The Courts Service has launched a pilot of its Open Data Portal, which is aimed at making data from the courts easily available and accessible.

The portal is now live at data.courts.ie and aims to promote a greater awareness and a better understanding of courts data.

The courts body says that the portal presents the data in a simple and understandable manner, and uses graphical tools to look at trends and patterns.

Downloads for re-use

The figures on the portal are also available to download for re-use, in line with open-data principles.

Angela Denning (chief executive officer, Courts Service) described the portal as “a key step” in providing better access to, and a better understanding of, courts data.

“The portal takes the data from our annual reports and presents it in a simple, straightforward manner,” she continued.

Transparency

“It includes data from all courts – from the District Court right up to the Supreme Court – and is designed to show key statistics, highlight trends and patterns with data, and make the data available for re-use.

“The launch of this portal highlights our commitment to open data, and to transparency and accessibility, and will facilitate a better use of courts data," Denning (pictured) concluded.

The Courts Service is encouraging citizens, legal professionals, and researchers to explore the portal, which currently contains five years of statistics from the organisation’s annual reports. The courts body says that more localised data will be added in future years.