The Courts Service is proposing to abolish six of the smaller district courts in outlying areas of Co Galway and amalgamate their lists with the bigger courts in Galway city, Clifden and Tuam.
It plans to abolish the six smallest courts which sit four or five times a year in Oughterard, Maam, Letterfrack and Carna in Connemara; and Derreen and Headford in north Galway.
The proposals if implemented would mean 26 court days will be abolished around the county, freeing staff to undertake extra court sittings in Galway city. Jobs will not be affected by the proposed cuts.
The Galway proposals are part of a strategy by the Courts Service to streamline the administration of courts in rural areas around the country. It has spent €100 million in the last four years refurbishing courthouses in county towns.
No time limit has been set for the implementation of the new proposals and a consultation process is underway with those who will be affected by the cuts.
The proposals have met with resistance from solicitors, gardaí and probation officers, who do not want to see those courts taken away from rural communities.
The Courts Service argues that facilities at Headford and Oughterard are inadequate, while Galway Courthouse has four courtrooms, a family law room and four consultation rooms.
However, solicitors and gardaí say the removal of the courts would amount to downgrading both towns.
A spokeswoman for the four solicitors' firms practising in Headford said: "This is totally unacceptable. Headford is a thriving business town and to downgrade it would be a retrograde step."
Practitioners are surprised at the proposal to close the local courthouse as it was renovated by the Courts Service just a few years ago. Figures released by the service show that Headford District Court dealt with 308 cases in 2002, while Oughterard District Court processed 199 cases during the same period.
People whose first language is Irish will continue to have their cases heard through the medium of Irish.
Aran District Court, which many feared might have been amalgamated with Clifden, will remain untouched.