# Ireland Legal Research MCP Server (`ie-legal-mcp`)

## English Documentation

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server providing direct, read-only access to **Ireland (IE)** legislation, multi-tier judicial decisions (First Instance, Regional/Cantonal/Appellate, and Supreme/Constitutional courts), and statutory citation verification across major AI clients (**Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code / GitHub Copilot, Cline, Continue.dev, and Antigravity**).

---

### Interactive Desktop Setup (Select Your AI Assistant)

This package includes a graphical installer for legal practitioners and non-technical users that lets you select which AI application(s) you use:

1. **Download:** Click **`<> Code`** at the top right of this repository, select **`Download ZIP`**, and extract the folder to your computer.
2. **Run the Setup Utility:**
   - **Windows:** Double-click `Click_Here_To_Install_Windows.bat`
   - **macOS:** Double-click `Click_Here_To_Install_Mac.command`
3. **Select Your AI Client(s) & Connect:** Check the box(es) for the AI assistant(s) installed on your computer (**Claude Desktop**, **Cursor**, **Windsurf**, **VS Code / GitHub Copilot**, **Cline**, **Continue.dev**, or **Antigravity**), click **Install to Selected AI Clients**, and restart your selected AI application.

**System Integrity Note:** The setup utility operates strictly in read-only mode with respect to your personal files and documents. It installs an isolated Python runtime inside the extracted folder and registers the server entry only in the AI client configuration files you select.

---

### Multi-Tier Judicial Hierarchy & Official Sources

This server indexes and queries decisions across the full judicial hierarchy of **Ireland**, allowing practitioners to filter research by procedural stage:

| Judicial Tier | Covered Courts & Tribunals |
|:---|:---|
| **Tier 1 — First Instance** | District Court of Ireland, Circuit Court of Ireland & High Court of Ireland (IEHC) |
| **Tier 2 — Regional / Cantonal / Appellate** | Court of Appeal of Ireland (IECA — Civil & Criminal) |
| **Tier 3 — Supreme & Constitutional** | Supreme Court of Ireland / Cúirt Uachtarach na hÉireann (IESC) |

#### Primary Legal Portals

- **National Legislation Registry:** electronic Irish Statute Book (irishstatutebook.ie) & Oireachtas Open Data API (`https://api.oireachtas.ie/v1/legislation`)
- **Multi-Tier Case Law Database:** Courts Service of Ireland Judgments Registry (courts.ie/judgments — IEHC, IECA, IESC) (`https://www.courts.ie/judgments`)
- **Supported Citation Format Example:** `[2024] IESC 10 or [2024] IECA 45`

#### Indexed Court & Regional Sub-Portals

| Sub-Portal Identifier (`sub_court`) | Official Endpoint / Registry |
|:---|:---|
| `courts_ie_judgments` | `https://www.courts.ie/judgments` |

---

### Available MCP Tools

| Tool | Description |
|:---|:---|
| `search_legislation` | Searches enacted statutes, codes, decrees, and official gazette publications in Ireland. |
| `search_case_law` | Searches national jurisprudence and European/ECLI-linked judgments for Ireland. |
| `search_tiered_court_decisions` | Filters case law specifically by judicial instance (`first_instance`, `appellate_regional`, `supreme_constitutional`) or regional/cantonal court key (`sub_court`). |
| `list_court_hierarchy` | Returns the complete 3-tier court structure and registered sub-portal endpoints for Ireland. |
| `get_legal_document_markdown` | Retrieves full statutory or judicial texts and converts them into clean Markdown. |
| `verify_citation` | Validates statutory and case law citations against official registries. |

---

<details>
<summary><b>Manual Configuration for Developers (Optional)</b></summary>

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ie-legal-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/jurisatlas/ie-legal-mcp",
        "ie-legal-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```
</details>