Offences against the State Act , 1939

(3)Where under this section a person is sent or sent forward in custody for trial by a Special Criminal Court, it shall be lawful for the High Court, on the application of such person, to allow him to be at liberty on such bail (with or without sureties) as the High Court shall fix for his due attendance before the proper Special Criminal Court for trial on the charge on which he was so sent forward.

46. Proceedings in the District Court in relation to non-scheduled offences.

46.—(1)Whenever a person is brought before a justice of the District Court charged with an offence which is not a scheduled offence and which such justice has jurisdiction to dispose of summarily, such justice shall, if the Attorney-General so requests and certifies in writing that the ordinary courts are in his opinion inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice and the preservation of public peace and order in relation to the trial of such person on such charge, send such person (in custody or on bail) for trial by a Special Criminal Court on such charge.

(2)Whenever a person is brought before a justice of the District Court charged with an indictable offence which is not a scheduled offence and such justice F35[…]sends such person forward for trial on such charge, such justice shall, if an application in this behalf is made to him by or on behalf of the Attorney-General grounded on the certificate of the Attorney-General that the ordinary Courts are, in his opinion, inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice and the preservation of public peace and order in relation to the trial of such person on such charge, send such person forward in custody or, with the consent of the Attorney-General, at liberty on bail for trial by a Special Criminal Court on such charge.

(3)Where under this section a person is sent or sent forward in custody for trial by a Special Criminal Court, it shall be lawful for the High Court, on the application of such person, to allow him to be at liberty on such bail (with or without sureties) as the High Court shall fix for his due attendance before the proper Special Criminal Court for trial on the charge on which he was so sent forward.

47. Charge before Special Criminal Court in lieu of District Court.

47.—(1)Whenever it is intended to charge a person with a scheduled offence, the Attorney-General may, if he so thinks proper, direct that such person shall, in lieu of being charged with such offence before a justice of the District Court, be brought before a Special Criminal Court and there charged with such offence and, upon such direction being so given, such person shall be brought before a Special Criminal Court and shall be charged before that Court with such offence and shall be tried by such Court on such charge.

(2)Whenever it is intended to charge a person with an offence which is not a scheduled offence and the Attorney-General certifies that the ordinary Courts are, in his opinion, inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice and the preservation of public peace and order in relation to the trial of such person on such charge, the foregoing sub-section of this section shall apply and have effect as if the offence with which such person is so intended to be charged were a scheduled offence.

(3)Whenever a person is required by this section to be brought before a Special Criminal Court and charged before that Court with such offence, it shall be lawful for such Special Criminal Court to issue a warrant for the arrest of such person and the bringing of him before such Court and, upon the issue of such warrant, it shall be lawful for such person to be arrested thereunder and brought in custody before such Court.

48. Transfer of trials from ordinary Courts to a Special Criminal Court.

48.—Whenever a person charged with an offence has been sent forward by a justice of the District Court for trial by the Central Criminal Court or the Circuit Court on such charge, then and in every such case the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a)if the Attorney-General certifies that the ordinary Courts are, in his opinion, inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice and the preservation of public peace and order in relation to the trial of such person on such charge, the Attorney-General shall cause an application, grounded on his said certificate, to be made on his behalf to the High Court for the transfer of the trial of such person on such charge to a Special Criminal Court, and on the hearing of such application the High Court shall make the order applied for, and thereupon such person shall be deemed to have been sent forward to a Special Criminal Court for trial on such charge;

(b)whenever the High Court has made, under the next preceding paragraph of this sub-section, such order as is mentioned in that paragraph, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(i)a copy of such order shall be served on such person by a member of the Gárda Síochána,

(ii)a copy of such order shall be sent to the appropriate county registrar,

(iii)such person shall be brought before a Special Criminal Court for trial at such time and place as that Court shall direct,

(iv)if such person is in custody when such order is made, he may be detained in custody until brought before such Special Criminal Court for trial,

(v)if such person is at liberty on bail when such order is made, such bail shall be deemed to be for his attendance before a Special Criminal Court for trial at such time and place as that Court shall direct and, if he fails so to attend before the said Court, he shall be deemed to have broken his bail and his bail bond shall be estreated accordingly.

49. Selection of the Special Criminal Court by which a person is to be tried.

49.—F36[(1)] Where a person is (in the case of an offence triable summarily) sent or (in the case of an indictable offence) sent forward by a justice of the District Court to a Special Criminal Court for trial or the trial of a person is transferred under this Act to a Special Criminal Court or a person is to be charged before and tried by a Special Criminal Court, such of the following provisions as are applicable shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a)where a person is so sent or sent forward, the justice shall not specify the particular Special Criminal Court to which he sends or sends forward such person for trial;

(b)where the trial of a person is so transferred, the order effecting such transfer shall not specify the particular Special Criminal Court to which such trial is transferred;

(c)if only one Special Criminal Court is in existence under this Act at the time of such sending or sending forward or such transfer (as the case may be), such sending, sending forward, or transfer shall be deemed to be to such one Special Criminal Court;

(d)if only one Special Criminal Court is in existence under this Act when such person is to be so charged and tried, such person shall be charged before and tried by that Special Criminal Court;

(e)if two or more Special Criminal Courts are in existence under this Act at the time of such sending or sending forward or such transfer or such charging (as the case may be), it shall be lawful for the Attorney-General to cause an application to be made on his behalf to such Special Criminal Court as he shall think proper for an order that such person be tried by or charged before and tried by that Court and thereupon the said Court shall make the order so applied for;

(f)upon the making of the order mentioned in the next preceding paragraph of this section, whichever of the following provisions is applicable shall have effect, that is to say:—

(i)such person shall be deemed to have been sent or sent forward for trial by the Special Criminal Court which made the said order and all persons concerned shall act accordingly, or

(ii)the trial of such person shall be deemed to have been transferred to the said Special Criminal Court and all persons concerned shall act accordingly, or

(iii)such person shall be charged before and tried by the said Special Criminal Court and all persons concerned shall act accordingly.

F36[(2) A trial that is to be heard before a Special Criminal Court may be transferred by the Court, on its own motion or on the application of a triable person or the Director of Public Prosecutions, to another Special Criminal Court, but only if the first Court decides that it would be in the interests of justice to do so.

(3) In deciding whether it is in the interests of justice to transfer a trial, the Special Criminal Court may consider any factors it thinks relevant, including—

(a)whether the transfer would be in the interests of the expeditious administration of justice, and

(b)whether the transfer would prejudice the triable person or persons or the prosecution.

(4) A trial may be transferred under this section notwithstanding that an order has been made under subsection (1)(e) in relation to the triable person or persons.

(5) Where 2 or more triable persons are to be tried jointly, the decision of the Special Criminal Court to transfer the trial applies in relation to all of them.

(6) Subsection (5) does not affect the right of a triable person to apply for a separate trial and, if the application is granted, then to apply for a transfer of that trial.

(7) The decision of a Special Criminal Court to transfer a trial is final and unappealable.

(8) In this section "triable person" means a person sent or sent forward for trial to, or charged before or transferred under this Act to, a Special Criminal Court.]

50. Orders and sentences of Special Criminal Courts.

50.—(1)Save as shall be otherwise provided by regulations made under this section, every order made or sentence pronounced by a Special Criminal Court shall be carried out by the authorities and officers by whom, and in the like manner as, a like order made or sentence pronounced by the Central Criminal Court is required by law to be carried out.

(2)Every order, conviction, and sentence made or pronounced by a Special Criminal Court shall have the like consequences in law as a like order, conviction, or sentence made or pronounced by the Central Criminal Court would have and, in particular, every order made and every sentence pronounced by a Special Criminal Court shall confer on the persons carrying out the same the like protections and immunities as are conferred by law on such persons when carrying out a like order made or a like sentence pronounced by the Central Criminal Court.

(3)The Minister for Justice may make regulations in relation to the carrying out of sentences of penal servitude or of imprisonment pronounced by Special Criminal Courts and the prisons and other places in which persons so sentenced shall be imprisoned and the maintenance and management of such places, and the said Minister may also, if he so thinks proper, make by writing under his hand such special provision as he shall think fit in relation to the carrying out of any such sentence in respect of any particular individual, including transferring to military custody any particular individual so sentenced.

(4)The Minister for Defence may make regulations in relation to the places and the manner generally in which persons transferred to military custody under the next preceding sub-section of this section shall be kept in such custody, and the said Minister may also, if he so thinks proper, make by writing under his hand such special provision as he shall think fit in respect of the custody of any particular such person.

51. Standing mute of malice and refusal to plead, etc.

51.—(1)Whenever a person brought before a Special Criminal Court for trial stands mute when called upon to plead to the charge made against him, that Court shall hear such evidence (if any) relevant to the issue as to whether such person stands mute of malice or by the visitation of God as may then and there be adduced before it, and

(a)if that Court is satisfied on such evidence that such person is mute by the visitation of God, all such consequences shall ensue as would have ensued if such person had been found to be so mute by a Judge sitting in the Central Criminal Court, and

(b)if that Court is not so satisfied or if no such evidence is adduced, that Court shall direct a plea of “not guilty” to be entered for that person.

(2)Whenever a person brought before a Special Criminal Court for trial fails or refuses in any way, other than standing mute, to plead to the charge made against him when called upon to do so, that Court shall (without prejudice to its powers under the next following sub-section of this section) direct a plea of “not guilty” to be entered for such person.

(3)Whenever a person at any stage of his trial before a Special Criminal Court by any act or omission refuses to recognise the authority or jurisdiction of that Court, or does any act (other than lawfully objecting in due form of law to the jurisdiction of that Court to try him) which, in the opinion of that Court, is equivalent to a refusal to recognise that Court, or the authority or jurisdiction thereof, such person shall be guilty of contempt of that Court and may be punished by that Court accordingly.

52. Examination of detained persons.

52.—(1)Whenever a person is detained in custody under the provisions in that behalf contained in Part IV of this Act, any member of the Gárda Síochána may demand of such person, at any time while he is so detained, a full account of such person's movements and actions during any specified period and all information in his possession in relation to the commission or intended commission by another person of any offence under any section or sub-section of this Act or any scheduled offence.

(2)If any person, of whom any such account or information as is mentioned in the foregoing sub-section of this section is demanded under that sub-section by a member of the Gárda Síoehána, fails or refuses to give to such member such account or any such information or gives to such member any account or information which is false or misleading, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.

53. Immunities of members, etc., of Special Criminal Courts.

53.—(1)No action, prosecution, or other proceeding, civil or criminal, shall lie against any member of a Special Criminal Court in respect of any order made, conviction or sentence pronounced, or other thing done by that Court or in respect of anything done by such member in the course of the performance of his duties or the exercise of his powers as a member of that Court or otherwise in his capacity as a member of that Court, whether such thing was or was not necessary to the performance of such duties or the exercise of such powers.

(2)No action or other proceeding for defamation shall lie against any person in respect of anything written or said by him in giving evidence, whether written or oral, before a Special Criminal Court or for use in proceedings before a Special Criminal Court.

(3)No action, prosecution, or other proceeding, civil or criminal, shall lie against any registrar, clerk, or servant of a Special Criminal Court in respect of anything done by him in the performance of his duties as such registrar, clerk, or servant, whether such thing was or was not necessary to the performance of such duties.

PART VI. Powers of Internment.

54. Commencement and cesser of this Part of this Act.

54.—F37[…]

55. Special powers of arrest and detention.

55.—F38[…]

56. Powers of search, etc., of detained persons.

56.—F39[…]

57. Release of detained persons.

57.—F40[…]

58. Regulations in relation to places of detention.

58.—F41[…]

59. Commission for inquiring into detentions.

59.—F42[…]