol is a set of steps, parties must take, before bringing proceedings and these already exist in some areas of litigation.

If a personal injury pre-action protocol is introduced, the parties may have to exchange more information before proceedings begin.

4. Plaintiffs may have to be clearer about old injuries and new injuries

A very direct personal injury reform appears in Head 24 of the General Scheme.

The Bill proposes amending section 10(2) of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 so that plaintiffs in personal injuries actions must give full particulars of any relevant pre-existing medical condition, including injuries and illnesses, and distinguish those from the injuries that are the subject of the claim.

Claimants in personal injury cases are already required to disclose relevant pre-existing injuries or conditions but this provision places an increased emphasis on the need to identify the extent of the current injury, or the degree to which an accident aggravated an earlier condition from the outset.

5. Speedier cases

The Bill proposes case conduct principles for civil proceedings.

Those principles include identifying, defining, narrowing and prioritising issues at an early stage, conducting proceedings in an expeditious manner and using alternative dispute resolution where appropriate. In theory, this sounds promising but will also place a significant burden on a claimant to have all their investigations done early on and will be dependent upon proper disclosure by Defendants.

The Bill also proposes a presumption against adjournments, extensions and stays unless the court is satisfied that there is sufficient reason and that the adjournment/extension/stay is in the interests of justice. The agreement of the parties would not, by itself, be enough to justify an adjournment, extension or stay.

Another important proposal is the deemed discontinuance of civil actions and allows for an application to be made if a case as been idle for six months.

6. Conclusion

In practical terms,  the Bill would likely make personal injury litigation more front-loaded if enacted in its current broad form and will hopefully mean that defendants will investigate accidents, preserve evidence, gather records and respond meaningfully at an earlier stage. Both sides may face stronger pressure to narrow issues, consider settlement, comply with protocols, avoid delays and keep the case moving.

Contact us at Cantillons Solicitors at +353 (0)21 4275673 or info@cantillons.com if you would like more information.

*“In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.”