There was more real substance in this Bill than in the preceding Bills, but we have now reached a stage at which the point of substance which was contained in this Bill has also disappeared. On the passing of this Bill, the judicial sovereignty of the Free State will be asserted in the Constitution. It is, I hope, unnecessary to recommend to any member of the House the desirability of making that quite clear. The possibility of taking to a committee of a foreign council an appeal from the Supreme Court of the State must appear to every member to be highly undesirable and altogether anomalous. The policy of the previous Administration was in line with our policy. They, on several occasions, indicated that they intended to bring into the Dáil proposals to abolish this right of appeal. The only thing in the Bill that requires any special comment is a certain provision in a negative form, which might appear to be altogether unnecessary. The reason for its introduction there is that the Privy Council itself has, on more than one occasion, asserted that the particular prerogative in question could not be voided except by express words in a statute. That is the reason why the following provision is inserted:—
and no appeal shall lie from a decision of the Supreme Court or of any other court in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) to his Majesty in Council, and it shall not be lawful for any person to petition his Majesty for leave to bring any such appeal.
The object of that is to void, by express words in the statute, that right of appeal, which is regarded as a prerogative. Again, I am confident that we shall have the unanimous approval of the House for this measure.