asked the Minister for Justice if his attention has been drawn to the allegation made in the Dáil on 27th June, 1946 (Official Report —Volume 101, No. 20, columns 2605, 2607 and 2608) that a man was done to death for an offence created by an Emergency Powers Order; that copies of the Order were not available to the defence at the time of the trail; and if he will state whether these allegations are true.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dáil Allegation.
My attention has been drawn to these allegations. In making them, Deputy Costello did not give any names or dates or particulars of the offence. I infer, however, from previous observations made by the same Deputy on 13th March last (Dáil Reports, Volume 99, No. 19, columns, 2401-2402) that the offence in question was the murder of two police officers in Dublin on the 16th August, 1940.
I need hardly say that the offence of murder was not created by any Government Order, or that the penalty for that offence has always been death.
Emergency Powers Order No. 41 of 1940, which was the relevant Order in this case, did not create the offence of murder, or any offence: its effect, as regards this case, was to prescribe the mode of trial and the method of execution. The power to make such an Order was vested in the Government by an Act which was passed by both Houses, without dissent, in June, 1940.
As regards the alleged non-availability of the Order, I shall quote the words used by the High Court judge who refused to make an absolute order of habeas corpus in the case. He said:—
"In regard to another objection made as to the contents of Orders 41 and 41A not being available to the accused, or rather to their legal advisers, I need only say that the evidence before me now is that extracts—the material portions, I presume—of these Orders were read out by counsel for the State at the trial, and that the Orders were handed in, but both the accused men stated that they did not intend to make any defence."