asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether the Fugitive Offenders Act, 1881, continues to be of full force and effect in Saorstát Eireann, as declared by Article 73 of the Constitution; if so, whether it is this Act which determines the procedure under which British subjects who are not citizens of the Saorstát but who happen to be, or are suspected to be fugitives within the Saorstát would be returned, on demand, to the custody of the Government within whose jurisdiction the offence on account of which their return is demanded was committed, or alleged to have been committed; and whether, therefore, the judge, magistrate, or other officer of Saorstát Eireann committing such fugitives to prison to await their return would be under a statutory obligation to inform such fugitives that they would not be surrendered until after the expiration of 15 days, and that they have a right to apply for a writ of Habeas Corpus or other like process?
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. [ ORAL ANSWERS. ] - THE FUGITIVE OFFENDERS ACT
Mr. O'HIGGINS
The Fugitive Offenders Act, 1881, does not in the absence of an express enactment of the Oireachtas apply to the Irish Free State. The provisions of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, and the Indictable Offences Act, 1848, which relate to the execution of Irish Warrants in Great Britain, etc., and vice versa, and which are not inconsistent with the terms of the Constitution, remain in force in virtue of Article 73 of the Constitution. A person arrested under the provisions of those Acts may be surrendered without the formalities mentioned.