Judgments of the District, Circuit, and High Court can be registered by you, the claimant, if you choose to do so. This involves recording the judgment in the Register of Judgments in the High Court, which contains details of all monetary judgments submitted to the Central Office of the High Court in the Four Courts Complex in Dublin.
The purpose of registering a judgment is to make the judgment available for public searching. Registering a judgment does not force the respondent to repay the debt. However, it may lead to the respondent making the repayment, so that the debt will be noted as paid on the Register of Judgments.
The steps you must complete to register a judgment are outlined below.
District and Circuit Court Judgments
In order to register a District or Circuit Court judgment, there are two steps involved:
- You must submit a Memorandum of Registration of Judgment (template form that can be used) in the court office where your judgment was granted. When you submit it in the court office, it is checked by a member of the Courts Service staff. If the Memorandum is incorrectly completed, the court office cannot accept it and will return it to you to be corrected. When you have corrected it you can resubmit it to the court office, and if completed correctly the court office will sign it and return it to you.
- You must then submit the signed Memorandum of Registration of Judgment, along with a Certificate of Registration of Judgment (template form that can be used) in the Judgments section of the Central Office of the High Court.
High Court Judgments
In order to register a High Court judgment, you must submit a Memorandum of Registration of Judgment, along with a Certificate of Registration of Judgment (template form that can be used for both) in the Judgments section of the Central Office of the High Court.
Court Fees for Registering a Judgment
Original documents must be stamped with a court fee. You can pay the court fees at your local court office (or in Dublin, at the Stamping Office in the Áras Uí Dhálaigh building in the Four Courts complex). You can pay these fees by card or cash.
District and Circuit Court Fees
Memorandum of Registration of Judgment: €15 (plus an additional €25 to register it in the High Court).
High Court Fees
Memorandum of Registration of Judgment: €25.
Registering the Judgment as a Mortgage
You can register the judgment against any property owned and registered in the name of the respondent with the Property Registration Authority (PRA), by applying for a Judgment Mortgage.
This means that if the respondent sells the property, they will be legally required to account for any judgment mortgage registered against the property.
In order to register a judgment as a mortgage, you must first complete a Judgment Mortgage Affidavit and submit it in the court office where the judgment was granted, along with the appropriate court fee.
If the details of the affidavit are correct, the Courts Service staff member will sign (certify) the affidavit and return it to the claimant for submission to the Property Registration Authority (PRA).
Please see the Judgment Mortgage section of the PRAI website for more information on their process and the relevant documents.
Court Fees for Registering a Judgment as a Mortgage
Original documents must be stamped with a court fee. You can pay the court fees at your local court office (or in Dublin, at the Stamping Office in the Áras Uí Dhálaigh building in the Four Courts complex). You can pay these fees by card or cash.
Registration of a Judgment Mortgage: €20.
Please see the Judgment Mortgage section of the PRAI website for information on their additional fees.
