DISTRICT JUSTICES (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) BILL—COMMITTEE STAGE.
The Dáil went into Committee on the District Justices (Temporary Provisions) Bill.
SECTION 1.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I move the first section of the Bill. It provides:
(1) It shall be lawful for the Governor-General of the Irish Free State on the advice of the Executive Council, from time to time to appoint fit and proper persons, being Barristers-at-Law in Saorstát Eireann or Solicitors of the Supreme Court in Saorstát Eireann, to be magistrates, with the title of "District Justices," and to perform the duties and have the powers prescribed by this Act.
(2) Every person appointed to be a District Justice may be dismissed or removed at the pleasure of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State on the advice of the Executive Council.
(3) Every person so appointed to be a District Justice shall, while he holds that office, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas such salary and allowances as the Minister, with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance, shall appoint.
(4) No person shall, while holding the office of District Justice, be capable of holding any other office or position of emolument, or of being elected to or of being a member of either House of the Oireachtas.
(5) Every person so appointed to be a District Justice shall, before entering on his office, subscribe and make a solemn declaration in the form contained in the First Schedule to this Act.
I move the amendment in my name: "In Sub-section 3, line 28, to delete all after ‘Oireachtas,' and to substitute ‘a salary and allowances in accordance with a scale to be prescribed by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance.' " The object of this is to remove from the region of chance the salaries to be paid. As it reads in the sub-section proposed, it allows varying salaries for different Justices. I do not know whether that is the intention of the Minister, but if it is not, I suggest that it is better to provide for a scale of salaries and allowances rather than have a mere chance decision of the Minister.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
Amendment agreed.
Question put: "That Section 1, as amended, stand part of the Bill."
Agreed.
SECTION 2.
(1) It shall be the duty of each District Justice appointed under this Act to hold District Courts at such places within the District allotted to him and at such times as shall be prescribed by the Minister.
(2) A District Justice sitting in and holding a District Court pursuant to this Act shall have all the powers, jurisdiction and authority which were immediately before the 6th day of December, 1922, vested by statute or otherwise in a Justice of the Peace sitting in Petty Sessions.
(3) Every order, decree or judgment made or pronounced by a District Justice sitting in and holding a District Court pursuant to this Act shall be subject to the same appeal (if any) as a similar order, decree or judgment made or pronounced by a justice of the Peace sitting in Petty Sessions would have been subject to previous to the 6th day of December, 1922.
(4) A District Justice shall within his District when not sitting at Petty Sessions have all the powers, authorities and duties which were immediately before the passing of this Act vested in or imposed on a Justice of the Peace.
(5) Any act, matter or thing which immediately before the passing of this Act was by any statute, rule or order required or authorized to be done before or in the presence of or to be served on a Justice of the Peace shall from and after the passing of this Act (unless the same is by this Act required or authorized to be done before or in the presence of or to be served on a Parish Commissioner) be required or authorized (as the case may be) to be done or in the presence of or to be served on a District Justice.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
This section defines the duty of the District Justices. I move this section.
I beg to move Amendment No. 3—"In Sub-section (5), lines 9 and 10, to delete the words from ‘unless the same' to the words ‘to be served,' and to insert in lieu thereof the words ‘without prejudice to any power or jurisdiction conferred by this Act.'"
The object of this amendment is to ensure that even though the Parish Commissioner has power to do certain acts, a District Justice may still do the things that the Act entitles him to do.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
Amendment agreed to.
I had intended speaking about sub-section 2 of section 1, but my opportunity I suppose is past. On this section I might just say that it would save something in the definition clause if the words "or Justices" were added. The Minister will notice that when we come to Section 8, sub-section 2, it does refer to "Justices," and in the definition clause it is stated that wherever "Justice" is mentioned in one of these clauses it shall be read as including "Justices" in such cases where more than one Justice of the Peace was required to sit. It is merely a trifling alteration. In sub-section 3, line 50, it is stated: "decree or judgment made or pronounced by a District Justice." In Section 10 "Justices of the Peace" is mentioned, and similarly under Section 4 you have "imposed upon Justices of the Peace." This is the first Clause in which the title "Parish Commissioner" is employed and consequently——
The words "Parish Commissioner" are deleted in accordance with the amendment just passed.
Does that preclude me from speaking about the title?
I think so. The title will arise later.
Question put: "That Section 2, as amended, stand part of the Bill."
Agreed.
SECTION 3.
(1) Immediately upon the passing of this Act or as soon as conveniently may be thereafter the Minister shall divide every County in Saorstát Eireann (except the County of the City of Dublin and so much of the County of Dublin as is within the jurisdiction of the Divisional Magistrates of the City of Dublin) into convenient Court Districts and shall appoint one convenient place in each such District at which the District Court shall be held for such District.
(2) It shall be lawful for the Minister from time to time as he shall consider expedient to vary all or any of the Court Districts into which any County shall be divided under this section and to alter all or any of the places appointed under this section for the holding of District Courts.
(3) Immediately upon the completion of the division of any County into Court Districts under this section such Court Districts shall for all purposes take the place of and be substituted for the Petty Sessions Districts into which such county was divided at the passing of this Act and the District Court in and for each such District shall be held at the place appointed by the Minister under this section and Petty Sessions shall cease to be holden in that County.
(4) The Minister shall allot to each District Justice as his District such and so many Court Districts constituted under this section (whether situate in the same or different counties) as the Minister shall think expedient and may from time to time as he shall think expedient vary the allotment of Court Districts to all or any of the District Justices and transfer any District Justice from the District so allotted to him to any other District.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I move Amendment No. 4: "In Sub-section (1), lines 15 and 16, to delete the words ‘every county in.'" It is not intended that the area of jurisdiction of a District Justice may be limited to a county boundary.
I accept that. It is a necessary amendment.
Amendment agreed to.
In that last clause the expression "to be served" occurs twice and the amendment only goes down to the first use of it and it does not include the words "Parish Commissioner."
That is quite right. It does not include the words "Parish Commissioner"—that was a mistake.
I move Amendments 5 and 6, which are consequential. Amendment 5 states: "In Sub-section 2, line 23, to delete the words ‘into which any county shall be divided,' and to insert in lieu thereof the word ‘created.'" Amendment 6 states: "In Sub-section 3, lines 27 and 28, to delete the words ‘of any county.'"
Amendments agreed to.
Motion put:—"That Section 3 as amended stand part of the Bill."
Agreed.
SECTION 4.
(1) The Minister may from time to time by warrant under his hand appoint and remove such and so many fit and proper persons as he shall think expedient in each country to be called "Parish Commissioners," and to perform and exercise within such country the duties and powers prescribed by this Act.
(2) A Parish Commissioner shall have all the powers and authorities which immediately before the passing of this Act were vested in a Justice of the Peace in respect of the several matters following, that is to say:—
(a) signing Petty Sessions Summonses;
(b) signing Warrants;
(c) Administering oaths and taking declarations and affirmations;
(d) committing dangerous lunatics and idiots to Lunatic Asylums under Section 10 of the Lunacy (Ireland) Act, 1867 (30 & 31 Vict., ch. 118);
(e) signing certificates for the admission of pauper lunatics and idiots to Lunatic Asylums:
Provided always that any summons against any member of the Civic Guard shall be signed by a District Justice.
(3) Whenever any person charged with having committed an indictable offence shall be arrested by a member of the Civic Guard such person shall forthwith be brought before a Parish Commissioner who, after hearing such evidence as may be offered shall remand such person either in custody or in such bail as the Parish Commissioner shall think fit until the next District Court to be held in the Court District where such person was arrested.
(4) Whenever any person charged with having committed an indictable offence is brought before a District Justice at any District Court it shall be lawful for such District Justice to remand such person until the next District Court to be held at the same place notwithstanding that more than eight days will elapse before the holding of such next District Court.
I move Section 4. It deals with Parish Commissioners.
It seems to me that while it is expedient to create this sort of subordinate official, and to give him these powers—it will be a great relief to the District Justice—that the title "Parish Commissioner," though of its nature a descriptive term, fails utterly to describe the character of the office. He is the Justice of the Peace of former days with the very important exception that he does not adjudicate upon the bench. He is "Commissioner of the Peace," but if you style him "Parish Commissioner" it does suggest, I think, a parallel with Urban Commissioner, Commissioner of Trade, and so on. In other words Commissioner is a title associated in our minds with functions of a far higher grade, and of a much greater importance than those. When you study what his main duties are in relation to the Justice you find he is a sort of coadjutor—I am borrowing a term from the Church—to the District Justice. He remits to the District Justice and in England there is the title used of "Committing Magistrate," and in a sense this officer is to be a remitting magistrate, but the whole position is so subordinate that I once more beg the Minister to give the office a less ambitious title.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I am not particularly bigotted in favour of the term "Parish Commissioner," but it is a question of the lack of any better suggestion. It must be remembered that this is an honorary position, and it might be no harm seeing that the position is honorary that the title should be somewhat high-sounding in the complete absence of anything else to commend it. We thought of Local Commissioner and so on, but if you call him Commissioner there are so many Commissioners, Commissioner for Oaths, Land Commissioner, etc. Commissioner is in a way a fairly accurate description, because he deals largely with the taking of affidavits, signing of warrants, the administering of Oaths, committing dangerous lunatics, signing certificates for the admission of pauper lunatics, etc. What we wanted to emphasise was the refusal to go back to the honorary magistrates of the past where people subject to local prejudice had the task of administering the law. I think while I would welcome any other suggestion that my own view would be to adhere to the present title.
There is one solid advantage which I hope will appeal to Deputy McGuinness, and it is this: The words "Parish Commissioner" will undoubtedly be contracted to "P.C.," and as we are dropping Privy Councillor, this may be regarded as a fair exchange.
I beg to move in Sub-section (3) to delete the word "until," and to insert in lieu thereof the words, "and remit the case for hearing before a District Justice on a date not later than." The object is to provide for particular cases. A case may be brought before a District Justice on a date earlier than would have been convenient for the District Court.
Amendment agreed to.
I beg to move in Sub-section (4) to delete the words after the word "held," which are "at the same place, notwithstanding that more than eight days will elapse before the holding of such next District Court," and to substitute the words "by him in any Court District in the same or in adjoining county." The object of this amendment is to ensure that the prisoner shall be brought to trial in a reasonable time. As the clause stands it would be lawful for the District Justice to remand such persons until the next District Court to be held at some place, notwithstanding that eight days will have elapsed before the holding of such next District Court. It might be that a month will elapse. There is no limit, as the clause stands, to the time that the person may be kept in prison without being brought before a Court. It has been considered for many generations desirable that there should be some public proof that the prisoner who is arrested and not tried still lives, and that even if the prosecution is not ready to pursue the case against him, still the prisoner shall be presented and a remand granted. Now we are removing that according to the Bill, and leaving it to the Justices to decide when the prisoner shall be brought forward without any limit of time. The limit of eight days hitherto prevailing is being removed. I think the objection to that is the difficulty which will arise by virtue of the fact that the District Justice will not be sitting in Court in these particular places more than twice a month. He will be sitting in his district, and the object of the amendment is to ensure that the prisoner shall be brought forward to some Court in some part of the district within a reasonable period. It is with that object that I move this amendment, which will have the effect of allowing the eight days' limit to continue.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I should be inclined to accept that amendment provided it is clearly understood that the District Justice has full discretion in each case as to where he will remand to, and so on.
Amendment agreed to.
Question "That Section 4, as amended, stand part of the Bill," put and agreed to.
SECTION 5.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I beg to move Section 5:—
(1) From and after the passing of this Act the existing offices of Clerk of Petty Sessions shall cease to exist and every existing Clerk of Petty Sessions shall cease to hold his office.
(2) From and after the passing of this Act the Minister shall and may from time to time as occasion requires appoint fit and proper persons to be District Court Clerks in the several Court Districts constituted under this Act and may appoint each such person to be District Court Clerk in one or in any greater number of such Court Districts.
(3) Each District Court Clerk appointed under this section shall hold his office by such tenure as the Minister shall prescribe and shall be paid such salary as the Minister shall with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance appoint.
(4) The salaries of the District Court Clerks appointed under this section shall be paid out of the same funds as the salaries of the existing Clerks of Petty Sessions have been heretofore paid and any deficiency in such funds to meet the amounts of such salaries shall be made good out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.
(5) Each District Court Clerk appointed under this Act shall perform in respect of his District or Districts the like duties as have heretofore been performed by the existing Clerks of Petty Sessions in respect of the existing Petty Sessions Districts and shall also perform such other duties as shall from time to time be allotted to him by the District Justice.
(6) The existing office of Registrar of Petty Sessions Clerks shall from and after the passing of this Act be called "The Registrar of District Court Clerks" and such Registrar shall perform in relation to the District Court Clerks appointed under this section the like duties as he has heretofore performed in relation to the existing Clerks of Petty Sessions.
(7) In this section the word "existing" means existing on the 6th day of December, 1922.
This bears upon the appointment of Clerks to the District Courts.
I beg to move in Sub-section (3) to delete all the words after the word "paid," and to substitute the words "a salary in accordance with a scale to be prescribed by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance."
Mr. O'HIGGINS
Amendment agreed to.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I was rather precipitate in accepting Deputy Johnson's amendment just now. It would be very difficult to draw up a scale of payment on the question of clerks' remuneration. It is not the same thing as District Justices. It will depend very much upon a variety of circumstances, such as the number of districts assigned to each clerk and the distance between these places and so on. There will be considerations affecting the clerks which would make it very difficult to arrive at anything like uniformity in the matter of remuneration, and from my own experience of the thing up to the present I should say it is very much a matter simply of dealing with each particular case. You cannot say the remuneration would be so many pounds. Clerks having three areas and three courts in their charge, might have them clustered quite close together in the case of one man, in a certain area, while in the case of another man in another area, for instance, in the West of Ireland, they may be very far distant from one another. There are a variety of circumstances like that, that would make the adoption of a definite scale a difficult matter.
The amendment has been passed.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I was more or less asking indulgence to re-open that matter.
I recognise the point made by the Minister, but I suggested that he will find a way to devise a scale to allow that elasticity. As it stands there is no assurance that the officers of the court would know, within any limits, what the scale would be. I suggest that if on further consideration the Minister finds that this is not possible he can get the amendment eliminated in the Seanad, but I think he will find it possible on consideration to devise a scale leaving a wide range in such extraordinary cases as those of which he speaks.
Better leave the amendment now, and at the next stage here, or in another place if it is necessary, further amendment could be made.
I would ask leave to move an amendment in Clause (5), sub-section (4), line 31, to insert after the word "shall" the words "to such extent as the Minister for Finance may sanction," and to add at the end of the sub-section the words "provided that nothing of this sub-section shall prejudice the power of deduction conferred by Section (2) of the Petty Sessions Clerks (Ireland) Act, 1881."
Supposing we take part I of the amendment first.
Very good. The first part deals with a matter which provides against any misunderstanding on the part of the Dáil. The continual insertion of the Office of the Ministry of Finance is not an overdose of that. It is the Dáil's security for the control of funds and having a particular person responsible rather than having the responsibility distributed over a number of Ministers. For example, in connection with Dáil funds, although a particular Minister may have a fund under his control, the details and the distribution is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance, and it is for that purpose I am moving these amendments, and accordingly, therefore, I move the first part now.
I take it that leave is given and the question now is that the first part of the amendment be agreed to.
Amendment agreed to.
I beg now to move the second portion. To add at the end of sub-section (4) the words "provided that nothing in this sub-section shall prejudice the power of deduction conferred by Section (2) of the Petty Sessions Clerks (Ireland) Act, 1881.
That amendment deals with an existing right in connection with this Petty Sessions Fund. It appears that there is power under the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1881, to supplement the Petty Sessions Fund by transferring money out of the fund made up of the proceeds of the Dog Tax, and it is conceivable that this particular clause as it stands would prejudice that right. It is to retain that right that this second part of my amendment is put forward, and to make it quite clear that there should be no misunderstanding in retaining rights already existing.
Amendment put and agreed to.
I beg to move to insert after Sub-section (5) a new sub-section, as follows:—
"Each District Court Clerk appointed under this Act shall have in each County in which any part of his district or districts is situate, the same power and authority to sign District Court Summonses as is by this Act conferred on a Parish Commissioner in that County."
The only object is to provide the clerk with further facilities in connection with the signing of summonses.
Amendment put and agreed to.
Question: "That Section (5), as amended, stands part of the Bill."
Put and agreed to.
SECTION 6.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I beg to move Section (6):—
Every act, matter and thing which was on the 6th day of December, 1922, required or authorised by law to be done by or in the presence of or to be served on an Inspector, Sergeant, Constable or other member of the Royal Irish Constabulary at or in connection with or in relation to any Petty Sessions shall from and after the passing of this Act be required or authorised to be done by an Inspector, Sergeant, Constable or other member (as the case may require) of the Civic Guard at or in connection with or in relation to a District Court.
I beg to move an amendment to insert after the words "to be done by" the words "or in the presence of or to be served on."
This is merely a correction of a clerical error.
Amendment agreed to.
Question: "That Section (6), as amended, stand part of the Bill."
Put and agreed to.
SECTION 7.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I beg to move Section (7):—
All fees which are at the passing of this Act payable by law at or in connection with Petty Sessions or are payable to or collectable by the Clerk of Petty Sessions or are denoted or paid by Petty Sessions Stamps (including the Dog Tax) shall continue to be payable at the like times and in the like manner as heretofore but with the modifications that all such fees except the Dog Tax shall from and after the passing of this Act be charged and paid at double the rate at which same were heretofore charged and paid and that the District Court, the District Court Clerk and District Court Stamps shall be substituted respectively for Petty Sessions, the Clerk of Petty Sessions and Petty Sessions Stamps.
Question: "That Section (7) stand part of the Bill," put and agreed to.
SECTION 8.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I beg to move Section (8):—
(1) Each of the persons named in the Third Schedule to this Act having been appointed under the Constabulary (Ireland) Act, 1836 (6 and 7 Will. IV., ch. 13), by the Governor-General of the Irish Free State to be a Magistrate under that Act, shall be deemed to have been appointed and to be a District Justice under this Act.
(2) Every act, matter and thing done after the 22nd day of October, 1922, by any of the said persons named in the Third Schedule to this Act, in exercise or purported exercise of any authority purported to have been at the time of his doing such act, matter or thing vested in him by reason of his having been appointed or purported to have been appointed by the late Provisional Government of Ireland, or any Minister thereof, to be a District Justice, shall, notwithstanding any failure (whether by way of commission or omission) to comply with any statute, rule or order, or any other irregularity be as valid and effective as if the same had been done by a Magistrate duly appointed under the Constabulary (Ireland) Act, 1836 (6 and 7 Will. IV., ch. 13), or (in the case of acts, matters and things which are by law required to be done by two Magistrates appointed under the Act aforesaid sitting together), by two such Magistrates sitting together.
(3) No action shall lie against and no penalty shall be incurred by any of the said persons named in the Third Schedule to this Act for or on account or in respect of any act, matter or thing done by any such person after the 22nd day of October, 1922, in exercise or purported exercise of any such authority as is mentioned in the preceding sub-section, or any failure (whether by way of commission or omission) to comply with the terms of any statute, rule or order or any other irregularity in the doing of such act, matter, or thing.
I beg to move in Sub-section (2) an amendment to delete the figures "22nd," and to insert in lieu thereof the figures "28th."
Amendment agreed to.
I beg to move an amendment in line 17 to insert after the words "same has been," the word "regularly."
Amendment agreed to.
Question:—"That Section (8), as amended, stand part of the Bill"—put and agreed to.
SECTION 9.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I beg to move Section (9):
(1) Every mention or reference contained in any British Statute, or in any order, rule or regulation made under any British Statute of or to any of the officials, courts, districts or things mentioned in the first column of the Second Schedule to this Act shall, in respect of the doing or not doing of any act, matter or thing in Saorstát Eireann after the passing of this Act, be construed and take effect as a reference to the official, court, district or thing named in the second colum of the said Second Schedule opposite the name of the official, court, district or thing in the first column.
(2) In this section the expression "British Statute" means Act of the Parliament of the late United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which was on the 6th day of December, 1922, in force in the area now comprised in Saorstát Eireann.
Question—"That Section (9) stand part of the Bill"— put and agreed to.
SECTION 10.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I beg to move Section (10):
In this Act the following expressions shall, where the context so admits, have the meanings respectively assigned to them by this section—that is to say, "The Minister" means the member of the Executive Council who is for the time being Minister for Home Affairs; "Justice of the Peace" means and includes all the following persons, namely:
(a) One Justice of the Peace sitting or acting alone;
(b) two or more Justices of the Peace sitting or acting together;
(c) one Magistrate appointed under the Constabulary (Ireland) Act, 1836 (6 and 7 Will. IV., ch 13);
(d) two such Magistrates sitting or acting together:
"Civic Guard" means the police force in Saorstát Eireann which is at the passing of this Act commonly called or known as the Civic Guard.
I move as an amendment, in line 48, to delete the words "Member of the Executive Council who is for the time being." The object of this amendment is to correct an error, or rather, perhaps, an assumption in the Bill as it stands. The Minister means a member of the Executive Council, and it is not provided in the Constitution that the Minister for Home Affairs shall be a member of the Executive Council.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
Amendment put and agreed to.
Question—"That Clause (10) as amended stand part of the Bill"—put and agreed to.
SECTION 11.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I move Section 11:—
"This Act may be cited as The District Justices (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923."
I beg to move as an amendment:—
"To add a new Sub-section (2): "This Act shall continue in force for one calendar year after the passing thereof and shall then expire."
The intention of this amendment is to ensure that the temporary nature of this Bill will be quite definite. It is called "The Temporary Provisions Bill," and the suggestion is that in the ordinary course of events it should expire in twelve months. The period is immaterial as far as I am concerned, but I want to make sure that this is a temporary Bill and I am rather more concerned with that aspect of it, because I do not want to prejudice the decision of the Judiciary Committee regarding the relations of the Judiciary with the Executive Council. I was rather alarmed with the view taken by the Minister in discussing this matter before, and his conception of the proper relations between the Executive Council and the Judiciary, even subordinate Judiciary. While it may be quite acceptable for a temporary Bill to allow a Justice to be removable at the discretion of the political Executive for the time being, I think it would be very undesirable to have that a permanent provision, hence the desire to make it quite clear that it is a temporary Bill.
I beg to support the amendment, although I do not think that the words "for one year" are quite what the Deputy intended. We were assured that this measure was to fill a void pending the results to ensue upon the findings of the Judiciary Committee. What I spoke on Section 2 of the Bill on the Second Reading I spoke with the full intention of evoking an opinion from this Dáil as to what ought to be the tenure of office arranged for District Justices. I may have been so bent upon emphasising what ought to be as to have forgotten for the moment that this was a temporary measure. It is most desirable in view of our having passed, without any qualification whatever, Sub-section 2 of Section 1 that no opportunity should be missed for emphasising the purely temporary character of the measure. It seems to me that unless that is done and unless what Deputy Johnson has just done be done by the Dáil our action may be interpreted as favouring a doctrine that because a District Justice is only a superior type of Justice of the Peace he might hold without any detriment to the public advantage this minor office at the discretion of the Ministry. With a great deal that the Minister for Home Affairs said on this point I throughly agree. It is eminently desirable that there should be some check upon the exercise of their functions vested in the Ministry that they should be subject to review and criticism in this Dáil, but I suggested and would again suggest that this Dáil ought to record the view that while ample provision is made for such consideration for the discharge of their duties as may be rendered necessary still that the absolutely final dismissal from office should not vest in the Ministry because of the political possibilities that I outlined on a former occasion, but that a rota of judges should be set up. I thought of indicating that rota in a Schedule, so I support the amendment to keep this emphatically a temporary measure—preferably a measure functioning only until the Judiciary Committee has finally settled the matter—so that our meaning here be not misconstrued. I think it would be a hardship if the gentlemen whose names are set out in the Third Schedule were to be left under the impression that this Dáil was wholly satisfied to make them tenants at will of that position.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
Amendment accepted and agreed to.
Question put:—"That Section 11, as amended, stand part of the Bill."
Agreed.
SCHEDULES.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I beg to move the First Schedule:—
"I ................................ do swear that I will well and truly serve the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) in the office of District Justice without favour or affection, malice or ill-will; that I will see and cause the peace to be kept and preserved; that I will prevent to the best of my power all offences against the same; that while I shall continue to hold the said office I will to the best of my skill and knowledge discharge all the duties thereof in the execution of Warrants and otherwise faithfully according to law, and that I do not now belong to, and that while I shall hold the said office I will not join or belong to any political society whatsoever or any secret society whatsoever. So help me God."
This Schedule contains the oath which the District Justices who have been appointed up to the present have taken, and I move that it be continued.
Does the Minister think that it is any good?
Mr. O'HIGGINS
Question put:—"That Schedule I, stand part of the Bill."
Agreed.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I beg to move Schedule 2:—
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Name in British Statute.
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Name in Saorstát Eireann.
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Petty Sessions
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District Court.
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Petty Sessions District
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Court District.
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Clerk of Petty Sessions
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District Court Clerk.
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Registrar of Petty Sessions Clerks
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Registrar of District Court Clerks.
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Petty Sessions Summons
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District Court Summons.
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Petty Sessions Stamps
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District Court Stamps.
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Justice
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sitting in Petty Sessions.
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District Justice sitting in and holding a District Court.
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Justices
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Magistrate
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Magistrates
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This simply gives the new nomenclature and shows what was its equivalent in the past.
Question put: "That Schedule 2 stand part of the Bill.'
Agreed.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I beg to move Schedule 3.
Mr. L.J. Walsh, Solicitor.
,, P.F. Lavery, Solicitor.
,, J.F. Crotty, Solicitor.
,, W.G. Price, B.L.
,, R.D.F. Johnston, Solicitor.
,, P.P. O'Donoghue, B.L.
,, D.F. Gleeson, Solicitor.
,, G.P. Cussen, Solicitor.
,, J.V. Vahy, Solicitor.
,, J.M. Flood, B.L.
,, M.J. Hannan, B.L.
,, W.D. Coyne, Solicitor.
,, K.S. Reddin, Solicitor.
,, J.J. Molloy, Solicitor.
,, B.J. Goff, Solicitor.
,, C.A. Flaherty, Solicitor.
,, J.M. Forde, Solicitor.
,, E.J. Little, B.L.
,, T.A. Finlay, B.L.
,, C.J. Beatty, B.L.
,, J.H. Gallagher, B.L.
,, J.S. Troy, Solicitor.
,, W. Meagher, Solicitor.
,, D.B. Sullivan, B.L.
,, G. Farrell, B.L.
,, J. O'Hanrahan, Solicitor.
This contains the names of the distinguished barristers and solicitors who have been so fortunate as to be appointed District Justices.
Question put: "That Schedule 3 stand part of the Bill."
Agreed.
Mr. O'HIGGINS
I move the title. I have no objection to the amendment on the Orders of the day.
The amendment is to delete the word "provide," line 8, and to substitute the words "make temporary provision."
It is consequential on the amendments on the other clauses. The title will now read, as Amendment 1 is accepted, "An Act to make Temporary Provision for the appointment of District Justices." The title as amended therefore stands.
