Public Safety Act 1927

PART I. General.

1 Short title and duration.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Public Safety Act, 1927.

(2) This Act shall continue in force for five years from the passing thereof and shall then expire.

2 Definitions and interpretation.

2.—(1) In this Act—

the word “association” includes any combination of persons whether the same is or is not known by any distinctive name;

the expression “unlawful association” means an association which has been declared to be an unlawful association by an order made by the Executive Council under this Act and for the time being in force;

the expression “treasonable or seditious documents” includes any document relating to or concerned with or issued or emanating from or appearing to issue or emanate from an unlawful association;

the word “periodical” means any newspaper, magazine, journal, or other publication which is issued at regular or substantially regular intervals.

(2) For the purposes of this Act an unlawful association shall be deemed to have become by virtue of this Act an unlawful association on the making of the Order of the Executive Council declaring it to be an unlawful association.

3 Amendment of the Constitution.

3.—Every provision of this Act which is in contravention of any provision of the Constitution shall to the extent of such contravention operate and have effect as an amendment for so long only as this Act continues in force of such provision of the Constitution.

PART II. Unlawful Associations and other matters.

4 Unlawful associations.

4.—(1) The Executive Council may by order declare any association which in the opinion of the Executive Council—

(a) has amongst its professed objects, or advocates or encourages, or professes to encourage the overthrow by force of the Government of Saorstát Eireann or the alteration by force of the Constitution or the law, or

(b) without lawful authority organizes or maintains or endeavours or purports to organize or maintain an armed force, or

(c) promotes or encourages the unlawful possession of firearms by its members, or

(d) engages in, promotes, encourages, or advocates any act, enterprise, or course of action of a treasonable or seditious character, or promotes, encourages or advocates the attainment of any object of a treasonable or seditious character, or

(e) promotes, encourages or advocates the commission of crimes or offences or the obstruction or interference with the administration of justice or the enforcement of the law, or

(f) promotes, encourages, or advocates the non-payment of moneys payable to the Central Fund or any other public fund whether by way of taxation or otherwise or the non-payment of local taxation,

to be an unlawful association.

(2) Every order made by the Executive Council under the foregoing sub-section shall continue in force until revoked by an order of the Executive Council.

(3) Every order made by the Executive Council under this section declaring an association to be an unlawful association and every order of the Executive Council revoking any such order shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as conveniently may be.

(4) Every order made by the Executive Council under this section declaring an association to be an unlawful association shall take effect as on and from the expiration of the day following the day on which such order is published in the Iris Oifigiúil.

5 Penalty for membership of unlawful association.

5.—Every person who is a member of an unlawful association at any time after it has become by virtue of this Act an unlawful association shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable on conviction thereof to suffer penal servitude for any term not less than three years and not exceeding five years or imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding two years.

6 Possession of documents relating to unlawful association.

6.—If any document (of whatsoever date or bearing no date) issued by or emanating from an unlawful association or appearing to be so issued or so to emanate or purporting to aid or abet an unlawful association or otherwise relating to or connected with an unlawful association is found on or in the possession of or on or in premises belonging to, occupied by, or under the control of any person, such person unless he satisfies the Court that he did not know such document was in his possession or on or in such premises or that he did not know the nature or contents of such document, shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or at the discretion of the Court to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

7 Proof of membership of unlawful association.

7.—(1) Whenever a person is charged with the offence of being a member of an unlawful association and it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court that a document (of whatsoever date or bearing no date) issued by or emanating from or appearing to be issued by or to emanate from an unlawful association or purporting to aid or abet an unlawful association or otherwise relating to or connected with an unlawful association was found on or in the possession of such person or on or in premises belonging to or occupied by him or under his control such person shall be deemed to be a member of the unlawful association to or with which such document relates or is connected unless he proves that he is not then a member of such association and was not a member of such association at any time after it became by virtue of this Act an unlawful association.

(2) A person who is deemed by virtue of this section to be a member of an unlawful association shall not be deemed to have proved that he is not then a member of such association and was not a member thereof since it became by virtue of this Act an unlawful association unless (in addition to such other evidence as satisfies the Court of such non-membership) he—

(a) declares on oath (which declaration the Court shall give him an opportunity of making) that he is not then a member of such unlawful association and was not a member thereof at any time since it became by virtue of this Act an unlawful association, and

(b) produces two reputable witnesses who depose on oath that they are well acquainted with him and that to the best of their knowledge, information, and belief he is not then a member of such unlawful association and was not a member thereof at any time since it became by virtue of this Act an unlawful association.

8 Punishment of youthful members of unlawful associations.

8.—(1) Where any person under the age of 16 years is convicted of the offence of being a member of an unlawful association the Court shall, in lieu of dealing with such person under the Children Act, 1908, sentence such person to be detained during the pleasure of the Minister for Justice, and if so sentenced such person shall be liable, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Children Act, 1908, to be detained in such place and under such conditions as the Minister for Justice may direct, and whilst so detained shall be deemed to be in legal custody.

(2) The Minister for Justice shall from time to time publish in the Iris Oifigiúil a notice stating the place in which persons sentenced under this section are detained and the conditions of such detention.

(3) When a person is sentenced to be detained during the pleasure of the Minister for Justice under this section, such person shall not be so detained for a longer period than one year.

9 Prohibition of printing, etc., of certain classes of documents.

9.—(1) It shall not be lawful to print, publish, distribute, sell or offer or expose for sale without the previous permission of the Minister for Justice any book, newspaper, magazine, periodical, pamphlet, leaflet, circular or other document containing any statement by or on behalf of or emanating from or purporting to be made by or on behalf of or to emanate from an unlawful association or any statement aiding or abetting or calculated to aid or abet an unlawful association.

(2) Every person who shall print, publish, distribute, sell, or offer or expose for sale any book, newspaper, magazine, periodical, pamphlet, leaflet, circular, or other document in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment and also in any case to forfeiture of every copy of such document in his possession and also, in the case of a person found guilty of the offence of printing any such document, to forfeiture of all printing machinery in his possession.

(3) Permission given by the Minister for Justice to any person to print or to publish or to print and publish in a document any such statement as is mentioned in sub-section (1) of this section shall operate and have effect as a permission to all persons to distribute and sell such document and to offer and expose the same for sale and, where the permission is limited to printing or to publishing a document, shall operate to authorise for the purposes of this section the publishing or the printing (as the case may require) of such document.

(4) In this section references to printing include any mode of representing or reproducing words in a visible form and the words “print” and “printing” shall be construed accordingly.

10 Power to suppress certain periodicals.

10.—(1) A Judge of the High Court, on the application in a summary manner of the Minister for Justice and on being satisfied that a periodical published or printed in Saorstát Eireann has published in an issue published after the passing of this Act and not more than one month before the date of the application, any seditious libel or any statement inciting or calculated to incite, encourage, or lead to the commission of any of the offences mentioned in Part I. of the Schedule to this Act or any offence of a seditious or treasonable nature or any statement by or on behalf of or emanating from or purporting to be made by or on behalf of or to emanate from an unlawful association or any statement aiding or abetting or calculated to aid or abet an unlawful association, may make an order declaring the said Minister to be at liberty to suppress such periodical under this section.

(2) Whenever a Judge of the High Court so declares the Minister for Justice to be at liberty to suppress a periodical the said Minister may within one month after the date of the order of such Judge by order suppress such periodical.

(3) Whenever the Minister for Justice by an order under this section suppresses a periodical he may at any time thereafter by order suppress any other periodical published or printed in Saorstát Eireann which was first published after the date of the application to a Judge of the High Court for liberty to suppress such first-mentioned periodical and which though differing in name or otherwise is in the opinion of the said Minister substantially the same as such first-mentioned periodical.

(4) Whenever the Minister for Justice, by an order under this section, suppresses a periodical, it shall not be lawful after the date of such order to print or publish the said periodical or any issue or copy thereof, or to distribute, sell, or offer or expose for sale the said periodical, or any issue or copy thereof, whether such issue or copy was printed before or after the date of such order, and every person who shall print, publish, distribute, sell or offer or expose for sale such periodical or any issue or copy thereof in contravention of this sub-section shall be guilty of an offence under this section, and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding six months, or to both such fine and such imprisonment, and also in any case to forfeiture of every copy of such periodical in his possession, and also, in the case of a person found guilty of the offence of printing such periodical, to forfeiture of all printing machinery in his possession.

(5) Every application under this section by the Minister for Justice to a Judge of the High Court for liberty to suppress a periodical shall be made on notice (which may be served on a person outside Saorstát Eireann without special leave) to the printer, the proprietor, and the publisher of the periodical, unless a Judge of the High Court shall otherwise direct.

(6) No appeal shall lie from an order of a Judge of the High Court on an application under this section by the Minister for Justice for liberty to suppress a periodical.

11 Prohibition of importation of certain newspapers, etc.

11.—(1) If in the opinion of the Executive Council any issue of a periodical printed or published outside Saorstát Eireann contains any seditious libel or any statement inciting or calculated to incite, encourage, or lead to the commission of any of the offences mentioned in Part I of the Schedule to this Act or any offence of a seditious or treasonable nature or any statement by or on behalf of or to emanating from or purporting to be made by or on behalf of or to emanate from an unlawful association or any statement aiding or abetting or calculated to aid or abet an unlawful association, the Executive Council may by order (in this section referred to as a prohibition order) prohibit the importation of that issue and all future issues of such periodical so long as such order remains in force.

(2) Every prohibition order shall remain in force until revoked by order of the Executive Council.

(3) Every prohibition order and every order revoking a prohibition order shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as conveniently may be after it is made.

(4) It shall be lawful for officers of customs and excise to arrest without warrant any person found importing any issue or copy of a periodical the importation of which is prohibited by a prohibition order and all such officers shall have the like powers in relation to a periodical in respect of which a prohibition order has been made and is in force and in relation to every issue and copy of such periodical as such officers have by law in relation to other articles the import of which is prohibited or restricted by law.

(5) Section 16 of the Post Office Act, 1908 and regulations made thereunder shall apply to a periodical in respect of which a prohibition order has been made and is in force and to every issue and copy of such periodical as fully as they apply to the documents mentioned in the said section.

(6) Every person who imports any issue or copy of a periodical printed or published outside Saorstát Eireann in contravention of a prohibition order then in force or distributes, sells, or offers or exposes for sale any issue or copy of any such periodical imported in contravention of such order shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding six months, or to both such fine and such imprisonment, and also in any case to forfeiture of every copy of such periodical in his possession.

(7) Any officer or member of the Gárda Síochána may arrest without warrant any person found importing any issue or copy of a periodical the importation of which is prohibited by a prohibition order.

12 Printer's name to be printed on documents.

12.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to print any book, newspaper, magazine, periodical, pamphlet, leaflet, circular, or other document which is intended to be published or distributed to the public unless such person shall print his name and usual place of abode or business on such document either at the beginning or the end thereof.

(2) Every person who shall print any document in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

(3) Every person who shall publish, distribute, sell or offer or expose for sale to the public any document printed in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.

13 Expulsion orders.

13.—(1) The Minister for Justice may by order (in this section called an expulsion order) require any person who in the opinion of the said Minister has been associated with any of the activities of an unlawful association whether as a member thereof or otherwise or has been associated with or concerned in any of the offences mentioned in Part I of the Schedule to this Act or any offence of a treasonable or seditious nature or any murder or other crime of violence and whose continued presence in Saorstát Eireann is in the opinion of the said Minister prejudicial to the public safety or the maintenance of law and order to depart from Saorstát Eireann within a specified time after the date of such order and not to return to Saorstát Eireann so long as such order remains in force.

(2) The said Minister may at any time by order revoke an expulsion order made under this section and every such expulsion order shall remain in force until so revoked.

(3) Every expulsion order and every order revoking an expulsion order shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as conveniently may be after it is made.

(4) Every expulsion order shall be served on the person to whom the same relates not less than forty-eight hours before the expiration of the time within which he is required by such order to depart from Saorstát Eireann and such service shall be effected either by personal service on such person or by leaving a copy of such order for him at his last known place of abode or address.

(5) Every person in respect of whom an expulsion order is made who is found in Saorstát Eireann after the expiration of the time limited in such order for his departure from Saorstát Eireann and while such order remains in force shall on every occasion on which he is so found be guilty of an offence under this section and on conviction thereof by a court of summary jurisdiction shall be sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour.

14 Search orders.

14.—(1) If any superintendent of the Gárda Síochána is of opinion that there is reasonable ground for suspecting that there are treasonable or seditious documents in any place or premises, he may issue an order in writing (in this Act called a search order) to any one or more members of the Gárda Síochána under his command and named therein to search any place or premises named in such order.