Do we have emergency legislation?

Victor

Post "The Emergency", post "The Troubles", do we have legislation for dealing with "state of emergency" type situations?

walrusgumble

Victor wrote: »

Post "The Emergency", post "The Troubles", do we have legislation for dealing with "state of emergency" type situations?

i think that the from the break of ww2 right up to the 1972 south of ireland was offically under the "emergency" (on paper) and again in late 1970's up until the 1994 ceasefire to deal with the north. legislation in relation to the speical criminal court be relevant/ linked to the emergency when it was re-introduced or the media censorship ban on sinn fein/ira ?

mikemac

Yep, I'd agree with the above post

Offenses against the State Act was introduced in 1939 and IRA men were executed with the legislation
Parts of it have changed but it's not just for terrorism, major criminals can be charged with it and of course, we still have the Special Criminal Court. I believe Minister McDowell wanted to see the SCC used more and more for criminal cases after trials of Limerick crime bosses collapsed due to witness intimadation. It happened a few times.
And I believe for the Special Criminal Court while it's three judges, three army officers can perform that role as well.

Minister for Justice can order internment without trial

Tom Young

Victor wrote: »

Post "The Emergency", post "The Troubles", do we have legislation for dealing with "state of emergency" type situations?

We do and it subsists in part. I can't post now on this, but will.

Tom

Victor

Sorry, I'm thinking more major disaster with thousands dead or civil war.

Tom Young

Victor wrote: »

Sorry, I'm thinking more major disaster with thousands dead or civil war.

Oh sorry, I was thinking Emergency Powers. I suspect nothing more than something to do with iodine tablets!

walrusgumble

Tom Young wrote: »

Oh sorry, I was thinking Emergency Powers. I suspect nothing more than something to do with iodine tablets!

And the extremely helpful booklet from willie o'dea's department of defence that came out about 1 1/2 year ago. I must say, with out that book, I would never have thought turning off the electrics would be required during a flood:rolleyes:. Ah well, at least it was bilingual, considering the many depressing poems, short stories etc in our native language, the writers were gagging to finally use the many words they would never normally use from their irish vocabulary.:p

Still, its good to know that our island does indeed have an underground bunker that will save the day when a nuclear strikes occurs. Shame it only has room for the cabinet and our glorious president.Not much use to the people of Athlone itself.

One would have imagined that our wonerful governments would have known why flood plans are called flood plans when they decided to allow planning authorities (or vica versa) the green light the the unprecedented builiding on same.:mad:

walrusgumble

Victor wrote: »

Sorry, I'm thinking more major disaster with thousands dead or civil war.

A call to the United Nations???

Don't the Constitution has an article dealing with when to declare war and when to postpone the personal rights and civil liberties?

Do other countries or States like in America have legislation in place to deal with major disasters?

Would that be a good idea, considering such legislation may have been brought into law eg 10 years ago and may get bogged down in the Oireachtas if it requires amending etc to specifically meet with the problems at hand - like say when the seanad moved in on Dev during prior to the break of war or Cumann na ngaedheal with Governor General TM Healy?

Tom Young

walrusgumble wrote: »

A call to the United Nations???

walrusgumble wrote: »

Don't the Constitution has an article dealing with when to declare war and when to postpone the personal rights and civil liberties?

It does!

walrusgumble wrote: »

Do other countries or States like in America have legislation in place to deal with major disasters?

The US has FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency

walrusgumble wrote: »

Would that be a good idea, considering such legislation may have been brought into law eg 10 years ago and may get bogged down in the Oireachtas if it requires amending etc to specifically meet with the problems at hand - like say when the seanad moved in on Dev during prior to the break of war or Cumann na ngaedheal with Governor General TM Healy?

Our man in Havana

Are there any provisions to introduce martial law?

Victor

The problem in such circumstances is that we would be dependent on the Oireachtas meeting, which may not be practical. But I suppose that is also a safeguard against an executive coup.

I wonder does anyone have a "here's one I made earlier" bill sitting in a filing cabinet.

dermot_sheehan

Article 28.3 of the Constitution:
1° War shall not be declared and the State shall not participate in any war save with the assent of Dáil Éireann.

2° In the case of actual invasion, however, the Government may take whatever steps they may consider necessary for the protection of the State, and Dáil Éireann if not sitting shall be summoned to meet at the earliest practicable date.

3° Nothing in this Constitution other than Article 15.5.2° shall be invoked to invalidate any law enacted by the Oireachtas which is expressed to be for the purpose of securing the public safety and the preservation of the State in time of war or armed rebellion, or to nullify any act done or purporting to be done in time of war or armed rebellion in pursuance of any such law. In this sub-section "time of war" includes a time when there is taking place an armed conflict in which the State is not a participant but in respect of which each of the Houses of the Oireachtas shall have resolved that, arising out of such armed conflict, a national emergency exists affecting the vital interests of the State and "time of war or armed rebel-lion" includes such time after the termination of any war, or of any such armed conflict as aforesaid, or of an armed rebellion, as may elapse until each of the Houses of the Oireachtas shall have resolved that the national emergency occasioned by such war, armed conflict, or armed rebellion has ceased to exist.

During the second world war the government passed the Emergency Powers Act which allowed it to introduce primary legislation by government order

Also the constitutional provisions governing habeas corpus don't apply during wartime

Article 40
4. 1° No citizen shall be deprived of his personal liberty save in accordance with law.

2° Upon complaint being made by or on behalf of any person to the High Court or any judge thereof alleging that such person is being unlawfully detained, the High Court and any and every judge thereof to whom such complaint is made shall forthwith enquire into the said complaint and may order the person in whose custody such person is detained to produce the body of such person before the High Court on a named day and to certify in writing the grounds of his detention, and the High Court shall, upon the body of such person being produced before that Court and after giving the person in whose custody he is detained an opportunity of justifying the detention, order the release of such person from such detention unless satisfied that he is being detained in accordance with the law.

3° Where the body of a person alleged to be unlawfully detained is produced before the High Court in pursuance of an order in that behalf made under this section and that Court is satisfied that such person is being detained in accordance with a law but that such law is invalid having regard to the provisions of this Constitution, the High Court shall refer the question of the validity of such law to the Supreme Court by way of case stated and may, at the time of such reference or at any time thereafter, allow the said person to be at liberty on such bail and subject to such conditions as the High Court shall fix until the Supreme Court has determined the question so referred to it.

4° The High Court before which the body of a person alleged to be unlawfully detained is to be produced in pursuance of an order in that behalf made under this section shall, if the President of the High Court or, if he is not available, the senior judge of that Court who is available so directs in respect of any particular case, consist of three judges and shall, in every other case, consist of one judge only.

5° Nothing in this section, however, shall be invoked to prohibit, control, or interfere with any act of the Defence Forces during the existence of a state of war or armed rebellion.