The Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737 (11 Geo.

The statute was primarily directed at the perceived problem caused by the widespread use of Law French and Latin in courts but has had the effect of excluding autochthonous languages, given that it excludes the use of "any other tongue or language whatsoever".

[2][3] The equivalents of this act passed for England in 1731 and for Wales in 1733 were repealed for both countries in 1863 and in the Republic of Ireland in 1962.

Northern Ireland was thus the only jurisdiction in the United Kingdom that retained this legislation after 1962, which legislation remains in force pending commencement of the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022.

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 that, among other changes, required repeal of the 1737 act.