Number 30.
DEFENCE FORCES (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) ACT, 1923.
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section | |
Establishment of Defence Forces
Organisation of the Forces
Administration
Power to dismiss or dispense with services of any member of the Forces. | |
Military Education
Service in Time of War
Liability of members of Forces to be employed on active service. | |
Special Powers in Relation to Defence
General Powers of Minister with consent of Executive Council. | |
Power to make Regulations
Discipline
Scales of punishments which may be awarded by Courts-Martial. | |
Investigation of a charge against a non-commissioned officer. | |
Acquittal or conviction by Civil Court or Court-Martial to be a bar to summary proceedings. |
Right of Prosecutor and accused to be represented by a legal advisor. | |
Confession by soldier of desertion or fraudulent enlistment. |
Pay
How automatic forfeiture of and deductions from ordinary pay may be remitted. | |
Prisons and Detention Barracks
Duty of Governor of prison to receive prisoners, deserters and absentees without leave. | |
Exemptions of Officers and Soldiers
Enlistment
Effect of appointment to a corps and provision for transfers. |
Re-engagement and continuance of service of non-commissioned officers. | |
Regulations as to persons to enlist and enlistment of soldiers. |
Definition for purposes of Part II. Chapter V. of prescribed military authority. |
Billeting and Impressment of Carriages Billeting of Officers, Soldiers and Horses
Annual list of keepers of victualling houses liable to billets. | |
Supply of carriages, etc. for regimental baggage and stores on the march. | |
Annual list of persons liable to supply carriages and animals. | |
Offences by persons ordered to furnish carriages, animals, vessels, etc. | |
Provisions as to constables, police authorities and peace commissioners. | |
Legal Penalties in Matters respecting the Forces
Punishment for inducing officers or soldiers to desert or absent themselves without leave. | |
Jurisdiction
Evidence
Summary and Other Legal Proceedings
Prosecution of offences and recovery and application of fines. | |
Miscellaneous
Provisions as to warrants and orders of military authorities. | |
Application of Military Law
The Reserve
Punishment for non-attendance for annual training or permanent service, etc. | |
Punishment for inducing Reserve man to desert or absent himself. | |
Transitory Provisions
Provisions as to command-in-chief and administrative and executive powers. | |
Number 30.
DEFENCE FORCES (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) ACT, 1923.
AND WHEREAS it is provided by Article 70 of the Constitution that no one shall be tried save in due course of law and extraordinary Courts shall not be established, save only such military tribunals as may be authorised by law for dealing with military offenders against military law:
AND WHEREAS it is provided by Article 71 of the Constitution that a member of the armed forces of Saorstát Eireann not on active service shall not be tried by any court-martial or other military tribunal for an offence cognisable by the Civil Courts, unless such offence shall have been brought expressly within the jurisdiction of Courts-Martial or other Military Tribunal by any code of laws or regulations for the enforcement of military discipline which might be thereafter approved by the Oireachtas:
AND WHEREAS it is a matter of urgent necessity to provide a code of laws and regulations for the enforcement of military discipline in the existing armed forces of Saorstát Eireann and such other armed forces as may be raised under this Act:
BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS OF SAORSTÁT EIREANN AS FOLLOWS:—
Preliminary.
Short Title and Duration of Act.
1.—This Act may be cited for all purposes as the Defence Forces (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923.
This Act shall continue in force until other provisions shall have been made by law for the defence of Saorstát Eireann and shall not in any case continue in force after a period of one year from the date of the passing hereof.
Definitions.
Definition of expression “on active service.”
2.—(1) In this Act, if not inconsistent with the context, the expression “on active service” as applied to a person subject to military law means whenever he is attached to or forms part of a force which is engaged in operations in a place wholly or partly occupied by the enemy.
(2) Where the Executive Council declares at any time or times that by reason of the imminence of active service or the recent existence of active service, it is necessary for the public service that the armed forces to be raised under this Act should be temporarily subject to this Act as if they were on active service, then, on the publication in the Iris Oifigiúil of any such declaration, the forces to which the declaration applies shall be deemed to be on active service for the period mentioned in the declaration.
Definitions.
3.—In this Act the following expressions shall, where the context so admits, have the meanings respectively assigned to them by this Section, that is to say:—
(1) The expression “The Minister” means the Minister for Defence.
(2) The expression “Executive Minister” means a Minister who is a member of the Executive Council.
(3) The expression “The Forces” means the armed forces to be raised under this Act and includes soldiers of the Reserve when called out on permanent service with the Forces as hereinbefore defined.
(4) The expression “The Reserve” means any reserve for the Forces to be established under Part III. of this Act.
(5) The expression “Officer” means an officer commissioned or in pay as an officer of the Forces or the Reserve or any arm, branch or part thereof.
(6) The expression “General Officer” means an officer holding the rank of General, Lieutenant-General, or Major-General.
(7) The expression “Non-Commissioned Officer” includes an acting non-commissioned officer.
(8) The expression “Soldier” does not include an officer as defined by this Act, but with the modifications contained in this Act in relation to non-commissioned officers does include a non-commissioned officer and every other person subject to military law while he is so subject.
(9) The expression “Superior Officer” when used in relation to a soldier includes a non-commissioned officer as above defined.
(10) The expression “Corps” means:—
(a). Any military body, whether known as a territorial regiment or by any different name, as may be from time to time declared by Warrant under the hand of the Minister to be a corps for the purposes of this Act and is a body formed by the Minister under the powers conferred by this Act, and either consisting of associated battalions of the Forces or consisting wholly of a battalion or battalions of the Forces.
(b). Any part of the Forces by whatever name called, which is declared by a Warrant under the hand of the Minister to be a corps for the purposes of this Act; and also
(c). Any other portion of the Forces employed on any service and not attached to any corps as above defined.
(d). And any reference in Chapter V. of Part II. of this Act to a corps of the Forces shall be deemed to refer to any such military body as is hereinbefore defined to form a corps.
(11) The expression “Battalion” in the application of this Act to cavalry, artillery, or engineers shall be construed to mean regiment, brigade, or other body into which the Minister under the powers conferred on him by this Act may be pleased to divide such cavalry, artillery, or engineers.
(12) The expression “Regimental” means connected with a corps or with any battalion or other sub-division of a corps.
(13) The expression “Decoration” means any medal, clasp, good conduct badge, or decoration.
(14) The expression “Military Reward” means any gratuity or annuity for long service or good conduct; it also includes any good conduct pay, pension and any other military pecuniary award.
(15) The expression “Commanding Officer” means any officer commanding a battalion, and also such other officer as the Minister may, by Regulations to be made by him under this Act, declare to be a commanding officer.
(16) The expression “Enemy” includes all armed mutineers, armed rebels, armed rioters, and pirates.
(17) The expression “Superior Court” means the High Court of Justice in Dublin.
(18) The expression “Civil Court” means with respect to any crime or offence, a Court of ordinary criminal jurisdiction, and includes a Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
(19) The expression “prescribed” means prescribed by this Act or by any Rules or Regulations to be made thereunder or partly by this Act, and partly by Rules or Regulations to be made thereunder.
(20) The expression “Summary Jurisdiction Acts,” means within the police district of Dublin Metropolis, the acts regulating the powers of justices of the peace for such district or of the police of such district; and elsewhere in Saorstát Eireann the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, and any Act or Acts amending the same.
(21) The expression “Court of Summary Jurisdiction,” means any District Justice, Police Magistrate, stipendiary or other magistrate or officer by whatever name called, to whom jurisdiction is given by the Summary Jurisdiction Act, or any Acts therein referred to, or any Acts amending or adapting the same.
(22) The expression “Court of Law” includes a court of summary jurisdiction.
(23) The expression “County Court Judge” includes a Recorder.
(24) The expression “District Justice” includes a Divisional Magistrate of the City of Dublin.
(25) The expression “Constable” means any member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, or of the Civic Guard.
(26) The expression “Police Authority” means a Superintendent or Inspector of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, or of the Civic Guard.
(27) The expression “Horse” includes a mule, and the provisions of this Act shall apply to any beast of whatever description used for burden or draught, or for carrying persons in like manner as if such beast were included in the expression “horse.”
(28) The expression “Oath” includes any solemn declaration which under this Act may be made by any person who states he has no religious belief, or that he has a conscientious objection to taking an oath, and the expression “be sworn” includes “make a solemn declaration.”
(29) The expression “Public Prison” means any prison in which a person convicted and sentenced to imprisonment by a civil court may lawfully be confined.
(30) The expression “Penal Servitude Prison” means any prison or place in which a person convicted and sentenced to penal servitude by a civil court may lawfully be confined.
(31) The expression “the Adjutant-General” shall mean the Adjutant-General of the Forces.
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
Establishment of Defence Forces.
Raising and number of Defence Forces.
4.—It shall be lawful for the Executive Council to raise and maintain an armed force to be called Oglaigh na hEireann (hereinafter referred to as the Forces) consisting of such number of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men as may from time to time be provided by the Oireachtas.
Control of Forces.
5.—The command in chief of and all executive and administrative powers in relation to the Forces including the power to delegate authority to such persons as may be thought fit shall be vested in the Executive Council and exercised through and in the name of the Minister who shall not however allocate to himself any executive military command and who may not be a member of the Forces on full pay.
CHAPTER II.
Organization of the Forces.
Personnel of Forces.
6.—(1) The Forces shall consist of officers who are appointed officers thereof, and of non-commissioned officers and men who are bound to continuous service for a term.
(2) Members of the Forces shall serve under such conditions and for such periods and at such rates of pay as may be prescribed.
General Organisation of Forces.
7.—The Forces shall be organized into such units of the various combatant arms and departmental services as may be prescribed
CHAPTER III.
Administration.
Commissioned ranks in the Forces.
8.—The following shall be the grades of commissioned rank in the Forces:—
(1) General.
(2) Lieutenant-General.
(3) Major-General.
(4) Colonel.
(5) Major
(6) Commandant.
(7) Captain.
(8) Lieutenant.
(9) Second Lieutenant.
Non-commissioned ranks in the Forces.
9.—The following shall be the grades of non-commissioned rank in the Forces:—
(a) Non-commissioned Officers—
(1) Sergeant-Major.
(2) Quartermaster-Sergeant.
(3) Sergeant.
(4) Corporal.
(b) Men—
(5) Private.
Granting of Commissions.
10.—The Executive Council may on the nomination of the Minister appoint any person to commissioned rank or temporary commissioned rank in the Forces. All commissions shall be in the form specified in the first schedule hereto and shall be signed by the President of the Executive Council and the Minister.
Power to dismiss or dispense with services of any member of the Forces.
11.—The Executive Council acting through the Minister may dismiss or dispense with the services of an officer or discharge any other member of the Forces.
Power to establish Military Districts.
12.—The Minister may appoint and establish military districts throughout the State and divide a military district into two or more sub-districts.
Power to establish Head quarters, etc., Staffs.
13.—The Minister may establish Headquarter Staffs of the Forces and Instructional and Administrative Staffs for military districts as required, and appoint thereto as he may think fit officers of the Forces.
Members of the Staffs so appointed shall hold such rank and title, and fulfil such duties and functions and serve under such conditions and for such periods as may be prescribed.
Officers in executive command.
14.—The executive military command and inspection of the Forces or any portion thereof may, subject to this Act, be vested in such officer or officers of the Forces as may be appointed by the Executive Council.
Officers holding commissions during pleasure.
15.—All Officers of the Forces shall hold their commissions during the pleasure of the Executive Council, but the commission of an Officer shall not be cancelled without the holder thereof being notified in writing of any complaint or charge made, or any action proposed to be taken against him, nor without his being called upon to show cause in relation thereto:
Provided that no such notification shall be necessary in the case of an officer absent from duty without leave for a period of three months or more.
Appointment from ranks to commissioned ranks.
16.—The Executive Council on the recommendation of the Minister may, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act contained or by regulation prescribed, reward any member of the Forces for distinguished services by appointing him to commissioned rank, or if he be an officer, by promoting him to higher rank.
Resignation of officers.
17.—An Officer of the Forces may, by writing under his hand, tender the resignation of his commission, but shall not, unless otherwise ordered by the Minister, be relieved of the duties of his appointment until the acceptance of his resignation is notified in the Iris Oifigiúil.
Appointments and Conditions of Service in the Forces.
Appointment of officers.
18.—From and after five years following upon the establishment of a military college under this Act, preference in appointment to commissioned rank in the Forces shall as far as possible, be given to graduates of that college.
Appointment of officers pending completion of period of five years, after the establishment of a Military College.
19.—Until the expiry of the period of five years after the establishment of a Military College, the following persons shall be eligible for appointment to commissioned rank in the Forces:—
(a) Citizens of Saorstát Eireann.
(b) Officers and men serving at the time of the passing of this Act in the National Forces.
(c) Such other persons as may be approved of by the Minister:
Provided that in any case the Minister may order such citizens, officers, men and persons or any of them to undergo such courses of instruction, and pass such qualifying tests as may be prescribed.
Half-pay and unattached list.
20.—The Minister may place any Officer of the Forces on a half-pay list for a period not exceeding one year.
Any officer who is not re-employed before the end of that period may at his own request be placed on the unattached list and await re-employment. An officer so placed on the unattached list shall cea e to draw the pay and allowances of his rank, but if he be subsequently re-employed, his services on the unattached list may be reckoned to count as service in the Forces on such conditions as may be prescribed.
Engagement and service in the Forces.
21.—(1) Every person engaging for service as a soldier in the Forces shall take an oath or make a solemn declaration before an Officer of the Forces or a District Justice or Peace Commissioner.
(2) The oath or declaration shall be in the form set out in the Second Schedule to this Act, Such oath or declaration shall bind the person subscribing to it to serve in the Forces in accordance with the tenor of his oath, until he is legally discharged, dismissed, or removed therefrom, or his resignation is accepted.
(3) Any member of the Forces other than an officer shall be entitled to receive his discharge therefrom either by purchase as may be prescribed, or on the expiration of the period of service for which he is engaged.
Establishment of Forces.
Date of Establishment.
22.—The Forces shall be established as from a date to be fixed by Proclamation of the Executive Council in the Iris Oifigiúil.
CHAPTER IV.
Military Education.
Military College.
23.—(1) Out of the moneys specially appropriated by the Oireachtas for the purpose, the Minister may establish and maintain an Institution for training and instructing:—
(a) Candidates for appointment to commissioned rank in the Forces;
(b) Officers of the Forces; and
(c) Such other Citizens as the Regulations may declare to be eligible for admission to that Institution.
At the said Institution there may be combined with the military training and instruction such other training and instruction of an educational nature as may be prescribed.
(2) The Institution shall be designated the Irish Military College.
(3) Students at the Irish Military College other than commissioned officers shall be formed into a Military Corps and their services in that Corps shall be reckoned towards service in the Forces as may be prescribed.
(4) All students under instruction at the Irish Military College shall be subject to the same discipline as that to which soldiers of the Forces are subject under this Act
(5) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the appointment of the Staff of the College, the duration and description of the courses of instruction and training therein, the conditions of the future services required from the graduates of the College and all matters relating to the management, control, and good government of the College shall be as prescribed.
Classes of Instruction.
24.—For the purpose of securing a high degree of military training and efficiency in the Forces, and of fitting members of the Forces for their duties therein, the Minister may make such educational arrangements as are deemed necessary, and may in particular establish special classes and courses of instruction for members of the Forces who are selected to attend such classes and courses.
Officers and non-commissioned officers to be instructed in giving commands in each of official languages of the State.
25.—All officers and non-commissioned ranks of the Forces shall be instructed in giving and receiving executive words of command in each of the official languages of the State.
CHAPTER V.
Service in Time of War.
Liability of members of Forces to be employed on active service.
26.—The whole or any part of the Forces shall at all times be liable to be employed on active service against an enemy anywhere in Saorstát Eireann or for the prevention or suppression of internal disorder within the State.
Military Command in time of war.
27.—In time of war or internal disorder the Executive Council may place any officer of the Defence Forces in command of the whole or any portion of those Forces in the Field.
Discharge on service.
28.—Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act contained, no member of the Forces while called out or employed on active service against an enemy or for the prevention or suppression of internal disorder shall be entitled to obtain his discharge from the Forces during the continuance of such service.
CHAPTER VI.
Special Powers in relation to Defence.
General Powers of Minister with consent of Executive Council.
29.—The Minister with the consent of the Executive Council may:—
(a) Construct and maintain barracks, forts, and defence works;
(b) Establish and maintain or contract for the establishment or maintenance of arms and ammunition factories and factories for the manufacture of military clothing, equipment, and other warlike stores;
(c) Construct and maintain aerodromes and other matters incidental thereto;
(d) Acquire, construct, and maintain artillery and rifle ranges and other matters incidental thereto,
and may do all things necessary for the efficient defence and protection of the State or any part thereof.
Manoeuvres and training.
30.—(1) The Minister may from time to time appoint areas wherein any portion of the Forces may be trained and exercised in manoeuvres and may by regulation prescribe the conditions under which compensation may be claimed by and paid to owners or occupiers of land in those areas for damage or loss sustained by them in consequence of the use of their land by the Forces as aforesaid: Provided that no camp shall be erected within a radius of at least two hundred yards of a private dwellinghouse except with the consent of the owner thereof.
(2)—In areas so appointed or in the vicinity of places used as artillery or rifle ranges for the Forces, the officer in command of the portion of the Forces engaged in artillery or rifle practice or in manoeuvres may temporarily stop all traffic by land or water in the vicinity of that place or in that area so far as in his opinion may be necessary for the security of life and the proper conduct of the practice or manoeuvres.
CHAPTER VII.
Power to make Regulations.
Regulations.
31.—The Minister may make regulations not inconsistent with this Part of this Act relating to all or any of the following matters or things, namely:—
(a) The various combatant arms and departmental services in the Forces.
(b) The numerical establishments of corps and other units of the Forces, and the various divisions, branches, grades ranks, and appointments therein.
(c) The training and inspection of the Forces, the formation of training camps, and the holding of manoeuvres for the Forces.
(d) The attendance at special classes and courses of instruction of members of the Forces selected for such attendance, and the examination of members of the Forces as to proficiency in military professional subjects, and as to their general educational qualifications; the granting of certificates of proficiency in military professional subjects.
(e) The seniority of officers in the Forces, the appointment to, promotion in, and tenure of commissioned and non-commissioned rank in the Forces.
(f) The tenure in any office, appointment or capacity in the Forces and the age limit for retirement for members of the Forces holding office or serving in any capacity or appointment.
(g) The leave of absence of members of the Forces.
(h) The issue and care of arms, accoutrements, ammunition supplies, animals and transport, clothing and equipment for the Forces.
(i) The establishment and conduct of camp, barrack, battalion, or district institutions for providing recreation and refreshment to members of the Forces.
(j) Returns, books, forms, and correspondence relating to the Forces.
(k) All matters which are by this Part of this Act required or permitted to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for securing the good government of the Forces, or for carrying out and giving effect to the provisions of this Part of this Act, other than matters which are by this Part of this Act required or permitted to be prescribed by the Executive Council.
PART II.
CHAPTER I.
Discipline.
Offences.
Offences in relation to the enemy punishable with death.
32.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) The offence of unjustifiably surrendering, yielding or abandoning any garrison, guard, place, post or position which it was his duty to defend; or
(2) The offence of endeavouring in any way to persuade, induce or compel any person subject to military law to commit the offence specified in the foregoing clause; or
(3) The offence of treacherously or without due authority holding communication or correspondence with, or giving intelligence to the enemy; or
(4) The offence of misbehaving or inducing others to misbehave before the enemy in such a way as to show cowardice; or
(5) Having been made a prisoner of war the offence of voluntarily serving with or voluntarily aiding the enemy; or
(6) The offence of assisting the enemy with arms, ammunition or supplies; or
(7) The offence of treacherously assisting the enemy in any way not specifically hereinbefore mentioned in this Section; or
(8) The offence of knowingly when on active service doing any act calculated to imperil the success of, or endanger, any portion of the Forces; or
(9) The offence of attempting to commit any of the offences specified in sub-sections (3), (6) and (7) of this Section;
shall on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer death or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Offences in relation to the enemy not punishable with death.
33.—Every person subject to military law who on active service commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) The offence of being taken prisoner through disobedience of orders, wilful neglect of duty, or want of due precaution; or,
(2) Having been taken prisoner, the offence of failing to rejoin the Forces when able to rejoin the same; or,
(3) The offence of in any way spreading reports, or using words, calculated to cause alarm or despondency among the Forces, or among the civilian population; or
(4) The offence of leaving the ranks without orders from his superior officer in order to secure prisoners, or on the pretence of taking wounded men to the rear;
shall on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer penal servitude, or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Offences punishable more severely on active service than at other times.
34.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) The offence of looting or plundering, breaking into any house or place in search of loot or plunder, or leaving his superior officer to go in search of loot or plunder; or
(2) The offence of leaving his guard, picket, patrol or post without orders from his superior officer; or
(3) The offence of forcing, striking, or wilfully molesting any soldier acting as sentry; or
(4) The offence of forcing any soldier or party of soldiers detailed for the protection of any person or property; or
(5) Being a soldier while acting as sentry the offence of (a) sleeping or being drunk on his post, or (b) leaving his post before being regularly relieved;
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, if he commits any such offence on active service, be liable to suffer death or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned and if he commits any such offence not on active service, be liable to suffer penal servitude or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Disclosing information.
35.—Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of making known or disclosing any matter regarding the Forces to any person not entitled to such information, at such time and in such manner as is in the opinion of the Court calculated to produce effects injurious to the Forces,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, be liable to suffer penal servitude or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Mutiny and sedition.
36.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(a) The offence of causing, conspiring to cause, attempting to cause, or joining in any mutiny or sedition in any of the Forces; or
(b) Being present, the offence of not using his utmost endeavours to prevent any mutiny or sedition in any of the Forces; or
(c) The offence of persuading, inducing or compelling or endeavouring to persuade, induce, or compel any person subject to military law to join in any mutiny or sedition in any of the Forces; or
(d) Having come to the knowledge of, or having reasonable grounds to suspect any actual or intended mutiny or sedition in the Forces, the offence of failing to inform without delay, a superior officer of the same; or
(e) The offence of seducing or endeavouring to seduce any person subject to military law from allegiance to the State,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer death or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Striking or threatening a superior officer.
37.—(1) Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of striking or using or offering any violence to a superior officer being in the execution of his office.
shall on conviction by Court-Martial, if he commits any such offence on active service be liable to suffer death or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned, and if he commits any such offence not on active service be liable to suffer penal servitude or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
(2) Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of striking or using or offering violence to or using threatening or insubordinate language to a superior officer,
shall on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer penal servitude or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Disobedience to superior officer.
38.—(1) Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of disobeying in such a way as to show an intentional defiance of authority, any lawful command or order given personally by a superior officer, whether the same is given orally or otherwise,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer—
if an officer, and if the offence was committed on active service, imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned, or if an officer, and if the offence was committed not on active service, dismissal with ignomy or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
if a soldier, and if the offence was committed on active service, imprisonment or such less punishment as in this Act mentioned, or if a soldier and if the offence was committed not on active service, detention or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
(2) Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of disobeying any lawful command or order given by a superior officer,
shall, on conviction by a Court-Martial be liable to suffer—
(i.) If an officer, dismissal or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(ii.) If a soldier, detention or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Insubordination.
39.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) Being concerned in any quarrel, affray or disorder, the offence of refusing to obey, striking, using or offering violence to (a) any officer who lawfully orders him into arrest, or (b) any person in whose custody he is lawfully placed; or,
(2) The offence of resisting a patrol, escort or police guard whose duty it is to apprehend him, or have him in charge,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, be liable to suffer—
(a) If an officer, dismissal or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(b) If a soldier, detention, or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Breaking quarters.
40.—Every soldier subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of breaking quarters, barracks, or camp,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer detention or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Neglect to obey orders.
41.—Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of neglecting to obey any garrison or general or other orders,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer—
(a) If an officer, dismissal or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(b) If a soldier, detention or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
The expression “general orders” in this section shall not include Regulations or Orders made by the Minister or any similar order in the nature of a regulation published for general information and guidance of the Forces.
Desertion.
42.—(1) Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(a) The offence of deserting or attempting to desert any of the Forces; or
(b) The offence of persuading, endeavouring to persuade, procuring or attempting to procure any person subject to military law to desert from any of the Forces; or
(c) The offence of in any way assisting any person subject to military law to desert from any of the Forces,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer—
(i) If the offence is committed on active service, death or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned, or
(ii) If the offence is committed not on active service, penal servitude, or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
(2). When an offender has fraudulently enlisted once or oftener, he may, for the purpose of trial for the offence of desertion or attempting to desert the Forces, be deemed to belong to any one or more of the Corps to which he has been appointed or transferred as well as the Corps to which he properly belongs.
Connivance at desertion.
43.—Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
Coming to the knowledge of any desertion or intended desertion of a person subject to military law, the offence of neglecting to give notice to his commanding officer or to take any steps in his power to cause the deserter or intending deserter to be apprehended,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, be liable to suffer—
(a) If an officer, dismissal or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(b) If a soldier, detention or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Fraudulent enlistment.
44.—(1) Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
When belonging to the Forces, the offence of without having obtained a regular discharge therefrom or otherwise having fulfilled the conditions enabling him to enlist, enlisting himself in the Forces,
shall be deemed to be guilty of fraudulent enlistment, and shall on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer imprisonment as is in this Act mentioned.
(2). When an offender has fraudulently enlisted on several occasions he may for the purpose of this Section be deemed to belong to any one or more of the corps to which he has been appointed or transferred as well as the corps to which he properly belongs.
Absence without leave.
45.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) The offence of being absent without leave; or
(2) The offence of failing to appear at the place of parade or mobilisation, or post or position appointed by his superior officer, or withdrawing from such place of parade or mobilisation or post or position before he is relieved, or without leave, or otherwise unjustifiably; or
(3) The offence of quitting the ranks without leave or other wise unjustifiably,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, be liable to suffer,
(a) If an officer, dismissal or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(b) If a soldier, detention or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Scandalous conduct of an officer.
46.—Every officer who being subject to military law commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of behaving in a scandalous manner, unbecoming the character of an officer,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, be liable to suffer dismissal with ignominy.
Fraud by persons in charge of moneys or goods.
47.—Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
Being officially, by virtue of his office or otherwise, charged with or concerned in the care, control, possession or distribution of any public or military money or goods, the offence of stealing, fraudulently misapplying or misappropriating the same, or conniving at or being concerned in the stealing, fraudulent misapplication or misappropriation of the same, or wilfully damaging the same,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, be liable to suffer penal servitude or such less punishment as in this Act mentioned.
Malingering or inducing injury. Disgraceful conduct.
48.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) The offence of malingering or feigning or inducing in himself any disease or infirmity; or
(2) The offence of injuring himself or any other person subject to military law, with the intention of rendering himself or such person unfit for service; or
(3) The offence of causing himself to be injured by any person, with the intention of rendering himself unfit for service; or
(4) The offence of being guilty of any misconduct or of any wilful disobedience, whether in hospital or otherwise, of any orders, by means of which misconduct or disobedience he produces or aggravates disease or infirmity or delays its cure; or
(5) The offence of assisting or conniving at the commission of any offence specified in any of the foregoing clauses; or
(6) The offence of being guilty of any disgraceful conduct of a cruel, indecent or unnatural kind not before specifically in this Act mentioned,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, be liable to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Drunkenness.
49.—(1) Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of being drunk when on duty,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, be liable—
(a) If an officer and the offence is committed on active service, to suffer dismissal with ignominy or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(b) If an officer, and the offence is committed not on active service, to suffer dismissal or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(c) If a soldier and the offence is committed on active service, to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(d) If a soldier and the offence is committed not on active service, to suffer detention or such less, punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
(2) Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of being drunk when not on duty,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, be liable—
(a) If an officer, to suffer dismissal or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(b) If a soldier, to suffer detention for six months or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Permitting escape of prisoners.
50.—Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of releasing without proper authority, or aiding or wilfully or negligently allowing to escape any person whom it is his duty to keep or guard, or any person committed to his charge,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, be liable to suffer—
(a) If the offence was committed on active service, death or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(b) If the offence was committed not on active service, penal servitude or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Irregular arrest or confinement Escaping.
51.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) The offence of (a) unnecessarily detaining any person under arrest or in confinement without bringing him to trial; or (b) failing to bring the case of any such person before the proper authority for investigation; or
(2) Having delivered a person into the custody of an officer or non-commissioned officer, the offence of failing without reasonable cause to deliver forthwith, or as soon as possible, and in any case not later than twenty-four hours thereafter, to such officer or non-commissioned officer an account in writing signed by himself, of the offence of which the person so delivered into custody is charged; or,
(3) Being in command of a guard, and having taken or received a person into custody, the offence of failing upon being relieved from guard or duty and in any case within twenty-four hours of the time of taking or receiving such person into custody, to give in writing to the officer to whom he may be ordered to report, the name, and so far as is known to him, the offence of such person, together with the name and rank of the officer or other individual by whom such person was charged, and if he has received the same, the account in writing referred to in the foregoing clause; or
(4) Being in arrest or confinement, or otherwise in lawful custody, the offence of escaping or attempting to escape,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, be liable to suffer—
(a) If an officer, dismissal with ignominy or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(b) If a soldier, imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Offences in relation to property.
52.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) The offence of taking any fee or advantage in respect of, or being in any illicit way interested in, the sale or purchase of any provisions, stores, arms, equipment or other goods for the use of any of the Forces; or
(2) The offence of losing by neglect, wilfully injuring, making away with or being concerned in making away with (whether by way of gift, pawning, selling, destruction or otherwise howsoever) any arms, ammunition, equipment, instruments, clothing or other military property; or
(3) The offence of ill-treating any animal used in the public service,
shall on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Falsifying official documents and false declarations.
53.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) The offence of knowingly making or being privy to the making of any misrepresentation or any false or fraudulent statement in any document made, signed, or certified by him, or of the contents of which it is his duty to ascertain the accuracy; or
(2) The offence of knowingly making or knowingly being privy to the making of any false or fraudulent statement; or
(3) The offence of knowingly suppressing or altering, destroying or making away with any document which it is his duty to preserve or produce; or
(4) The offence of knowingly making or knowingly being privy to the making of any omission from any document made, signed or certified by him, or of the contents of which it is his duty to ascertain the accuracy, or from any report or statement made or sent by him, and which it is his duty to make or send, with the intent thereby to defraud or mislead; or
(5) The offence of refusing, or by culpable neglect omitting, to make or send a report or return which it is his duty to make or send; or
(6) The offence of making any false declaration in any statement, report or return which it is his duty to make or send, knowing the same to be false,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
False accusation.
54.—Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of making any false accusation against any other person subject to military law knowing such accusation to be false,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
False accusation or false statement.
55.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) The offence of knowingly making any statement which by reason of falsity or the suppression of material facts, is calculated seriously to injure or affect the character of any other person subject to military law; or
(2) Being a soldier the offence of knowingly making any false statement to a military officer or District Justice or Peace Commissioner, in respect of leave of absence; or
(3) Being a soldier the offence of falsely stating to his commanding officer that he has been guilty of desertion or fraudulent enlistment,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Offences in relation to Courts-Martial.
56.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) The offence of making default in attending after being duly summoned, or ordered to attend as a witness at a Court-Martial; or
(2) The offence of refusing to take an oath or make a solemn declaration lawfully required by a Court-Martial to be taken or made; or
(3) The offence of refusing to produce any document in his power, possession or procurement lawfully required by a Court-Martial to be produced by him; or
(4) The offence of refusing when a witness to answer any question to which a Court-Martial may lawfully require an answer; or
(5) The offence of contempt of Court-Martial by using threatening or insulting language, or by causing any interruption or disturbance in the proceedings,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer—
(a) if an officer, imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(b) if a soldier, detention or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned:
Provided that where a person subject to military law is guilty of any of the offences mentioned in this Section, such Court, if they think expedient, instead of the offender being tried by another Court-Martial, may by Order under the hand of the President, order the offender if an officer to be imprisoned without hard labour for a period not exceeding one month; or if a soldier, to undergo detention for a period not exceeding 21 days; and such Order shall not require any such confirmation as is hereinafter in this Act mentioned.
False evidence.
57.—Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of wilfully giving false evidence when examined on oath or solemn declaration before a Court-Martial or before any Court or officer duly authorised to administer an oath,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer penal servitude or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Offences in relation to billeting.
58.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences (in this Act referred to as offences in relation to billeting), that is to say:—
(1) The offence of ill-treating (by violence, extortion or making disturbances in billets) the occupier of a house in which any person or horse is billeted; or
(2) Being an officer, the offence of refusing or neglecting on complaint and proof of such ill-treatment by any officer or soldier under his command, to cause compensation to be made for the same; or
(3) The offence of failing to comply with the provisions of this Act with respect to the payment of just demands of the person on whom he or any officer or soldier under his command, or his or their horses have been billeted, or to the making up and transmitting of an account of the money due to such person; or
(4) The offence of wilfully demanding billets which are not actually required for some person or horse entitled to be billeted; or
(5) The offence of taking or knowingly suffering to be taken, from any person any money or reward for excusing or relieving any person from his liability in respect of billeting or quartering of officers, soldiers or horses, or any part of such liability; or
(6) The offence of using or offering any menace to or compulsion on any constable or other civil officer to make him give billets contrary to this Act, or tending to deter or discourage him from performing any part of his duty under the provisions of this Act relating to billeting or tending to induce him to do anything contrary to his said duty; or
(7) The offence of using or offering any menace to or compulsion on any person tending to oblige him to receive, without his consent, any person or horse not duly billeted upon him in pursuance of the provisions of this Act relating to billeting or to furnish any accommodation which he is not thereby required to furnish;
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Offences in relation to impressment of carriages and their attendants.
59.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences (in this Act referred to as offences in relation to the impressment of carriages), that is to say:—
(1) The offence of wilfully demanding any motor car, carriage, animal, vehicle, vessel or aircraft which is not actually required for the purposes authorised by this Act; or
(2) The offence of failing to comply with the provisions of this Act relating to the impressment of carriages as regards the payment of sums due for carriages or as regards the weighing of the load; or
(3) The offence of constraining any motor car, carriage, animal, vehicle, or vessel furnished in pursuance of the provisions of this Act relating to the impressment of carriages, to travel against the will of the person in charge thereof beyond the proper distance, or to carry against the will of such person any greater weight than that he is required by the said provisions to carry; or
(4) The offence of not discharging as speedily as possible any motor car, carriage, animal, vehicle, vessel or aircraft, furnished in pursuance of the provisions of this Act relating to the impressment of carriages; or
(5) The offence of compelling any person in charge of such motor car, carriage, animal, vehicle, vessel or aircraft or permitting him to be compelled to take thereon any baggage or stores not entitled to be carried, or except where the motor car, carriage or animal is furnished upon a requisition of emergency, to take thereon any soldier or servant (except such as are sick) or any woman or person; or
(6) The offence of ill-treating or permitting any such person in charge of any such motor car, carriage, animal, vehicle, vessel or aircraft to be ill-treated; or
(7) The offence of using or offering any menace to or compulsion on, any constable to make him provide any motor car, carriage, animal, vehicle, vessel or aircraft, which he is not bound in pursuance of the provisions of this Act relating to the impressment of carriages to provide, or tending to deter or discourage him from performing any part of his duty in relation to providing motor cars, carriages, animals, vehicles, vessels or aircraft or tending to induce him to do anything contrary to his said duty; or
(8) The offence of forcing any motor car, carriage, animal, vehicle, vessel or aircraft from the owner thereof,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Travelling without ticket, etc.
60.—Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of travelling or attempting to travel upon any train, tram, car or other vehicle without payment or tender of the fare, or without ticket, voucher, or proper warrant,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer—
(a) if an officer dismissal or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned, or
(b) if a soldier detention or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Offences in relation to enlistment.
61.—Every person who having become subject to military law is discovered to have committed any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) Having been discharged with ignominy from the Forces, the offence of re-enlisting without declaring the circumstances of his discharge; or
(2) The offence of making a wilfully false answer to any question set forth in the attestation paper, which has been put to him by or by the direction of the District Justice, Peace Commissioner or officer before whom he appears for the purpose of being attested;
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial, be liable to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
General offences in relation to enlistment.
62.—Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(1) The offence of being concerned in the enlistment for service in the Forces of any man whom he knows or has reasonable cause to believe to be so circumstanced that by enlisting he commits an offence against this Act; or
(2) The offence of wilfully contravening any enactment or regulation in any matter relating to the enlistment or attestation of soldiers of the Forces,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Ill-treating a soldier.
63.—Every officer or non-commissioned officer who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of unlawfully striking or otherwise unlawfully ill-treating any soldier,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Ill-treating a person in military custody.
64.—Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
the offence of unlawfully striking or otherwise unlawfully ill-treating any person not subject to military law in military custody,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Withholding pay.
65.—Every officer or non-commissioned officer who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
Having received the pay of any person subject to military law, the offence of unlawfully detaining or unlawfully refusing to pay the same,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer—
(a) if an officer, dismissal or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned, or
(b) if a non-commissioned officer, detention or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Wounding through negligence. Offences in relation to firearms.
66.—(1) Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of, negligently or carelessly or through breach of any orders, wounding any other person whether subject to military law or not,
shall on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer penal servitude or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
(2) Every person subject to military law who commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(a) The offence of without due cause presenting any firearms whether loaded or unloaded at any person whether subject to military law or not, or
(b) The offence of without due cause discharging any firearms, or
(c) The offence of carelessly or negligently handling any firearm whether loaded or unloaded in such a manner as is calculated to cause reasonable apprehension,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Refusal to hand over offender to Civil authority.
67.—Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
Lawful application having been made to him, the offence of neglecting or refusing to hand over to the proper civil authorities or to assist in the lawful apprehension of any officer or soldier accused of an offence against the ordinary law,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer—
(a) If an officer, dismissal with ignominy or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; or
(b) If a soldier, imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.
Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.
68.—Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say:—
The offence of being guilty of any act, conduct, disorder or neglect, to the prejudice of good order and military discipline,
shall, on conviction by Court-Martial be liable to suffer—
imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned:
Provided that no such person shall be tried under this Section in respect of any offence for which special provision is made in any other part of this Act, and which is not a civil offence, nevertheless the conviction of a person so charged shall not be invalid by reason only of the charge being in contravention of this proviso unless it appears that injustice has been done to the person charged by reason of such contravention, but the responsibility of any officer for that contravention shall not be removed by the validity of the conviction.
Offences punishable by ordinary law of Saorstát Éireann.
69.—Subject to such regulations for the purpose of preventing interference with the jurisdiction of the Civil Courts as are in this Act mentioned, every person who, whilst he is subject to military law, shall commit any of the offences in this Section mentioned shall be deemed to be guilty of an offence against military law, and if charged under this Section with any such offence (in this Act referred to as a civil offence) shall be liable to be tried by Court-Martial and on conviction to be punished as follows, that is to say:—
(1) If he is convicted of treason be liable to suffer death or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; and
(2) If he is convicted of murder be liable to suffer death; and
(3) If he is convicted of manslaughter or treason felony be liable to suffer penal servitude or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; and
(4) If he is convicted of rape be liable to suffer penal servitude or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; and
(5) If he is convicted of buggery be liable to suffer penal servitude or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; and
(6) If he is convicted of any of the offences specified in the Third Schedule hereto or an attempt to commit any of the offences hereinbefore mentioned in this Section or specified in the said Schedule (the attempt to commit which is a criminal offence punishable by the ordinary criminal law of Saorstát Eireann) or any other offence against the law of Saorstát Eireann not before in this Section particularly referred to, which is punishable by the ordinary criminal law of Saorstát Eireann, be liable either to suffer such punishment as might be awarded to him in pursuance of this Act in respect of an offence to the prejudice of good order and military discipline or to suffer any punishment assigned for such offence by the law of Saorstát Eireann:
Provided that a person subject to military law shall not be tried by Court-Martial for treason, murder, manslaughter, treason felony, rape or buggery unless such person at the time he committed the offence was on active service.
Scale and Application of Punishments.
Scales of punishments which may be awarded by Courts-Martial.
70.—(1) Save as is in this Act otherwise provided a person subject to military law tried and found guilty by Court-Martial of an offence hereinbefore mentioned in this Act may be sentenced by such Court-Martial to undergo one and one only of the punishments specified in the Scales A and B following.
(2) For the purpose of this Act any punishment specified in the Scales A and B following shall be deemed to be less than any punishment preceding it in the same scale.
Scale A.
Where the person convicted is an officer—
I. Death.
II. Penal Servitude.
III. Imprisonment with or without hard labour
IV. Dismissal with ignominy from the service.
V. Dismissal from the service.
VI. Fine.
VII. Any deduction from ordinary pay, by this Act authorised to be made by a Court-Martial.
VIII. Severe reprimand.
IX. Reprimand.
Scale B.
Where the person convicted is a soldier—
I. Death.
II. Penal Servitude.
III. Imprisonment with or without hard labour.
IV. Discharge with ignominy from the service.
V. Detention.
VI. Discharge from the service.
VII. Where the person convicted is a non-commissioned officer, forfeiture of seniority of rank, reduction to a lower grade or to the ranks.
VIII. Forfeiture and fines.
IX. Any deduction from ordinary pay authorised by this Act to be made by a Court-Martial.
X. Severe reprimand.
Effect of certain sentences.
71.—(1) An officer sentenced to penal servitude or imprisonment (save by summary award of a Court-Martial under Section 56 of this Act) is automatically dismissed with ignominy from the service.
(2) A non-commissioned officer or private soldier sentenced to penal servitude is automatically discharged with ignominy from the service.
(3) An officer dismissed with ignominy from the service or a soldier discharged with ignominy from the service is thereby disqualified from ever serving the State again in any capacity, civil or military.
(4) A non-commissioned officer or private soldier sentenced to imprisonment is automatically discharged from the service unless the Court shall otherwise direct.
(5) A non commissioned officer sentenced to imprisonment or detention is automatically reduced to the ranks.
Permitted combination of punishments.
72.—(1) An officer may at the same time be sentenced by Court-Martial to any one or more of the following punishments:—
(a) Fine.
(b) Severe reprimand.
(c) Reprimand.
(2) In addition to or without any other punishment an officer may be sentenced by Court-Martial to any deduction from ordinary pay authorised by this Act to be made by Court-Martial.
(3) In addition to or without any other punishment any noncommissioned officer or private soldier may be sentenced by Court-Martial to any one of the following punishments:—
(a) Fine.
(b) Any deduction from ordinary pay authorised by this Act to be made by a Court-Martial.
Restrictions on sentences.
73.—(1) No sentence of penal servitude shall be awarded for a period less than three years.
(2) No sentence of imprisonment or detention shall be awarded for a period of more than two years.
Arrest.
Power to place offender in arrest.
74.—(1) Any person subject to military law charged with an offence punishable by this Act may be taken into military custody.
(2) Any person taken into military custody may be placed in open or close arrest.
General as to arrest.
75.—(1) An officer acting with proper authority may order into military custody an officer of inferior rank or any soldier.
(2) An officer acting with proper authority may order into military custody any officer (even though of higher or equal rank) engaged in any disorder or quarrel.
(3) A non-commissioned officer acting with proper authority may order into military custody any soldier.
(4) Where a person subject to military law is lawfully ordered into arrest, the order shall be obeyed whether or not the person giving the order and the person in respect of whom the order is given belong to the same corps, arm or branch of the Forces.
Guard Report.
76.—(1) Every officer or non-commissioned officer who commits any person into custody, shall, at the time of such committal or, as soon as practicable thereafter, and in any case not later than 24 hours thereafter, deliver to the officer or non-commissioned officer into whose custody the person is committed, an account in writing signed by himself of the offence with which the person so committed is charged.
(2) Any officer or non-commissioned officer commanding a guard, or a provost-marshal or assistant provost-marshal shall not refuse to receive or keep any person who is committed to his custody by an officer or non-commissioned officer.
(3) Any officer or non-commissioned officer commanding a guard who takes or receives a person into custody shall, as soon as he is relieved from guard or duty and in every case within twenty-four hours of the time he took or received such person into custody, give in writing to his Commanding Officer the name and, so far as the same is known to him, the offence of such person with the name and rank of the officer or non-commissioned officer by whom such person was charged and, if he has received the same, the account in writing referred to in sub-section (1) of this Section.
Charge to be investigated without delay.
77.—The charge against every person taken into military custody shall, without unnecessary delay be investigated by the proper military authority, and as soon as possible either proceedings shall be taken for punishing the offence or such person shall be discharged from custody.
Summary Disposition of Certain Charges.
Charges against an officer below the rank of Commandant which may be summarily dealt with.
78.—Where an officer below the rank of Commandant is charged with an offence in this Section mentioned, the charge may be summarily dealt with in the manner hereinafter mentioned.
Offences.
(1) The offence of neglecting to obey any garrison or general or other orders being the offence mentioned in Section 41 of this Act.
(2) The offence of being absent without leave.
(3) The offence of failing to appear at the place of parade or mobilisation or post or position appointed by his superior officer; or withdrawing from such place of parade or mobilisation or post or position before he is relieved or without leave or otherwise unjustifiably.
(4) The offence of quitting the ranks without leave or otherwise unjustifiably.
(5) The offence of being drunk when not on duty.
(6) The offence of being guilty of any act, conduct, disorder or neglect to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.
Punishments which may be summarily awarded to an officer below the rank of Commandant.
79.—When an officer below the rank of Commandant is charged with any of the offences mentioned in Section 78 of this Act, the prescribed officer may, if satisfied as to the guilt of the accused, summarily award any of the following punishments:—
(1) Fine not exceeding £10.
(2) Severe reprimand.
(3) Reprimand.
Charges against a soldier which may be summarily dealt with.
80.—When a non-commissioned officer or private soldier is charged with any of the offences mentioned in this Section the charge may be summarily dealt with in the manner hereinafter provided.
Offences.
(1) The offence of disobeying any lawful command or order given by a superior officer.
(2) Being concerned in any quarrel, affray or disorder, the offence of refusing to obey, striking, using, or offering violence to (a) any officer who lawfully orders him into arrest, (b) any person in whose custody he is lawfully placed.
(3) The offence of resisting any patrol, escort or police guard whose duty it is to apprehend him or have him in charge.
(4) The offence of breaking out of quarters.
(5) The offence of neglecting to obey any garrison or general or other orders being the offence mentioned in Section 41 of this Act.
(6) The offence of being absent without leave.
(7) The offence of failing to appear at the place of parade or mobilisation or post or position appointed by his superior officer or withdrawing from such place of parade or mobilisation post or position before he is relieved or without leave or otherwise unjustifiably.
(8) The offence of quitting the ranks without leave or otherwise unjustifiably.
(9) Being a private soldier, the offence of being drunk when on duty.
(10) The offence of being drunk when not on duty.
(11) The offence of losing by neglect, wilfully injuring, making away with, or being concerned in making away with (whether by way of gift, pawning, selling, destruction, or otherwise howsoever) any arms, ammunition, equipment, instruments, clothing, or other military property.
(12) The offence of making any false accusation against any other person subject to military law, knowing such accusation to be false.
(13) The offence of knowingly making any statement which, by reason of falsity or the suppression of material facts, is calculated seriously to injure or affect the character of any other person subject to military law.
(14) The offence of making any false statement to any military officer or District Justice in respect of leave of absence.
(15) The offence of travelling or attempting to travel on any train, tram, car or other vehicle without payment or tender of fare or without ticket, voucher or proper warrant.
(16) Having been discharged with ignominy from the Forces, the offence of re-enlisting without declaring the circumstances of his discharge.
(17) The offence of making a false answer to any question set forth in the attestation paper which has been put to him by, or by the direction of, the District Justice, Peace Commissioner or officer, before whom he appears for the purpose of being attested.
(18) The offence of being concerned in the enlistment for service in the Forces of any man, when he knows or has reasonable cause to believe such man to be so circumstanced that by enlisting he commits an offence against this Act.
(19) The offence of wilfully contravening any enactment or regulation in any matter relating to the enlistment or attestation of soldiers of the Forces.
(20) The offence of being guilty of any act, conduct, disorder or neglect to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.
Punishments which may be summarily awarded to a non-commissioned officer.
81.—Where a non-commissioned officer is charged with any of the offences mentioned in Section 80 of this Act, the Commanding Officer of the accused may, if satisfied as to the guilt of the accused, summarily award any of the punishments following:—
(1) In the case of offences other than drunkenness, fine not exceeding £5.
(2) Fines in cases of drunkenness not on duty as follows:—
First offence | 10s. |
Second offence | 20s. |
Third offence | 30s. |
Fourth and every subsequent offence | 50s. |
(3) Deprivation of acting rank.
(4) Severe reprimand.
(5) Reprimand.
(6) In addition to or without any other punishment, any deduction from ordinary pay authorised by this Act to be made by a Commanding Officer.
Punishments which may be summarily awarded to a private soldier by a Commanding Officer.
82.—Where a private soldier is charged with any of the offences mentioned in Section 80 of this Act the Commanding Officer of the accused may, if satisfied as to the guilt of the accused, summarily award any of the following punishments:—
(1) Detention for a period not exceeding twenty-eight days. In cases of absence without leave for a period not exceeding seven days, detention shall not be awarded for a period exceeding seven days. Where the absence exceeds seven days detention may be awarded for a period equal to the period of absence without leave but in no case for a period exceeding twenty-eight days.
(2) In the case of offences other than drunkenness, fine not exceeding £3.
(3) In addition to or without detention fines in cases of drunkenness as follows:—
First offence | 5s. |
Second offence | 10s. |
Third offence | 20s. |
Fourth and every subsequent offence | 30s. |
(4) Confinement to barracks for a period not exceeding 14 days.
(5) Extra guards and pickets.
(6) Warning.
(7) In addition to or without any other punishment, any deduction from ordinary pay authorised by this Act to be made by a Commanding Officer.
Punishments which may be summarily awarded to a private soldier by a Company Commander.
83.—Where a private soldier is charged with any of the offences mentioned in Section 80 of this Act the Company Commander of the accused may, if satisfied as to the guilt of the accused summarily award any of the following punishments:—
(1) In the case of offences other than drunkenness, fine not exceeding £1.
(2) Fines in cases of drunkenness as follows:—
First offence | 5s. |
Second offence | 10s |
Third and every subsequent offence | 20s. |
(3) Confinement to barracks for a period not exceeding seven days.
(4) Extra guards and pickets.
(5) Warning.
Investigation of Charges.
Investigation of a charge against an officer.
84.—(1) A charge against an officer shall in the first instance be investigated by his Commanding Officer.
(2) If the Commanding Officer is satisfied that there is no evidence disclosing an offence mentioned in this Act, or if he considers the charge ought not to be proceeded with, he shall dismiss the charge.
(3) If the Commanding Officer does not dismiss the charge he shall proceed as follows:—
(a) If the accused is an officer not under the rank of Commandant, or in the case of an officer under the rank of Commandant, if the offence is not one of those mentioned in Section 78 of this Act, he shall remand the accused for trial by Court-Martial.
(b) If the accused is an officer under the rank of Commandant, and if the offence is one of those mentioned in Section 78 of this Act, he shall refer the case to the prescribed officer.
(4) The prescribed officer upon the case being referred to him in accordance with sub-section (3) (b) of this Section, shall investigate the case and proceed as follows:—
(a) If satisfied that there is no evidence against the accused, or if he considers the charge ought not to be proceeded with, he shall dismiss the charge.
(b) If he does not dismiss the charge he shall proceed as follows—
(i) If he considers the case is one which should be dealt with by Court-Martial, he shall remand the accused for trial by general Court-Martial.
(ii) If he does not remand the accused for trial by Court-Martial, he shall award one of the punishments mentioned in Section 79 of this Act.
Investigation of a charge against a non-commissioned officer.
85.—(1) A charge against a non-commissioned officer shall in the first instance be investigated by his Company-Commander.
(2) If the Company-Commander is satisfied that there is no evidence disclosing an offence mentioned in this Act, he shall dismiss the charge.
(3) If the Company-Commander does not dismiss the charge, he shall refer the case to the Commanding Officer.
(4) The Commanding Officer, upon the case being referred to him in accordance with sub-section (3) of this Section, shall investigate the case and proceed as follows:—
(a) If satisfied that there is no evidence disclosing an offence mentioned in this Act, or if he considers the charge ought not to be proceeded with, he shall dismiss the charge.
(b) If he does not dismiss the charge he shall proceed as follows:—
(i) If the offence is not one of those mentioned in Section 80 of this Act, or being one of the offences mentioned in Section 80 of this Act, he considers the case is one which should be dealt with by Court-Martial, he shall remand the accused for trial by Court-Martial.
(ii) If the charge is one of those mentioned in Section 80 of this Act, and if he does not remand the accused for trial by Court-Martial, he shall award one of the punishments mentioned in Section 81 of this Act.
Investigation of a charge against a private soldier.
86.—(1) A charge against a private soldier shall in the first instance be investigated by his Company-Commander.
(2) If the Company-Commander is satisfied that there is no evidence disclosing an offence mentioned in this Act, or if he considers that the charge ought not to be proceeded with, he shall dismiss the charge.
(3) If the Company Commander does not dismiss the charge, he shall proceed as follows:—
(a) If the offence is one of those mentioned in Section 80 of this Act, and if he considers that the punishments he is entitled to award in accordance with Section 83 of this Act, meet the case, he shall award one of those punishments.
(b) If the offence is not one of those mentioned in Section 80 of this Act, or being one of those offences he considers the punishment he is entitled to award does not meet the case, he shall refer the case to the Commanding Officer.
(4) The Commanding Officer, upon the case being referred to him in accordance with sub-section (3) (b) of this section, shall investigate the charge and proceed as follows:—
(a) If he is satisfied that there is no evidence disclosing an offence mentioned in this Act, or if he considers that the charge ought not to be proceeded with, he shall dismiss the charge.
(b) If he does not dismiss the charge he shall proceed as follows:—
I.—(a) If the offence is one of those mentioned in Section 80 of this Act, and if he considers the offence is one which should be dealt with by Court-Martial he shall remand the accused for trial by Court-Martial.
(b) If he does not remand the accused for trial by Court-Martial he shall award one of the punishments mentioned in Section 82 of this Act.
II.—(a) If the offence is not one of those mentioned in Section 80 of this Act, and he considers the case one which should be dealt with by Court-Martial, he shall apply to the prescribed officer for authority to deal with the case in the same manner as if the offence had been one of those mentioned in Section 80 of this Act, and on receiving such authority from such prescribed officer (who is hereby empowered to grant such authority if he thinks fit) he shall deal with the case accordingly, and award one of the punishments mentioned in Section 82 of this Act. In the event of such authority being withheld, he shall remand the accused for trial by Court-Martial.
(b) If the offence is not one of those mentioned in Section 80 of this Act, and he does not apply for authority to deal with the case summarily, as aforesaid, he shall remand the accused for trial by Court-Martial.
Procedure on investigation of a charge against an officer, non-commissioned officer or private soldier.
87.—No charge against an officer non-commissioned officer or private soldier shall be heard or investigated save in the presence of the accused. The accused shall have full liberty to cross-examine all witnesses called against him, and to call any witnesses in his defence, and to make a statement in his defence. If the accused shall demand that the evidence against him shall be taken on oath, the investigating officer shall cause all witnesses to be sworn before giving evidence.
Acquittal or conviction by Civil Court or Court-Martial to be a bar to summary proceedings.
88.—No person charged with an offence in this Act mentioned, shall be liable to be dealt with summarily for an offence in respect of which he has been acquitted or convicted by a competent Civil Court or by a Court-Martial.
Courts-Martial.
Restriction on jurisdiction of Courts-Martial.
89.—(1) Where a person subject to military law has been acquitted or convicted of an offence by Court-Martial he shall not be liable to be tried again by a Court-Martial in respect of that offence.
(2) Where a person subject to military law has been acquitted or convicted of an offence by a competent Civil Court he shall not be liable to be tried again by Court-Martial in respect of that offence.
(3) A person subject to military law shall not be liable to be tried by Court-Martial for any offence which shall have been summarily dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Act:
Provided always that the Adjutant-General may, notwithstanding that a charge may have been dismissed or punishment awarded in respect of same, for reasons which to him seem sufficient, direct such person to be tried by Court-Martial.
(4) A person subject to military law shall not in pursuance of this Act be tried or punished for any offence triable by Court-Martial committed more than three years before the date on which his trial begins, except in the case of mutiny, desertion or fraudulent enlistment; but this Section shall not affect the jurisdiction of a Civil Court in the case of an offence triable by such Court, as well as by Court-Martial.
Classes of Courts Martial.
90.—Courts-Martial shall be of two kinds, namely, General and Local.
General Courts-Martial.
91.—(1) Every General Court-Martial shall be convened by the Adjutant-General, or by such officer as he shall authorise to convene the same.
(2) A General Court-Martial shall have jurisdiction to try any person subject to military law for any offence mentioned in this Act.
(3) A General Court-Martial shall be constituted as follows:—
(a) A President who shall be of a rank not lower than Colonel, and shall be appointed by the Convening Officer: Provided always that where it appears to the Convening Officer that an officer of a rank not lower than that of Colonel is not available to act as such President (having due regard to military exigencies and the public service) the Convening Officer may, upon endorsing a certificate to that effect upon the order convening such General Court-Martial, appoint to act as such President an Officer of a rank not lower than that of Captain: Provided always that in no case shall the President of a General Court-Martial be of lower rank than the accused person.
(b) Not more than seven and not less than three other officers who shall not be of a rank lower than Captain and shall be appointed by the Convening Officer.
(4) (a) There shall be in attendance at every General Court-Martial a Judge-Advocate appointed by the prescribed officer.
(b) A Judge-Advocate at a General Court-Martial shall be a person duly qualified as a Barrister-at-Law, or a Solicitor in Saorstát Eireann, and an officer of the Forces.
(c) The duties of a Judge-Advocate shall be as prescribed.
Local Courts-Martial.
92.—(1) Every Local Court-Martial shall be convened by the Adjutant-General or by such Officer as he shall authorise to convene the same.
(2) A Local Court-Martial shall have jurisdiction to try non-commissioned officers and private soldiers for any offence mentioned in this Act, except murder, but shall have no jurisdiction to try an officer.
(3) A Local Court-Martial shall have jurisdiction only to award imprisonment (with or without hard labour) or a less sentence.
(4) A Local Court-Martial shall be constituted as follows:—
(a) A President who shall not be of a rank lower than Commandant, and shall be appointed by the Convening Officer, provided, however, if it appears to the Convening Officer that an officer of a rank not lower than Commandant is not available to act as such President (having due regard to the military exigencies and the public service) the Convening Officer may, upon endorsing a certificate to that effect on the order convening such Local Court-Martial, appoint as President thereof an officer of a rank not lower than Captain.
(b) Not less than two nor more than four other officers appointed by the Convening Officer.
(5) There shall be in attendance at every Local Court-Martial a Judge-Advocate, qualified to act and appointed as may be prescribed
Disqualifications for membership of Courts-Martial.
93.—The following shall not serve on any Court-Martial:—
(1) Any Chaplain holding a commissioned rank or an officer of the Army Medical Corps, provided always that where a Court is convened for the trial of a soldier of the Army Medical Corps, an officer of that Corps may be detailed to act as a member or waiting member thereof.
(2) The Convening Officer.
(3) The Prosecuting Officer.
(4) Any officer who investigated the charge against he accused, or conducted any inquiry into the case.
(5) The Commanding Officer of the accused.
(6) Any officer who has a personal interest in the case.
Challenges by accused.
94.—(1) An accused about to be tried by any Court-Martial may object, for any reasonable cause, to any member of the Court (including the President) whether appointed to serve thereon originally or to fill a vacancy caused by the retirement of any officer objected to, so that the court may be constituted of officers to whom the accused makes no reasonable objection.
(2) Every objection made by an accused to any officer shall be submitted to the other officers appointed to form the Court.
(3) If the objection is to the President, such objection, if allowed by one-half or more of the other officers appointed to form the Court, shall be allowed, and the Court shall adjourn for the purpose of the appointment of another President.
(4) If an objection to the President is allowed, the authority convening the Court shall appoint another President, subject to the same right of the accused to object.
(5) If the objection is to a member other than the President, and is allowed by one-half or more of the votes of the officers entitled to vote, the objection shall be allowed, and the member objected to shall retire, and his vacancy may be filled in the prescribed manner by another officer, subject to the same right of the accused to object.
(6) In order to enable an accused to avail himself of the privilege of objecting to any officer, the names of the officers appointed to form the Court shall be read over in the hearing of the accused on their first assembling and before they are sworn, and he shall be asked whether he objects to any of such officers, and a like question shall be repeated in respect of any officer appointed to serve in lieu of the retiring officer.
Swearing of Court.
95.—(1) When the Court is constituted with the proper number of officers who are not objected to, or the objections to whom have been over-ruled, each member shall be duly sworn. The oath shall be administered to the President first, and then to the other members of the Court by the Judge-Advocate. The oath shall then be administered to the Judge-Advocate by the President.
(2) A shorthand note-taker, if in attendance, shall then be sworn by a member of the Court, or the Judge-Advocate.
(3) The oaths administered in accordance with this Section shall be in the prescribed form.
Plea in bar.
96.—In addition to a plea of “Not Guilty” an accused may enter any of the following special pleas in bar of trial:—
(1) Previous acquittal or conviction of the same offence by—
(a) A competent Civil Court.
(b) A competent Court-Martial.
(c) Any officer in due exercise of his powers under this Act, subject however, to the provisions of Section 89 (3) of this Act.
(2) Pardon of the offence by the Minister.
(3) Save in cases of mutiny, desertion or fraudulent enlistment the expiration at the date on which the trial commences of a period of more than three years from the date at which the offence is alleged to have been committed.
(4) Where the offence is one against the ordinary law, which by ordinary law must be prosecuted within a specific period of the date of commission of the offence, lapse of the specific period.
Evidence to be on oath.
97.—(1) Every witness examined before a Court-Martial shall be examined upon oath, which the President or any other member of the Court or the Judge-Advocate shall administer in the prescribed form.
(2) Where a person required by this Act to take an oath objects to take an oath, or is objected to as incompetent to take an oath, the Court, if satisfied as to the sincerity of the objection, or where the competence of a person to take an oath is objected to, that the oath has no binding effect upon the conscience of such person, shall permit such person, instead of being sworn, to make a solemn declaration in the prescribed form, and for the purpose of this Act such declaration shall be deemed to be an oath.
Right of accused and his wife to give evidence.
98.—Every person charged with an offence and the wife of a person so charged is a competent witness for the defence at every stage of the proceedings before a Court-Martial, whether the person so charged is charged solely or jointly with any other person or persons; provided a person so charged shall not be called as a witness except on his own application and the wife of the person so charged shall not be called as a witness for the defence, except upon the application of the person so charged.
Rules of evidence to be the same as in Civil Courts.
99.—Save as is in this Act otherwise provided, every Court-Martial shall be bound by the law for the time being in force in Saorstát Eireann relating to evidence before Civil Courts.
Finding.
100.—(1) In case of equality of votes on a finding, the accused shall be acquitted.
(2) The finding of acquittal, whether on all or some of the charges with which the accused is charged shall not require confirmation or be subject to revision and if it relates to all the charges shall be pronounced at once in open Court and the accused be discharged.
Conviction of offence other than offence charged with.
101.—(1) Where a person is charged before a Court-Martial with an offence mentioned in Section 69 of this Act, and the offence is such that if he were charged with the same offence upon indictment before a Civil Court he could lawfully be convicted on such indictment of some other offence not charged in the indictment, then the Court-Martial may, instead of finding the accused guilty of the offence charged, find him guilty of such other offence as a Civil Court might lawfully have convicted him of.
(2) An accused charged before a Court-Martial with desertion may be found guilty of attempting to desert or being absent without leave.
(3) An accused charged before a Court-Martial with attempting to desert may be found guilty of desertion or being absent without leave.
(4) An accused charged before a Court-Martial with any other offence under this Act, other than an offence mentioned in Section 69 of this Act, may, on failure of proof of an offence being committed in circumstances involving a higher degree of punishment, be found guilty of the same offence as being committed in circumstances involving a less degree of punishment.
Voting generally.
102.—In case of equality of votes on the sentence or on any question arising after the commencement of the trial, save objections by the accused under Section 94 of this Act, or the finding, the President shall have a second or casting vote.
Death Sentence.
103.—Sentence of death shall not be awarded save with the concurrence of three-fourths, or more, of the members of the Court.
Sentences generally.
104.—(1) The Court shall award only one sentence in respect of all offences of which the accused is convicted. The sentence shall be one which under this Act, may be awarded in respect of any one of the offences of which the accused is convicted.
(2) Every sentence of penal servitude, imprisonment or detention to which such person is sentenced by court-martial, whether the sentence has been revised as hereinafter is provided or not and whether the person is already undergoing sentence or not, shall be reckoned to commence on that day on which the original finding sentence and proceedings were signed by the President of the Court-Martial or on such earlier date as the Court may direct.
Procedure generally.
105.—(1) If a Court-Martial after the commencement of the trial is by death or otherwise reduced below the legal minimum it shall be dissolved.
(2) If after the commencement of the trial the President dies or is otherwise unable to attend and the Court is not reduced below the legal minimum, the Convening Officer may appoint the senior member of the Court, if of sufficient rank, to be President and the trial shall proceed accordingly, but if he is not of sufficient rank the Court shall be dissolved.
(3) If on account of illness of the accused before the finding, it is impossible, within what appears a reasonable time to the Convening Officer, to continue the trial, the Court may be dissolved by the Convening Officer.
(4) Where a Court-Martial is dissolved under the foregoing provisions of this Section, the accused may be tried again.
(5) The President of any Court-Martial may on any deliberation amongst the members cause the Court to be cleared of all other persons, except the Judge-Advocate.
(6) The Court may adjourn from time to time.
(7) The Court may also, when necessary, view any place.
Miscellaneous Provisions as to Courts-Martial.
Right of Prosecutor and accused to be represented by a legal advisor.
106.—(1) The Prosecutor may be represented by a legal adviser.
(2) Any person tried by a Court-Martial may be represented by a legal adviser or an officer.
(3) The expression “legal adviser” in this Section means a barrister-at-law or solicitor entitled to practise in Saorstát Eireann
Position of legal adviser at Courts-Martial.
107.—(1) Any conduct of a legal adviser which would be liable to censure or would be a contempt of court if it took place before the High Court of Saorstát Eireann shall be likewise deemed liable to censure or be deemed a contempt of court in the case of a Court-Martial, and the rules to be prescribed for the practice of Courts-Martial and the guidance of legal advisers shall be binding on legal advisers who appear before such Courts-Martial and any wilful disobedience of such rules shall be professional misconduct and if persevered in be deemed a contempt of court.
(2) Where a legal adviser is guilty of conduct liable to censure or is guilty of a contempt of court the President of the Court-Martial may certify the offence of such legal adviser under his hand to any Court of Law in Saorstát Eireann which has power to commit for contempt and that Court may thereupon enquire into such alleged offence and after hearing any witnesses that may be produced against or on behalf of the person so accused and after hearing any statement that may be offered in defence, punish or take steps for the punishment of such person in like manner as if he had been guilty of contempt of court.
(3) A Court-Martial may, by order under the hand of the President, cause a legal adviser to be removed from the Court who is guilty of such offence as may in the opinion of the Court-Martial require his removal from Court, but in every such case the President shall certify the offence to a Court of Law in the manner provided by sub-section (2) of this Section.
Summoning and privilege of witnesses at Courts-Martial.
108.—(1) Every person required to give evidence before a Court-Martial may be summoned or ordered to attend in the prescribed manner.
(2) Every person attending in pursuance of such summons or order as a witness before any Court-Martial shall, during his necessary attendance to or in such Court and in going to and returning from the same have the same privilege from arrest as if he were a witness before the High Court in Saorstát Eireann.
(3) For the purpose of this and the next succeeding Section, the expression “a Court-Martial” shall be deemed to include an officer taking a written summary of evidence in accordance with this Act; and references to the President or members of the Court-Martial shall be construed as including references to such officer.
Misconduct of civilian witness at Court-Martial.
109.—(1) Where any person not subject to military law commits any of the following offences, that is to say:—
(a) On being duly summoned as a witness before a Court-Martial, and after payment or tender of the reasonable expenses of his attendance, makes default in attending; or,
(b) Being in attendance as a witness—
(i.) Refuses to take an oath legally required by a Court-Martial to be taken; or,
(ii.) Refuses to produce any document in his power, possession or procurement legally required by a Court-Martial to be produced by him; or,
(iii.) Refuses to answer any question to which a Court-Martial may legally require an answer.
the President of the Court-Martial may certify the offence of such person under his hand to any Court of Law in Saorstát Eireann which has power to punish witnesses if guilty of a like offence in that Court, and that Court may thereupon inquire into such alleged offence, and after examination of any witnesses that may be produced against or for the person so accused, and after hearing any statement that may be offered in defence, if it seem just, punish such person in like manner as if he had committed such offence in a proceeding in that Court.
(2) Where a person not subject to military law when examined on oath or solemn declaration before a Court-Martial wilfully gives false evidence, he shall be liable on indictment or information to be convicted of and punished for the offence of perjury.
(3) Where a person not subject to military law is guilty of any contempt towards a Court-Martial, by using insulting or threatening language, or by causing any interruption or disturbance in its proceedings, or by printing observations or using words calculated to influence the members or witnesses before such Court-Martial, or to bring such Court into disrepute, the President of the Court-Martial may certify the offence of such person under his hand, to any Court of Law in Saorstát Eireann, which has power to commit for contempt and that Court may thereupon enquire into such alleged offence, and after hearing any witnesses that may be produced against or on behalf of the person so accused, and after hearing any statement that may be offered in defence, punish or take steps for the punishment of such person in like manner as if he had been guilty of contempt of that Court.
Insanity of accused at trial.
Finding in case of insanity of accused at time of commission of offence.
110.—(1) (a) Where it appears on the trial by Court-Martial of a person charged with an offence that such person is by reason of insanity unfit to stand his trial, the Court shall specially find that fact and such person shall be kept in custody in the prescribed manner until the directions of the Minister thereon are known or until any earlier time at which such person is fit to take his trial.
(b) The Minister may give orders for the safe custody of such persons during his pleasure in such manner as he may think fit.
(c) A finding under this Section shall be subject to confirmation in like manner as any other finding as is hereinafter provided.
(2) Where on trial by Court-Martial of a person charged with an offence it appears that such person committed the offence, but was insane at the time of the commission thereof, the Court shall specially find the fact of insanity as well as the finding of guilty and such person shall be kept in custody in the prescribed manner until the directions of the Minister thereon are known.
Insanity of person imprisoned or undergoing detention.
111.—If a person imprisoned or undergoing detention by virtue of this Act, becomes insane, then without prejudice to any other provisions for dealing with insane persons, an Executive Minister may, upon a certificate of such insanity by two qualified practitioners, order the removal of such person to an asylum or other proper place for the reception of insane persons, there to remain for the unexpired term of his imprisonment or detention, and upon such person being certified in the like manner to be again of sound mind, may order his removal to any prison or detention barrack in which he might have been confined if he had not become insane, there to undergo the remainder of such punishment.
Right of person tried to copy of proceedings.
112.—Any person tried by Court-Martial shall be entitled on demand at any time, in the case of a General Court-Martial within seven years, and in the case of a Local Court-Martial within three years, after the confirmation of the finding and sentence of the Court, to obtain from the officer or person having the custody of the proceedings of such Court, a copy thereof, including the proceedings with respect to revision and confirmation thereof upon payment for the same at the prescribed rate not exceeding three pence for every folio of seventy words and for the purposes of this Section the proceedings of Courts-Martial shall be preserved in the prescribed manner.
Confirmation and Revision of Findings and Sentences.
Finding and sentence not to be valid unless confirmed.
113.—Subject to the provisions of this Act with respect to an acquittal, the finding and sentence of a Court-Martial shall not be valid except in so far as the same may be confirmed by the authority authorised to confirm the same.
Confirming authorities.
114.—The following authorities shall have power to confirm the finding and sentence of a Court-Martial:—
(a) Where sentence of death has been awarded, the Minister, provided that if the offence for which the sentence was awarded was committed while the accused was not on active service, such sentence shall not be carried into effect unless in addition to confirmation by the Minister it is approved by the Minister for Home Affairs.
(b) In all other cases—
The Adjutant-General or where in the case of a soldier a sentence of detention for a period not exceeding 168 days or any lesser punishment has been awarded by a Local Court-Martial, the Officer having authority to convene such a Court-Martial at the date of the submission of the finding and sentence thereof.
Powers of confirming authority.
115.—Where an accused has been found guilty upon any charge the confirming authority may—
(1) Direct the re-assembly of the Court for the revision of the finding and sentence or either of them stating the reasons for revision.
(2) Confirm or refuse confirmation either in whole or in part of the original or revised finding or sentence.
(3) Order a new trial of the accused by Court-Martial.
(4) Mitigate the punishment awarded by the sentence or remit or commute the same for any less punishment, or substitute a legal for an illegal sentence.
(5) Suspend execution of the sentence.
Procedure where finding or sentence sent back for revision.
116.—Where the finding or sentence is sent back for revision, the Court shall re-assemble in closed Court. They shall receive no further evidence. If they do not adhere to the original finding, they shall record the new finding and where a sentence is involved by such a new finding they shall pass a fresh sentence. If they do adhere to their original finding, they shall record the same afresh. Where sentence alone is sent back for revision, they shall not revise any finding, but shall have power to increase the sentence originally awarded. Each fresh sentence shall be recorded in the prescribed manner.
Execution of Sentence.
Execution of sentence of penal servitude.
117.—(1) Where a person subject to Military law is convicted by Court-Martial and sentenced to penal servitude, such conviction and sentence shall, upon due confirmation in accordance with this Act, have the same force and effect as if such person (hereinafter styled a military convict) had been duly convicted of an offence punishable by penal servitude, and sentenced to penal servitude by a competent Civil Court, and all enactments relating to a person so convicted and sentenced by a Civil Court shall, so far as circumstances permit, apply accordingly.
(2) Where a sentence of penal servitude has been duly confirmed, the military convict upon whom such sentence was passed shall, as soon as practicable be transferred to a penal servitude prison to undergo his sentence according to law. Until so transferred, he shall remain in military custody.
(3) The order of the committing authority (hereinafter in this Section mentioned) shall be a sufficient warrant for the transfer of a military convict to a penal servitude prison.
(4) At any time before the arrival of a military convict at a penal servitude prison, the discharging authority (hereinafter in this Section mentioned) may by Order discharge the prisoner.
(5) Any one or more of the following shall be the committing authority for the purposes of this Section:—
(a) The Minister.
(b) The Adjutant-General.
(c) The Commanding Officer of the military convict.
(d) Any other officer duly authorised.
(6) The discharging authority for the purposes of this Section shall be one of the following:—
(a) The Minister.
(b) The Adjutant-General.
(c) Any other officer duly authorised.
Execution of sentence of imprisonment or detention.
118.—(1) Where a person has been sentenced by Court-Martial to imprisonment, and the sentence has been duly confirmed, the person so sentenced (hereinafter in this Section styled a military prisoner) shall undergo his term of imprisonment, either in military custody or in a detention barrack or in a public prison, or partly in one way and partly in another.
(2) Where a person has been sentenced by Court-Martial to a term of detention and the sentence has been duly confirmed, or where a person has been sentenced to a term of detention by a Commanding Officer or other officer in exercise of summary powers conferred by this Act, every such person (hereinafter in this Section styled a soldier undergoing detention) shall undergo the term of his detention either in military custody or in a barrack detention room, or a detention barrack, or partly in one way and partly in another, but not in a public prison.
(3) The order of the committing authority hereinafter in this Section mentioned, shall be sufficient warrant for the transfer of a military prisoner to a public prison or a detention barrack, or the transfer of a soldier undergoing detention to a detention barrack.
(4) A military prisoner while in a public prison shall be confined, kept to hard labour, and otherwise dealt with in all respects as if he were an ordinary prisoner undergoing a like sentence.
(5) The discharging authority hereinafter in this Section mentioned may, at any time during the term of his imprisonment or detention, discharge a military prisoner or a soldier undergoing detention.
(6) The committing authority may at any time during the term of imprisonment of a military prisoner or the term of detention of a soldier undergoing detention by order provide for:—
(a) His removal from one public prison to another;
(b) His removal from one detention barrack to another;
(c) His being brought before a Court-Martial or a Civil
Court for trial or as a witness;
and an order of such authority shall be sufficient warrant for delivering him into military custody, and detaining him in custody till he can be returned.
(7) The committing authority shall be any one or more of the following:—
(a) The Minister.
(b) The Adjutant-General.
(c) The Commanding Officer of the military prisoner or the soldier undergoing detention.
(d) Any officer duly authorised.
(8) The discharging authority shall be any one of the following:—
(a) The Minister.
(b) The Adjutant-General.
(c) Any other officer duly authorised.
(d) Where the sentence was passed by the Commanding Officer of the soldier undergoing detention, such Commanding Officer.
Inquiry as to and confession of Desertion.
Inquiry by Court on absence of a soldier.
119.—(1) When any soldier has been absent without leave from his duty for a period of twenty-one days, a Court of Inquiry may as soon as practicable be assembled and enquire in the prescribed manner on oath or solemn declaration (which such Court is hereby authorised to administer) respecting the fact of such absence, and the deficiency (if any) in the arms, ammunition, equipments, instruments, regimental necessaries, or clothing of the soldier and if satisfied of the fact of such soldier having absented himself without leave or other sufficient cause, the Court shall declare such absence and the period thereof and the said deficiency (if any) and the Commanding Officer of the absent soldier shall enter in the regimental books a record of the declaration of such Court.
(2) If the absent soldier does not afterwards surrender or is not apprehended, such record shall have the legal effect of a conviction by Court-Martial for desertion.
Confession by soldier of desertion or fraudulent enlistment.
120.—(1) Where a soldier signs a confession that he has been guilty of desertion or fraudulent enlistment, a competent military authority may, by the order dispensing with his trial by Court-Martial, or by any subsequent order award the same forfeitures and the same deductions from pay (if any) as a Court-Martial could award for the said offence, or as are consequential upon conviction by Court-Martial for the said offence, except such of them as may be mentioned in the order.
(2) If upon any such confession, evidence of the truth or falsehood of such confession cannot then be conveniently obtained, the record of such confession countersigned by the Commanding Officer of the soldier shall be entered in the regimental books, and such soldier shall continue to do duty in the corps to which he may be transferred, until he is discharged or transferred to the Reserve, or until legal proof can be obtained of the truth or falsehood of such confession.
(3) The competent military authority for the purpose of this Section means the Minister or any prescribed general officer.
Restitution of Stolen Property.
Power as to restitution of stolen property.
121.—(1) Where a person has been convicted by Court-Martial of having stolen, embezzled, received knowing it to be stolen or otherwise unlawfully obtained any property, and the property or any part thereof is found in the possession of the offender, the authority confirming the finding and sentence of such Court-Martial or the Minister, may order the property so found to be restored to the person appearing to be the lawful owner thereof.
(2) A like order may be made with respect to any property found in the possession of such offender which appears to the confirming authority or the Minister to have been obtained by the conversion or exchange of any of the property stolen, embezzled, received or unlawfully obtained.
(3) Moreover where it appears to the confirming authority or the Minister, from the evidence given before the Court-Martial that any part of the property stolen, embezzled, received or unlawfully obtained, was sold to or pawned with any person without any guilty knowledge of the person purchasing or taking in pawn the property, the confirming authority or the Minister may on the application of that person and on the restitution of the said property to the owner thereof, order that out of the money (if any) found in the possession of the offender a sum not exceeding the amount of the proceeds of the said sale or pawning, shall be paid to the said person purchasing or taking in pawn.
(4) An order under this Section shall not bar the right of any person, other than the offender or any one claiming through him, to recover any property or money delivered or paid in pursuance of an order under this Section from the person to whom the same is so delivered or paid.
Redress of Wrongs.
Mode of complaint by officer.
122.—If an officer thinks himself wronged by his Commanding Officer, and on due application made to him, does not receive the redress to which he may consider himself entitled, he may complain in the prescribed manner to the Minister in order to obtain justice, who is hereby required to examine into such complaint.
Mode of complaint by soldier.
123.—If any soldier thinks himself wronged in any matter by any officer other than his captain, or by any soldier, he may complain thereof to his captain and if he thinks himself wronged by his captain either in respect of his complaint not being redressed or in respect of any other matter, he may complain thereof to his Commanding Officer, and if he thinks himself wronged by his Commanding Officer either in respect of his complaint not being redressed or in respect of any other matter, he may complain thereof to the prescribed general officer, and every officer to whom a complaint is made in pursuance of the Section, shall cause such complaint to be inquired into and shall if on enquiry he is satisfied of the justice of the complaint so made, take such steps as may be necessary for giving full redress to the complainant in respect of the matter so complained of.
Declaration as to Military Command.
Military command.
124.—(1) It is hereby declared that the Minister may, in such manner as to him may from time to time seem meet, make regulations as to the persons to be invested as officers or otherwise, with command over the Forces or any part thereof, or any person belonging thereto, and as to the mode in which such command is to be exercised; provided that command shall not be given to any person over a person superior in rank to himself.
(2) Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to be in derogation of any power otherwise vested in the Minister.
Power of Minister to make Rules.
Power to Minister to make rules of procedure.
125.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Minister may, by rules, from time to time make and when made, repeal, alter or add to, provisions in respect of the following matters or any of them, that is to say:—
(a) The assembly and procedure of Courts of Inquiry.
(b) The convening and constitution of Courts-Martial.
(c) The adjournment, dissolution and sittings of Courts-Martial.
(d) The procedure to be observed in trials by Courts-Martial.
(e) The confirmation and revision of the findings and sentences of Courts-Martial.
(f) The carrying into effect sentences of Courts-Martial.
(g) The forms of orders to be made under the provisions of this Act relating to Courts-Martial, penal servitude, imprisonment or detention.
(h) Any matter in this Chapter of this Part of this Act directed to be prescribed.
(i) Any other matter or thing expedient or necessary for the purpose of carrying this Act into execution so far as relates to the investigation, trial or punishment of offences triable or punishable by military law.
(2) Provided always, that no such rules shall contain anything contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act.
(3) All rules made in pursuance of this Section shall be judicially noticed.
(4) All rules made in pursuance of this Section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as practicable after they are made, if the Oireachtas be then sitting, and if the Oireachtas be not then sitting, as soon as practicable after the beginning of the then next session of the Oireachtas.
(5) The rules as to the procedure of Courts of Inquiry may provide for evidence being taken on oath, and may empower Courts of Inquiry to administer oaths for that purpose.
(6) The rules as to the investigation of a charge may provide for a written summary of the evidence being taken on oath, and may empower a Commanding Officer or any officer, before whom he directs such summary to be taken, to administer oaths for that purpose.
(7) The Rules Publication Act, 1893, shall not apply to rules made under this Section.
CHAPTER II.
Pay.
Authorised deductions from pay only to be made.
126.—The pay of an officer or soldier of the forces shall be paid without any deduction other than the deductions authorised by this Act or any Regulations to be made thereunder, or by any other Act of the Oireachtas.
Automatic forfeiture of pay of officers.
127.—In the case of an officer, pay shall be automatically forfeited for every day—
(a) Of absence on desertion or without leave.
(b) Whilst he is in custody on a charge for an offence resulting in a conviction by a Civil Court.
(c) Whilst he is in custody on a charge resulting in a conviction by Court-Martial unless the Court-Martial shall otherwise direct.
Automatic forfeiture of pay of soldiers.
128.—In the case of a soldier, pay shall be automatically forfeited for every day—
(a) Of absence on desertion or without leave.
(b) Whilst he is in custody on a charge for an offence resulting in a conviction by a Civil Court.
(c) Whilst he is in custody on any charge resulting in a conviction by a Court-Martial (unless the Court-Martial shall otherwise direct).
(d) Whilst he is in custody on a charge of absence without leave for which he is afterwards awarded detention by his Commanding Officer.
(e) Of imprisonment awarded by a Court-Martial or a Civil Court.
(f) Of detention awarded by a Court-Martial or his Commanding Officer.
Definition of expression “Day.”
129.—For the purposes of Sections 127 and 128 of this Act, the Minister may by regulation or order from time to time declare what shall be deemed a day of absence, a day in custody, or a day of imprisonment or detention, so however that—
(a) No person shall be treated as absent, in custody, imprisoned or detained for the purposes aforesaid unless such absence, custody, imprisonment or detention has lasted six hours or upwards, except where the absence prevented the absentee from performing some military duty which was thereby thrown on some other person;
(b) A period of absence, a period in custody, a period of imprisonment or detention which commences before and ends after midnight may be reckoned as a day;
(c) The number of days shall be reckoned as from the time when the absence, custody, imprisonment, or detention commences; and
(d) No period less than twenty-four hours shall be reckoned as more than one day.
Deductions from ordinary pay of officers which may be made.
130.—The following deductions may be made from the ordinary pay due to an officer:—
(a) The sum required to make good such compensation for any expense, loss, damage or destruction occasioned by the commission of any offence as may be awarded by the Court-Martial by which he is convicted of such offence.
(b) The sum required to make good the pay of any officer or soldier which he has unlawfully retained or unlawfully refused to pay.
(c) The sum required to pay any fine awarded by a Court-Martial or a Civil Court.
(d) The sum required to make good any loss, damage or destruction of public property, which after due investigation appears to the Minister to have been occasioned by any wrongful act or negligence on the part of the officer.
Deductions from ordinary pay of soldiers which may be made.
131.—The following deductions may be made from the ordinary pay due to a soldier:—
(a) All ordinary pay for every day on which he is in hospital on account of sickness certified by the proper medical officer attending on him at the hospital to have been caused by an offence under this Act committed by him. The expression “day” in this sub-section shall mean a complete day of twenty-four hours.
(b) The sum required to make good such compensation for any expense, loss, damage or destruction occasioned by the commission of any offence as may be awarded by the Court-Martial by which he is convicted of such offence or where he has confessed the offence and his trial is dispensed with by order under Section 120 (1) of this Act as may be awarded by that order or by any other order of a competent military authority under that Section.
(c) The sum required to make good such compensation for any expenses caused by him or for any loss of or damage or destruction done by him to any arms, ammunition, equipment, clothing, instruments or regimental necessaries or to any buildings or property as may be awarded by his Commanding Officer or by a Court-Martial, provided that in the case of an award by a Commanding Officer the amount to be deducted shall in no case exceed £10.
(d) The share he is required to contribute as belonging to a unit towards compensation for barrack damage which after due investigation to be held in the prescribed manner, appears to have been occasioned by the wilful act or negligence of a person or persons who cannot be identified, belonging to the unit, during the period while such unit was in occupation.
For the purpose of this paragraph, the expression “barrack damage” means damage to or loss or destruction of any premises in which soldiers are quartered or billeted, or any appurtenances, fixtures, furniture or effects therein or appertaining thereto, and the expression “unit” includes any part of a unit.
(e) The sum required to pay a fine awarded by a Court-Martial, his Commanding Officer, Company-Commander or a Civil Court.
(f) The sum required to pay any sum ordered by the Minister or any officer deputed by him for the purpose, to be paid as mentioned in this Act for the maintenance of his wife or child or any bastard child, or towards the cost of any relief given by way of loan to his wife and child:
Provided that the deduction from ordinary pay under this Section shall not in any week exceed two-thirds of the offender's pay for that week.
How automatic forfeiture of and deductions from ordinary pay may be remitted.
132.—Any automatic forfeiture of pay or deduction from pay authorised by this Act may be remitted by the Minister.
Supplemental as to deductions from ordinary pay.
133.—(1). Any sum authorised by this Act to be deducted from the ordinary pay of an officer or soldier may, without prejudice to any other mode of recovering the same, be deducted from the ordinary pay or from any sums due to such officer or soldier in such manner, and when deducted or recovered may be appropriated in such manner, as may from time to time be directed by any regulation or order of the Minister.
(2). In cases of doubt as to the proper issue of pay or the proper automatic forfeiture of or deduction from pay due to any officer or soldier that pay may be withheld until the order of the Minister respecting it has been signified, which order shall be final.
Prohibition of assignment of pay, etc.
134.—Every assignment of and every charge on and every agreement to assign or charge any pay payable to any officer or soldier, or any pension, allowance or relief payable to any such officer or soldier or his wife, widow, child or other relative, or to any person in respect of military service shall be void.
Punishment of false oath and personation.
135.—(1) Where any regulations to be made by the Minister or the Minister for Finance with respect to the payment of any military reward, pension, or allowance, or any sum payable in respect of military service, or with respect to the payment of money or delivery of property in the possession of the military authorities, provide for proving on oath or by statutory declaration, the identity of the recipient or any other matter in connection with such payment, such oath may be administered and declaration taken by the person mentioned in the regulations, and any person who in such oath or declaration wilfully makes any false statement, shall be liable to punishment for perjury.
(2) Any person who falsely represents himself to any military or civil authority to belong to or to be a particular man in the Forces, or in the Reserve to be established under any Act of the Oireachtas, shall be deemed to be guilty of personation.
(3) Any person who is guilty of an offence under the False Personation Act, 1874, in relation to any military pay, reward, pension, or allowance, or to any sum payable in respect of military service, or to any money or property in the possession of the military authorities, or is guilty of personation under this Section, shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.
(4) Provided that nothing in this Section shall prevent any person from being proceeded against and punished under any other enactment or at common law in respect of any offence, so that he be not punished twice for the same offence.
CHAPTER III.
Prisons and Detention Barracks.
Duty of Governor of prison to receive prisoners, deserters and absentees without leave.
136.—(1) The Governor of every prison in Saorstát Eireann shall receive and confine, until discharged or delivered over in due course of law, all prisoners sent to such prison in pursuance of this Act, and every person delivered into his custody as a deserter or absentee without leave by any person conveying him under legal authority, on production of the warrant of a Court of Summary Jurisdiction on which such deserter or absentee without leave has been taken or committed, or of some order from the Minister which order shall continue in force until the deserter or absentee without leave has arrived at his destination.
(2) Every such Governor shall also receive into his custody for a period not exceeding seven days, any soldier in military custody upon delivery to him of a written order purporting to be signed by the Commanding Officer of such soldier.
(3) The provisions of this Section with respect to the Governor of a prison shall apply to a person having charge of any police station or other place in which prisoners may legally be confined.
Establishment and regulation of military prisons.
137.—(1) It shall be lawful for any Executive Minister to set apart any building or part of a building under the control of such Minister as a military prison or detention barrack, or as a public prison for the imprisonment of military prisoners and to declare that any such building, or part of a building, shall be a military prison or a detention barrack, or a public prison, as the case may be, and every military prison so declared shall be deemed to be a public prison within the meaning of the provisions of this Act relating to imprisonment.
(2) It shall be lawful for an Executive Minister from time to time to make, alter, and repeal rules for the government, management, and regulation of military prisons and detention barracks, and for the appointment and removal, and powers of inspectors, visitors, governors, and officers thereof, and for the labour of military or other prisoners and soldiers undergoing detention therein, and for enabling such prisoners or soldiers to earn by special industry and good conduct, a remission of a portion of their sentence and for the safe custody of such prisoners or soldiers, and for the maintenance of discipline among them, and for the punishment by personal correction, restraint, or otherwise of offences committed by such prisoners or soldiers, so however that such rules shall not authorise corporal punishment to be inflicted for any offence, nor render the imprisonment or detention more severe than it is under the law in force for the time being in any prison in Saorstát Eireann subject to the General Prisons (Ireland) Act, 1877, and provided that all regulations made under the Prisons Act, 1898, as to the duties of gaolers and medical officers, and all the regulations contained in the Capital Punishment Amendment Act, 1868, and the General Prisons (Ireland) Act, 1877, as to the duties of Coroners with respect to inquests in prisons and detention barracks, shall be contained in such rules, so far as the same can be made applicable.
(3) Such rules may apply to such prisons and detention barracks any enactments of the Prisons Act, 1865, imposing punishments on any persons not prisoners.
(4) All rules made by a Minister in pursuance of this Section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as practicable after they are made, if the Oireachtas be then sitting, and if not, as soon as practicable after the commencement of the then next session of the Oireachtas.
(5) The powers of a Minister under this Section with respect to military prisons and detention barracks shall be exercisable by the General Officer Commanding in the field, and shall include a power of declaring any place to be a military prison or a detention barracks, and the limitations on the power of making rules as to the punishment of prisoners and soldiers undergoing detention, and as to the severity of imprisonment and detention shall not apply: Provided that nothing in this sub-section or in any rules made thereunder shall authorise flogging or other corporal punishment to be inflicted for any offence.
Classification of prisoners.
138.—Whereas it is expedient that a clear difference should be made between the treatment of prisoners convicted of breaches of discipline and the treatment of prisoners convicted of offences of an immoral, dishonest, shameful, or criminal character, or sentenced to be discharged from the service with ignominy, the Minister may, from time to time, make rules for the classification and treatment of such prisoners.
CHAPTER IV.
Exemptions of Officers and Soldiers.
Exemptions of officers and soldiers from tolls.
139.—(1) All officers and soldiers of the Forces on duty or on the march; and
Their horses and baggage; and
All prisoners under military escort; and
All motor cars, carriages and horses belonging to the Forces or employed in military service, when conveying any such persons as above in this Section mentioned, or baggage or stores, or returning from conveying same,
shall be exempted from payment of any duties or tolls on embarking or disembarking from or upon any pier, wharf, quay, or landing place, or in passing along or over any turnpike or other road or bridge, otherwise demandable by virtue of any Act of Parliament or of the Oireachtas already passed or hereafter to be passed:
Provided that nothing in this Section shall exempt any boats, barges or other vessels employed in conveying the said persons, horses, baggage, or stores, along any canal from payment of tolls in like manner as other boats, barges, and vessels.
(2) Any person who demands and receives any duty, toll, or rate in contravention of this Section shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds nor less than ten shillings.
Exemption of soldiers in respect of civil process.
140.—(1) A soldier of the Forces shall not be liable to be taken out of the service by any process, execution, or Order of any Court of Law or otherwise, or to be compelled to appear in person before any Court of Law, except in respect of the following matters, or one of them; that is to say:—
(a) On account of a charge of or conviction for crime; or
(b) On account of any debt, damages or sum of money, when the amount exceeds thirty pounds over and above all costs of suit.
(2) For the purposes of this Section a crime shall mean a felony, misdemeanour, or other crime or offence punishable, with fine or imprisonment or some greater punishment, and shall not include the offence of a person absenting himself from his service or neglecting to fulfil his contract, or otherwise misconducting himself respecting his contract.
(3) For the purposes of this Section, a Court of Law shall be deemed to include a Court of Summary Jurisdiction and any District Justice.
(4) The amount of the debt, damages or sum shall be proved, for the purpose of any process issued before the Court has adjudicated on the case, by an affidavit of the person seeking to recover the same or some one on his behalf, and such affidavit shall be sworn without payment of any fee, in the manner in which affidavits are sworn in the Court in which proceedings are taken for the recovery of the sum, and a memorandum of such affidavit shall, without fee, be endorsed upon any process or order issued against a soldier.
(5) All proceedings and documents in or incidental to a process, execution, or order in contravention of this Section shall be void; and where complaint is made by a soldier or his Commanding Officer that such soldier is dealt with in contravention of this Section by any process, execution or order issued out of any Court, and is made to that Court or to any Court superior to it, the Court or some judge thereof shall examine into the complaint and shall, if necessary, discharge such soldier without fee, and may award reasonable costs to the complainant, which may be recovered as if costs had been awarded in his favour in any action or other proceeding in such Court.
Provided that:—
Any person having cause of action or suit against a soldier of the Forces, may, notwithstanding anything in this Section, after due notice in writing given to the soldier, or left at his last quarters, proceed in such action or suit to judgment, and have execution other than against the person, pay, arms, ammunition, equipment, regimental necessaries or clothing of such soldier.
Liability of soldier to maintain wife and children.
141.—(1) A soldier of the Forces shall be liable to contribute to the maintenance of his wife and children, and also to the maintenance of any bastard child of which he may be proved to be the father, to the same extent as if he were not a soldier; but execution in respect of any such liability or of any order or decree in respect of such maintenance shall not issue against his person, pay, arms, ammunition, equipment, instruments, regimental necessaries, or clothing; nor shall he be liable to be punished for the offence of deserting or neglecting to maintain his wife or family, or any member thereof, or of leaving her or them chargeable to any union, parish or place.
(2) When an order or decree is made under any act or at common law for payment, by a man who is or subsequently becomes a soldier of the Forces, either of the cost of the maintenance of his wife or child, whether legitimate or illegitimate, or of any bastard child of whom he is the putative father, or of the cost of any relief given to his wife or child whether legitimate or illegitimate by way of loan, a copy of such order or decree shall be sent to the Minister or any officer deputed by him for the purpose, and in the case—
(a) Of such order or decree being so sent; or
(b) Of it appearing to the satisfaction of the Minister, or any officer deputed by him for the purpose, that a soldier of the regular forces has deserted or left in destitute circumstances, without reasonable cause, his wife or any of his legitimate children under sixteen years of age,
the Minister or officer shall order to be deducted from the daily pay of the soldier, and to be appropriated in liquidation of the sum adjudged to be paid by such order or decree, or towards the maintenance of the wife or children whether legitimate or illegitimate of the soldier, as the case may be, in such manner as the Minister or officer thinks fit, a portion of such daily pay not exceeding—
Where the soldier is a non-commissioned officer who is not below the rank of sergeant—in respect of a wife or children, whether legitimate or illegitimate, three shillings.
In the case of any other soldier—in respect of a wife or children, whether legitimate or illegitimate, two shillings.
(3) Where a proceeding is instituted against a soldier of the Forces under any Act, or at common law, for the purpose of enforcing against him any such liability as above in this Section mentioned, then—
(a) If at the date of service of the process the soldier is quartered out of the jurisdiction of the Court, or (where the proceeding is before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction), out of the court district of the District Court in which the proceeding is instituted, the process shall be served on his Commanding Officer, and such service shall not be valid unless there be left therewith, in the hands of the Commanding Officer, a sum of money (to be adjudged as costs incurred in obtaining the order or decree, if any order or decree is made against the soldier) of a sufficient amount to enable the soldier to attend the hearing of the case and return to his quarters, and such sum may be expended by the Commanding Officer for that purpose.
(b) In any other case the process may be served either on the Commanding Officer or on the soldier, provided that where the process is served on the soldier, a copy thereof shall be sent by the Court by which it is issued to the Commanding Officer by registered post as soon as possible after the process is served, and in any case at least four days before the day fixed or the hearing of the case.
Where, by order or decree sent to the Minister or officer in accordance with sub-section (2) of this Section, the soldier is adjudged to pay as costs incurred in obtaining the order or decree any sum left in the hands of the Commanding Officer under this sub-section, the Minister may cause a sum equal to the sum so left to be paid in liquidation of the sum so adjusted to be paid as costs, and the amount so paid by the Minister shall be a public debt from the soldier against whom the order or decree was made, and without prejudice to any other method of recovery, may be recovered by deductions from his daily pay, in addition to those mentioned in sub-section (2) of this Section.
(4) Where any arrears have accumulated in respect of sums adjudged to be paid by any such order or decree as aforesaid whilst the person against whom the order or decree was made was serving as a soldier of the Forces, whether or not deductions in respect thereof have been made from his pay under this Section then after he has ceased so to serve an order of committal shall not be made in respect of those arrears unless the Court is satisfied that he is able, or has since he ceased so to serve, been able to pay those arrears or any part thereof, and has failed to do so.
Officers not to be sheriffs or mayors.
142.—An officer of the Forces on the active list within the meaning of any order for regulating the pay and promotion of the Forces, shall not be capable of being nominated or elected to be sheriff of any county, borough, or other place, or to be a mayor or an alderman of, or to hold any office in any municipal corporation in any city, borough, or place in Saorstát Eireann, or of being nominated or elected as a member of a county council.
Exemption from jury.
143.—Every officer and soldier in the Forces shall be exempt from serving on any jury.
CHAPTER V.
ENLISTMENT.
Period of Service.
Limit of original enlistment.
144.—A person may be enlisted to serve as a soldier of the Forces for a period of 12 years, or for such less period as may be from time to time fixed by the Minister, but not for any longer period, and the period for which a person enlists is in this Act referred to as the term of his original enlistment:
Provided that the Minister in special cases may, by order, direct that where any boy is enlisted in a particular corps before attaining the age of 18, the period of twelve years shall be reckoned from the day on which he attains the age of eighteen years.
Terms of original enlistment.
145.—The original enlistment of a person under this Act shall be as follows:—
(1) For the whole of the term of his original enlistment in army service; or
(2) For such portion of the term of his original enlistment as may be, from time to time, fixed by the Minister and specified in the attestation paper in army service and for the residue of the said term in the Reserve.
Change of conditions of service.
146.—(1) The Minister may from time to time, by general or special regulations, vary the conditions of service, so as to permit a soldier of the Forces in any service, with the assent of the Minister, either—
(a) To enter the Reserve at once for the residue unexpired of the term of his original enlistment; or
(b) To extend his army service for all or any part of the residue unexpired of such term; or
(c) To extend the term of his original enlistment up to the period of twelve years, or any shorter period.
(2) The Minister may from time to time, by general or special regulations, vary the conditions of service, so as to permit a man in the Reserve, with the assent of the Minister, to re-enter upon army service for all or any part of the residue unexpired of the term of his original enlistment, or for any period of time, not exceeding twelve years in the whole, from the date of his original enlistment.
Reckoning of service.
147.—In reckoning the service of a soldier of the Forces for the purpose of discharge or of transfer to the Reserve—
The service shall begin to reckon from the date of his attestation
Proceedings for Enlistment.
Mode of enlistment and attestation.
148.—(1) Every person authorised to enlist recruits in the Forces (in this Act referred to as the “recruiter”) shall give to every person offering to enlist a notice in the form for the time being authorised by the Minister stating the general requirements of attestation and the general conditions of the contract to be entered into by the recruit, and directing such person to appear before a District Justice or a Peace Commissioner either forthwith or at the time and place therein mentioned.
(2) Upon the appearance before a District Justice or Peace Commissioner of a person offering to enlist, such District Justice or Peace Commissioner shall ask him whether he has been served with and understands the notice and whether he assents to be enlisted, and shall not proceed with the enlistment if he considers the recruit under the influence of liquor.
(3) If he does not appear before a District Justice or Peace Commissioner or on appearing does not assent to be enlisted, no further proceedings shall be taken.
(4) If he assents to be enlisted—
(a) The District Justice or Peace Commissioner after cautioning such person that if he makes any false answer to the questions read to him he will be liable to be punished as provided by this Act, shall read or cause to be read to him the questions set forth in the attestation paper for the time being authorised by the Minister, and shall take care that such person understands each question so read, and after ascertaining that the answer of such person to each question has been duly recorded opposite the same in the attestation paper, shall require him to make and sign the declaration as to the truth of those answers set forth in the said paper and shall then administer to him the oath of allegiance contained in the said paper.
(b) Upon signing the declaration and taking the oath, such person shall be deemed to be enlisted as a soldier of the Forces.
(c) The District Justice or Peace Commissioner shall attest by his signature in manner required by the said paper, the fulfilment of requirements as to attesting a recruit and shall deliver the attestation paper, duly dated to the recruiter.
(d) The fee for attestation of a recruit and for all acts and things incidental thereto, shall be one shilling and no more, and shall be paid to the District Court Clerk.
(e) The officer who finally approves of a recruit for service shall, at his request, furnish him with a certified copy of his attestation paper.
(5) The date at which the recruit signs the declaration and takes the oath in this Section in that behalf mentioned shall be deemed to be the date of the attestation of such recruit.
(6) The prescribed military authority if satisfied that there is any error in the attestation paper of a recruit, may cause the recruit to attend before some District Justice or Peace Commissioner, and that District Justice or Peace Commissioner, if satisfied that such error exists and is not so material as to render it just that the recruit should be discharged, may amend the error in the attestation paper, and the paper as amended shall thereupon be deemed as valid as if the matter of the amendment had formed part of the original matter of such paper.
(7) Where the regulations of the Minister under this Part of this Act require duplicate attestation papers to be signed and attested, this Section shall apply to such duplicates, and in the event of any amendment of any attestation paper, the amendment shall be made in both of the duplicate attestation papers.
Power of recruit to purchase discharge.
149.—If a recruit within three months after the date of his attestation, pay for the use of the exchequer of Saorstát Eireann a sum not exceeding ten pounds, he shall be discharged with all convenient speed, unless he claims such discharge during a period when soldiers in army service, who otherwise would be transferred to the Reserve, are required by a proclamation in pursuance of this Act to continue in army service, in which case he may be retained in the service during that period and at the termination thereof shall, if he so require it, on payment then of the said sum, be discharged.
Appointment to Corps and Transfers
Enlistment for general service and appointment to corps.
150.—(1) Recruits may, in pursuance of any general or special Regulations from time to time made by the Minister be enlisted for service in particular corps of the Forces, but save as provided in such Regulations (if any) recruits shall be enlisted for general service.
(2) The prescribed military authority shall as soon as practicable after the recruit has undergone such prescribed military training as the Minister may direct, appoint a recruit if enlisted for service in a particular corps to that corps, and if enlisted for general service to some corps of the Forces.
Effect of appointment to a corps and provision for transfers.
151.—A soldier of the Forces, whether enlisted for general service or not, when once appointed to a corps shall serve in that corps for the period of his army service, whether during the term of his original enlistment or during the period of such reengagement as is in this Act mentioned, unless transferred under the following provisions:—
(1) A soldier of the Forces enlisted for general service, may within three months after the date of his attestation or at any time whilst a proclamation ordering the Reserve to be called out on permanent service is in force, be transferred to any corps of the Forces of the same arm or branch of the service, by order of the prescribed military authority;
(2) A soldier of the Forces may at any time with his own consent be transferred by order of the prescribed military authority, to any corps of the Forces;
(3) Where a soldier of the Forces is in pursuance of any of the foregoing provisions transferred to a corps in an arm or branch different from that in which he was previously serving, the prescribed military authority may by order, vary the conditions of his service so as to correspond with the general conditions of service in the arm or branch to which he is transferred;
(4) Where a soldier of the Forces has been transferred to serve on the staff or in any corps not being a corps of infantry, cavalry, artillery, or engineering, he may by order of the prescribed military authority, either during the term of his original enlistment or during the period of his re-engagement be removed from such service and transferred to any corps of the Forces in which he was serving prior to such first mentioned transfer, either in the rank he holds at the time of his removal or any lower rank;
(5) Where a soldier of the Forces—
(a) Has been guilty of the offence of desertion or of fraudulent enlistment, and has either been convicted of the same by a Court-martial, or having confessed the offence is liable to be tried, but his trial has been dispensed with by order of the prescribed military authority; or
(b) Has been sentenced by Court-Martial for any offence to a punishment not less than detention for a term of three months,
such soldier shall be liable in commutation wholly or partly of other punishment, to general service, and may from time to time be transferred to such corps of the Forces as the prescribed military authority may from time to time order;
(6) A soldier of the Forces delivered into military custody or committed by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction as a deserter shall be liable to be transferred by order of the prescribed military authority, to any corps of the Forces near to the place where he is delivered or committed to any other corps to which the prescribed military authority may think it desirable to transfer him without prejudice to his subsequent trial and punishment.
Re-engagement and Prolongation of Service.
Re-engagement of soldier.
152.—(1) Subject to any general or special regulations from time to time made by the Minister, a soldier of the Forces, if in army service, and after the expiration of nine years from the date of his original term of enlistment, may on the recommendation of his Commanding Officer, and with the approval of the prescribed military authority, be re-engaged for such further period of army service as will make up a total continuous period of twenty-one years of army service, reckoned from the date of his attestation, and inclusive of any period previously served in the Reserve.
(2) A soldier of the Forces who is so re-engaged shall make before his Commanding Officer a declaration in accordance with the said regulations.
Continuance in service after 21 years' service.
153. A soldier of the Forces who has completed or will within one year complete a total period of twenty-one years' service, inclusive of any period served in the Reserve, may give notice to his Commanding Officer of his desire to continue in the service in the Forces; and if the prescribed military authority approve he may be continued as a soldier of the Forces in the same manner in all respects as if his term of service were still unexpired, except that he may claim his discharge at the expiration of any period of three months after he has given notice to his Commanding Officer of his wish to be discharged.
Re-engagement and continuance of service of non-commissioned officers.
154. The regulations from time to time made in pursuance of this Part of this Act, may, if it seems expedient, provide that a non-commissioned officer of the Forces who extends his army service for the residue unexpired of his original term of enlistment shall have the right at his option to re-engage, under Section 153 of this Act and continue his service under Section 153 of this Act, or to do either of such things subject, nevertheless, to the veto of the Minister or other authority mentioned in the regulations and to such other conditions as are specified in the regulations.
Prolongation of service in certain cases.
155.—(1) Where the time at which a soldier of the Forces would otherwise be entitled to be discharged occurs while a state of war exists, or while soldiers in the Reserve are required by proclamation in pursuance of this Act, to continue in or re-enter upon army service, the soldier may be detained and his service may be prolonged for such period not exceeding twelve months as the prescribed military authority may order, but at the expiration of that period, or any earlier period at which the prescribed military authority considers his services can be dispensed with, the soldier shall, as provided by this Act be discharged with all convenient speed.
(2) Where the time at which a soldier of the Forces would otherwise be entitled to be transferred to the Reserve occurs while a state of war exists, the soldier may be detained in army service for such further period not exceeding twelve months, as the prescribed military authority may order, but at the expiration of that period or any earlier period at which the prescribed military authority considers his services can be dispensed with, the soldier shall with all convenient speed be transferred to the Reserve, unless at that time a proclamation calling out the Reserve, or any part thereof, is in force.
(3) If a soldier required under this Section to be discharged desires, while a state of war exists to continue in the service, and the prescribed military authority approve, he may agree to continue as a soldier of the Forces in the same manner in all respects as if his term of service were still unexpired, except that he may claim his discharge at the end of such state of war, or if it is so provided by such agreement, at the expiration of any period of three months after he has given notice to his Commanding Officer of his wish to be discharged.
(4) A soldier who so agrees to continue shall make before his Commanding Officer a declaration in accordance with any general or special regulations from time to time made by the Minister.
In imminent national danger the Executive Council may continue soldiers in army service or call out the Reserve on permanent service.
156.—(1) It shall be lawful for the Executive Council in case of imminent national danger, or of great emergency by Proclamation, the occasion being first communicated to the Oireachtas if the Oireachtas be then sitting, or if the Oireachtas be not then sitting, declared by the proclamation, to order that all or any soldiers who would otherwise be entitled in pursuance of the terms of their enlistment to be transferred to the Reserve, shall continue in army service.
(2) It shall be lawful for the Executive Council, by such proclamation to order the Minister from time to time to give, and when given to revoke or vary, such directions as may seem necessary or proper for causing all or any of the soldiers mentioned in the proclamation to continue in army service.
(3) Every soldier for the time being required by or in pursuance of such directions to continue in army service, shall continue to serve in army service for the period for which he might be required to serve, if he had been transferred to the Reserve and called out for permanent service by a proclamation of the Executive Council under this Act relating to the Reserve.
(4) Any man who has entered the Reserve in pursuance of the terms of his enlistment, may be called out for permanent service by a proclamation of the Executive Council under the provisions of this Act, relating to the calling out of the Reserves on permanent service.
Discharge and Transfer to the Reserve.
Discharge or transfer to Reserve.
157.—(1) Save as otherwise provided by this Act every soldier of the Forces, upon the completion of the term of his original enlistment, or of the period of his re-engagement, shall be discharged with all convenient speed, but until so discharged, shall be subject to this Act as a soldier of the Forces.
(2) Every soldier of the Forces upon the completion of the period of his army service, if shorter than the term of his original enlistment, shall be transferred to the Reserve, but until so transferred, shall be subject to this Act as a soldier of the Forces.
(3) A soldier of the Forces who is discharged on completion of the term of his original enlistment or his re-engagement, as mentioned in sub-section (1) of this Section, or is transferred to the Reserve, shall be entitled to be conveyed free of cost from the place in Saorstát Eireann where he is discharged or transferred, to the place in which he appears from his attestation paper to have been attested, or to any place at which he may at the time of his discharge or transfer decide to take up his residence and to which he can be conveyed without greater cost.
Delivery of lunatic soldier on discharge with his wife or child at workhouse or of dangerous lunatic at asylum.
158.—(1) The Minister, or any officer deputed by him for the purpose, may if he think proper, on account of a soldier's lunacy, cause such soldier of the Forces, on his discharge, and his wife and child, or any of them, to be sent to the Parish or Union to which under the Statutes for the time being in force, he appears from the statements made in his attestation paper and other available information to be chargeable; and such soldier, wife, or child, if delivered after reasonable notice at the Workhouse in which persons settled in such Parish or Union are received, shall be received by the Master or other proper officer of such Workhouse, or such Inspector of poor, as the case may be.
(2) Provided that the Minister, or any officer deputed by him for the purpose, where it appears to him that any such soldier is a dangerous lunatic, and is in such a state of health as not to be liable to suffer bodily or mental injury by his removal, may by orders signified under his hand, send such lunatic direct to an Asylum, registered hospital, licensed house, or other place in which pauper lunatics can legally be confined, and for the purpose of the said order, the above-mentioned Parish or Union shall be deemed to be the Parish or Union from which such lunatic is sent.
(3) In the case of any such lunatic, who is liable to be delivered at a Workhouse, at which persons settled in the said Union are received, the Minister or any officer deputed by him for the purpose may, by order under his hand, send such lunatic to the Asylum of the district in which such Union is situate, and such order shall be of the same effect as a warrant under the hands and seals of two Justices given under the provisions of the tenth Section of the Statute passed by the Parliament of the late United Kingdom 30 and 31 Vic., cap. 118, intituled “An Act to provide for the appointment of the Officers and Servants of District Lunatic Asylums in Ireland, and to alter and amend the law relating to the custody of dangerous lunatics and dangerous idiots in Ireland.”
Regulations as to discharge of soldiers.
159.—(1) A soldier of the Forces shall not be discharged from the Forces, unless by sentence of Court-Martial, or by order of the prescribed military authority, and until duly discharged in manner provided by this Act and by regulations of the Minister under this Act, shall be subject to this Act.
(2) To every soldier of the Forces who is discharged for whatever reason he is discharged, there shall be given a certificate of discharge stating such particulars as may be from time to time required by regulations of the Minister under this Act.
Authority to Enlist and Attest Recruits.
Regulations as to persons to enlist and enlistment of soldiers.
160.—(1) The Minister may from time to time make, and when made, revoke and alter a general or special order making such regulations, giving such directions and issuing such forms as he may think necessary or expedient respecting the persons authorised to enlist recruits for the Forces, and for the purpose of such enlistment and generally for carrying this Part of this Act into effect; and any such order shall be of the same effect as if enacted in this Act.
(2) For the purpose of the attestation of soldiers in pursuance of this Part of this Act, an officer if authorised in that behalf under the regulations made by the Minister shall have the authority of a District Justice or Peace Commissioner, and be deemed to be included in the expression—“District Justice” or “Peace Commissioner” whenever used in this Part of this Act in relation to the attestation of soldiers.
Special Provisions as regards Apprentices.
Claims of masters to apprentices.
161.—The master of an apprentice who has been attested as a soldier of the Forces may claim him while under the age of twenty-one years as follows, and not otherwise:—
(1) The master, within one month after the apprentice left his service, must take before a District Justice, the oath in that behalf, specified in the Fourth Schedule to this Act, and obtain from the District Justice a certificate of having taken such oath, which certificate the District Justice shall give in the form in the said Schedule, or to the like effect;
(2) A Court of Summary Jurisdiction within whose jurisdiction the apprentice may be, if satisfied on complaint by the master that he is entitled to have the apprentice delivered up to him, may order the officer under whose command the apprentice is, to deliver him to the master, but if satisfied that the apprentice stated on his attestation that he was not an apprentice, may and if required by or on behalf of the said Commanding Officer, shall, try the apprentice for the offence of making such false statement, and if need be may adjourn the case for the purpose;
(3) Except in pursuance of an order of a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, an apprentice shall not be taken from the service;
(4) An apprentice shall not be claimed in pursuance of this Section unless he was bound for at least four years by a regular indenture, and was under the age of sixteen years when so bound;
(5) A master who gives up the indenture of his apprentice within one month after the attestation of such apprentice shall be entitled to receive to his own use so much of the bounty (if any) payable to such apprentice on enlistment as has not been paid before notice was given of his being an apprentice.
Offences as to Enlistment.
Penalty for unlawful recruiting.
162.—If a person without due authority, the proof of which authority shall lie on such person—
(1) Publishes or causes to be published notices or advertisements for the purpose of procuring recruits for the Forces, or in relation to recruits for the Forces; or
(2) Opens or keeps any house, place or rendezvous, or office as connected with the recruiting of the Forces; or
(3) Receives any person under any such advertisement as aforesaid; or
(4) Directly or indirectly interferes with the recruiting service of the Forces,
he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
Recruits punishable for false answers.
163.—(1) If a person knowingly makes a false answer to any question contained in the attestation paper, which has been put to him by, or by direction of, the District Justice or Peace Commissioner before whom he appears for the purpose of being attested, he shall be liable on summary conviction to be imprisoned with or without hard labour for any period not exceeding three months.
(2) If a person guilty of an offence under this Section has been attested as a soldier of the Forces, he shall be liable, at the direction of the prescribed military authority, to be proceeded against before a court of summary jurisdiction, or to be tried by Court-Martial for the offence.
Miscellaneous as to Enlistment.
Validity of attestation and enlistment or re-engagement.
164.—(1) Where a person after his attestation on his enlistment or the making of his declaration on re-engagement, has received pay as a soldier of the Forces during three months, he shall be deemed to have been duly attested and enlisted or duly re-engaged, as the case may be, and shall not be entitled to claim his discharge on the grounds of any error or illegality in his enlistment, attestation or re-engagement on any ground whatsoever, save as authorised by this Act, and, if within the said three months, such person claims his discharge, any such error or illegality or other ground shall not, until such person is discharged in pursuance of his claim, affect his position as a soldier in the service, or invalidate any proceedings, act, or thing taken or done prior to such discharge.
(2) Where a person is in pay as a soldier in any corps of the Forces, such person shall be deemed for all purposes of this Act to be a soldier of the Forces, with this qualification, that he may at any time claim his discharge, but until he so claims and is discharged in pursuance of that claim, he shall be subject to this Act as a soldier of the Forces legally enlisted and duly attested under this Act.
(3) Where a person claims his discharge on the ground that he has not been attested or re-engaged or not duly attested or reengaged, his Commanding Officer shall forthwith forward such claim to the prescribed military authority, who shall as soon as practicable submit it to the Minister, and if the claim appears to the Minister to be well grounded the claimant shall be discharged with all convenient speed.
Definition for purposes of Part II. Chapter V. of prescribed military authority.
165.—Any act authorised or required by this Part of this Act to be done by, to, or before the prescribed military authority, may be done by, to, or before the Minister or any officer prescribed in that behalf.
CHAPTER VI.
Billeting and Impressment of Carriages. Billeting of Officers, Soldiers and Horses.
No billeting save as authorised by this Act.
166.—(1) Save as authorised by this Act no officer, soldier or horse shall be billeted on any inhabitant of Saorstát Eireann without his consent.
(2) All statutes and laws authorising, prohibiting or regulating the billeting of officers, soldiers or horses which are in force at the passing of this Act are hereby repealed.
Obligation of constable to provide billets.
167.—(1) Every constable for the time being in charge of any place mentioned in the route issued to the Commanding Officer of any portion of the Forces, shall on the demand of such Commanding Officer, or of an officer or soldier authorised by him, and on production of such route, billet on the occupiers of victualling houses and other premises specified in this Act as victualling houses in that place such number of officers, soldiers and horses entitled under this Act to be billeted as are stated in the route to require quarters.
(2) A route for the purpose of this Part of this Act shall be issued under the authority of the Minister, and shall state the forces to be moved in pursuance of the route, and that statement shall be signed by the Minister or such officer as the Minister may from time to time order in that behalf.
(3) A route purporting to be issued and signed as required by this Section shall be evidence until the contrary is proved of its having been duly issued and signed in pursuance of this Act, and if delivered to an officer or soldier by his Commanding Officer, shall be a sufficient authority to such officer or soldier to demand billets, and when produced by an officer or soldier to a constable shall be conclusive evidence to such constable of the authority of the officer or soldier producing the same to demand billets in accordance with such route.
Liability to provide billets.
168.—(1) Officers, soldiers, and horses may be billeted in any victualling house as defined by this Section, but shall not be billeted in any other house without the consent of the keeper of that house.
(2) In this Act the expression “victualling house” means and includes—
(a) All inns and hotels whether licensed or not;
(b) All livery stables;
(c) All premises licensed for the consumption of wine or spirits on the premises.
Officers, soldiers and horses entitled to be billeted.
169.—The officers, soldiers and horses entitled to be billeted under this Act are:—
(a) All officers and soldiers of the Forces
(b) All horses belonging to the Forces.
(c) All horses belonging to an officer of the Forces for which forage is for the time being allowed by regulations to be made by the Minister.
Accommodation and payment on billet.
170.—(1) The keeper of a victualling house upon whom any officer, soldier or horse is billeted, shall receive such officer, soldier or horse in his victualling house and furnish there the accommodation following:—that is to say, lodging and attendance and food for the officer or soldier, and stable room and forage for the horse, in accordance with the provisions of the Fifth Schedule to this Act.
(2) Where the keeper of a victualling house on whom any officer, soldier or horse is billeted, desires by reason of his want of accommodation or of his victualling house being full, or otherwise, to be relieved from the liability to receive such officer, soldier or horse in his victualling house, and provides for such officer, soldier, or horse, in the immediate neighbourhood such good and sufficient accommodation as he is required by this Act to provide, and as is approved by the constable issuing the billets, he shall be relieved from providing the same in his victualling house.
(3) (a) There shall be paid to the keeper of a victualling house for the accommodation furnished by him in pursuance of this Act the prices for the time being fixed by regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance.
(b) Any regulations as to prices so made shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after they are made, and if within forty days after they have been so laid either House passes a resolution requesting the Executive Council to annul such regulations, the Executive Council may annul such regulations and the regulations so annulled shall thenceforth become void without prejudice to anything done thereunder in the meantime.
(4) An officer or soldier demanding billets in pursuance of this Act shall, before he departs, and if he remains longer than four days, at least once in every four days, pay the just demands of every keeper of a victualling house on whom he and any officers and soldiers under his command, and his or their horses (if any) have been billeted.
(5) If by reason of a sudden order to march or otherwise, an officer or soldier is not able to make such payment to any keeper of a victualling house as is above required, he shall, before he departs, make up with such keeper of such victualling house an account of the amount due to him, and sign the same, and forthwith transmit the account so signed to the Minister, who shall forthwith cause the amount named in such account as due to be paid.
Annual list of keepers of victualling houses liable to billets.
171.—(1) The police authority for any place may cause annually a list to be made out of all keepers of victualling houses within the meaning of this Act, in such place or any particular part thereof, liable to billets under this Act, specifying the situation and character of such victualling house, and the number of soldiers and horses who may be billeted on the keeper thereof.
(2) The police authority shall cause such list to be kept at some convenient place open for inspection at all reasonable times by persons interested, and any person who feels aggrieved either by being entered in such list, or by being entered to receive an undue proportion of officers, soldiers, or horses, may complain to a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, and the Court after such notice as the Court think necessary to persons interested, may order the list to be amended in such manner as the Court may think just.
Regulations as to grant of billets.
172.—The following regulations shall be observed with respect to billeting in pursuance of this Act; that is to say:—
(1) No more billets shall at any time be ordered than there are effective officers, soldiers and horses, present to be billeted.
(2) All billets, when made out by the constable, shall be delivered into the hands of the Commanding Officer or non-commissioned officer who demanded the billets or of some officer authorised by such Commanding Officer.
(3) If a keeper of a victualling house feels aggrieved by having an undue proportion of officers, soldiers or horses billeted on him, he may apply to a Peace Commissioner, or if the billets have been made out by a Peace Commissioner, he may complain to a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, and the Peace Commissioner or Court may order such officers or soldiers or horses to be removed and to be billeted elsewhere, as may seem just;
(4) A constable having authority in a place mentioned in the route may act for the purposes of billeting in any locality within one mile from such place, unless some constable ordinarily having authority in such locality is present and undertakes to billet therein the due proportion of officers, soldiers and horses.
(5) The regulations with respect to billets contained in the Fifth Schedule to this Act shall be duly observed by the constable.
(6) A Peace Commissioner on the request of an officer or non-commissioned officer authorised to demand billets may vary a route by adding a place or omitting any place, and also may direct billets to be given above one mile from a place mentioned in the route.
(7) A Peace Commissioner may require a constable to give an account, in writing, of the number of officers, soldiers and horses billeted by such constable, together with the names of the keepers of victualling houses on whom such officers, soldiers and horses are billeted, and the locality of such victualling houses.
Billeting in case of emergency.
173.—(1) The Executive Council may at any time or times by order declare that a state of emergency exists in Saorstát Eireann, or in any parts or part (to be specified in such order) thereof and may by the same order authorise any officer, not below the rank of Commandant, to be named in such order commanding any part of the Forces in any part of Saorstát Eireann in which a state of emergency is by such order declared to exist, to issue a billeting requisition under this Section.
(2) Any officer so authorised may issue a billeting requisition under his hand reciting the said order and requiring the chief officer of police to provide billets in such places and for such number of officers, soldiers, and their horses and for such period, as may be specified in the requisition.
(3) The provisions of this Act as to billeting shall apply to billeting under such a requisition as if for reference therein to a route there were substituted reference to such a requisition, subject, however, to the following modifications:—
(a) The occupiers of all public buildings, dwellinghouses, warehouses, barns, and stables shall, as well as the keepers of victualling houses, be liable to billets and the said provisions shall apply as if references to victualling houses and the keepers of victualling houses, included references to such public buildings, dwellinghouses, warehouses, barns and stables and the occupiers thereof;
(b) The powers and duties conferred or imposed on a constable shall be exercised and performed by the chief officer of police, and accordingly for references to a constable in the said provisions, there shall be substituted references to the chief officer of police and for the reference to a Peace Commissioner in sub-section (7) of Section one hundred and seventy-two there shall be substituted a reference to a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, but a chief officer of police in selecting the persons required to provide billets, and in determining the number of officers and soldiers to be billeted on any person shall, so far as practicable have regard to the convenience of the several occupiers;
(c) The prices to be paid to an occupier other than the keeper of a victualling house for accommodation furnished, and food and fodder supplied by him, shall be such as may be fixed by regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance; and
(d) Sub-section two of Section one hundred and sixty-seven (which defines a route), paragraph (6) of Section one hundred and seventy-two (which relates to the power of a Peace Commissioner to vary a route), and so much of paragraph two of Part I. of the Fifth Schedule to this Act as limits the period during which meals are required to be furnished, and paragraph (2) of Part II. of that Schedule (which requires billets to be made out to the less distant victualling houses), shall not apply.
(4) Any regulations as to prices so made shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after they are made, and if within forty days after they have been so laid either House passes a resolution requesting the Executive Council to annul such regulations, the Executive Council may annul such regulations and the regulations so annulled shall thenceforth become void without prejudice to anything done thereunder in the meantime.
(5) For the purpose of this Section—
The expression “public building” includes any building wholly or partially provided or maintained out of the rates, and any building to which the public habitually have access, whether on payment or otherwise.
The expression “chief officer of police” as respects the police district of Dublin metropolis, means the Chief Commissioner of Police for that district, and elsewhere means a Superintendent of the Civic Guard.
In the case of unoccupied premises this Section shall apply as if the owner were the occupier thereof.
(6) Compensation shall be paid by the Minister out of money voted by the Oireachtas for defence services in respect of any damage caused by any officer or soldier billeted under this Section to the premises in which he is billeted, and the amount of such compensation shall in the event of disagreement be determined by arbitration under the Common Law Procedure Amendment Act (Ireland), 1856, as amended by any subsequent enactment.
(7) The provisions of this Act as to billeting shall, whilst any order from the Executive Council under this Section is in force, apply to women who are enrolled for employment by the Minister as they apply to soldiers; and for the purpose of these provisions as so applied, officers of any troops with whom the women to be billeted are employed and the officer commanding those troops shall be deemed in relation to such women to be their officers and officer commanding, and if any such woman is guilty of an offence in relation to billeting mentioned in section fifty-eight of this Act, she shall be punishable on summary conviction in manner provided by sub-section (2) of Section one hundred and seventy-six of this Act.
Offences in Relation to Billeting.
Offences by constables.
174.—If any constable commits any of the offences following, that is to say:—
(1) Billets any officer, soldier or horse on any person not liable to billets without the consent of such person; or
(2) Receives, demands, or agrees for any money or reward whatsoever to excuse or relieve a person from being entered in a list as liable, or from his liability to billets, or from any part of such liability; or
(3) Billets or quarters on any person or premises, without the consent of such person or the occupier of such premises, any person or horse not entitled to be billeted; or
(4) Neglects or refuses after sufficient notice is given, to give billets demanded for any officer, soldier or horse entitled to be billeted,
he shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine of not less than forty shillings and not exceeding ten pounds.
Offences by keepers of victualling houses.
175.—If a keeper of a victualling house commits any of the offences following, that is to say:—
(1) Refuses or neglects to receive any officer, soldier or horse billeted upon him in pursuance of this Act, or to furnish such accommodation as is required by this Act; or
(2) Gives or agrees to give any money or reward to a constable to excuse or relieve him from his liability to billets, or any part of such liability; or
(3) Gives or agrees to give to any officer or soldier billeted upon him in pursuance of this Act, any money or reward in lieu of receiving an officer, soldier, or horse, or furnishing the said accommodation,
he shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine of not less than forty shillings and not exceeding five pounds.
Offences by officers or soldiers.
176.—(1) If any officer quarters or causes to be billeted any officer, soldier or horse, otherwise than is allowed by this Act upon any person, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
(2) If any officer or soldier commits any offence in relation to billeting for which he is liable to be punished under Part II., Chapter 1 of this Act, other than an offence in respect of which any other remedy is given by this Chapter of this Part of this Act to the person aggrieved, he shall, upon summary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.
(3) A certificate of a conviction for an offence under this Section shall be transmitted by the Court making such conviction to the Minister,
Impressment of Carriages, Etc.
Supply of carriages, etc. for regimental baggage and stores on the march.
177.—(1) Every District Justice or Peace Commissioner in Saorstát Eireann having jurisdiction in any place mentioned in a route issued to the Commanding Officer of any portion of the Forces shall, on the demand of such Commanding Officer, or of an officer or non-commissioned officer authorised by him, and on production of such route issue his warrant requiring some constable having authority in such place, to provide, within a reasonable time to be named in the warrant, such carriages, animals, and drivers as are stated to be required for the purpose of moving the regimental baggage and regimental stores of the Forces mentioned in the route in accordance with the route; and the constable shall execute such warrant, and persons having carriages and animals suitable for the said purpose shall, when ordered by the constable in pursuance of such warrant, furnish the same in a state fit for use for the aforesaid purposes.
(2) The route, for the purpose of this Section, shall be such route as is mentioned in the foregoing provisions of this Chapter of this Part of this Act with respect to billeting.
(3) A route purporting to be issued and signed as required by these provisions, if delivered to an officer or non-commissioned officer, by his Commanding Officer, shall be a sufficient authority to such officer or non-commissioned officer to demand carriages and animals in pursuance of this Act, and when produced by an officer or a non-commissioned officer, shall be conclusive evidence to a District Justice, Peace Commissioner and a constable of the authority of the officer or non-commissioned officer producing the same to demand carriages and animals in accordance with such route.
(4) The warrant ordering carriages, animals and drivers, to be provided shall specify the number and description of the carriages, and animals, and also the places from and to which the same are to travel, and the distance between such places.
(5) When sufficient carriages or animals cannot be procured within the jurisdiction of the said District Justice or Peace Commissioner, any District Justice or Peace Commissioner having jurisdiction in the next adjoining place shall, by a like course of procedure, supply the deficiency.
(6) A fee of one shilling, and no more, shall be paid for the warrant by the officer or non-commissioned officer applying for the same, and shall be paid to the District Court Clerk.
Payment and regulations as to carriages, etc.
178.—(1) There shall be paid in respect of the carriages furnished in pursuance of this Part of this Act, the rates specified in the Sixth Schedule to this Act and the regulations contained in that Schedule shall be duly observed.
(2) The officer or non-commissioned officer who demands carriages or animals in pursuance of this Part of this Act shall pay the sum due in respect of the same to the owners or drivers of the carriages or animals and one third part of such payment shall in each case, if required, be made before the carriage is loaded, and such payments shall be made, if required, in the presence of a Peace Commissioner or constable.
(3) If an officer or non-commissioned officer is from any cause unable to pay the amount due to the owner or driver of any motor vehicle, carriage or animal, he shall make up with such owner or driver and sign an account of the amount due to him, and forthwith transmit the account so signed to the Minister, who shall forthwith cause the amount named therein to be paid to such owner or driver.
Annual list of persons liable to supply carriages and animals.
179.—(1) The authority hereinafter mentioned for any place may cause annually a list to be made out of all persons in such place, or any particular part thereof, liable to furnish carriages and animals under this Act, and of the number and description of the carriages and animals of such persons; and where a list is so made, any District Justice or Peace Commissioner may by warrant require any constable or constables having authority within such place to give from time to time, on demand by an officer or non-commissioned officer under this Act, orders to furnish carriages and animals, and such warrant shall be executed as if it were a special warrant issued in pursuance of this Act on such demand, and the orders shall specify the like particulars as such special warrant.
(2) For the purpose of assisting the authority hereinafter mentioned in the preparation of such list as aforesaid, any proper officer authorised in that behalf by the authority shall be entitled at all reasonable times to enter any premises in which he has reason to believe that any carriages or animals are kept, and to inspect any carriages or animals which may be found therein.
In this provision the expression “proper officer” means any officer or person of such rank or class or description as may be specified in an order of the Minister made for the purpose.
(3) With respect to horses, the following provisions shall have effect:—
(a) It shall be the duty of the owner of any horse, and the occupier of any premises where horses are kept, to furnish, if so required, to the authority hereinafter mentioned, before such date in each year as may be prescribed, a return specifying the number of horses belonging to him or kept on his premises, and giving with respect to every horse such details as may be so prescribed; he shall also afford all reasonable facilities for enabling any horse belonging to him or kept on his premises to be inspected and examined as and when required by the said authorities; if any person fails to comply with any of the requirements of this paragraph, he shall be liable on summary conviction for each offence to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.
(b) The Minister may for the purposes of this sub-section make regulations prescribing anything which under this sub-section is to be prescribed, and prescribing the forms to be used, and generally for the purpose of carrying this sub-section into effect.
(c) Regulations made by the Minister may provide for excepting from the provisions of this sub-section horses of any class or description specified in the regulations.
(4) The authority hereinafter mentioned shall cause such list to be kept at some convenient place open for inspection at all reasonable times by persons interested, and any person who feels aggrieved either by being entered in such list, or by being entered to furnish any number or description of carriages, or animals which he is not liable to furnish, may complain to a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, and the Court, after such notice as the Court think necessary to persons interested, may order the list to be amended in such manner as the Court may think just.
(5) All orders given by constables for furnishing carriages and animals shall as far as possible, be made from such list in regular rotation.
(6) If any officer is obstructed in the exercise of his powers under this Section, a District Justice or Peace Commissioner may, if satisfied by information on oath, that the officer has been so obstructed, issue a search warrant authorising the constable named therein, accompanied by the officer to enter the premises in respect of which the obstruction took place at any time between 6 o'clock in the morning and 9 o'clock in the evening, and to inspect any motor vehicles, carriages or animals that may be found therein.
(7) The authority for the purpose of this Section shall be the Minister or any authority or persons to whom the Minister may delegate his powers under this Section.
Impressment of carriages, etc., in cases of emergency.
180.—(1) The Executive Council may at any time or times by order under their hand declare that a state of emergency exists in Saorstát Eireann, or in any part or parts (to be specified in such order) thereof, and may by the same order authorise any officer not below the rank of Commandant (to be named in such order) commanding any part of the Forces in any part of Saorstát Eireann in which a state of emergency is by such order declared to exist to issue a requisition under this Section (hereinafter referred to as a requisition of emergency).
(2) Any officer so authorised may issue a requisition of emergency under his hand reciting the said order, and requiring District Justices or Peace Commissioners to issue their warrants for the provision, for the purpose mentioned in the requisition, of such carriages and animals as may be provided under the foregoing provisions, and also of carriages of every description, including motor cars or other locomotives whether for the purpose of carriage or haulage, and of horses of every description, whether kept for saddle or draft, and also of vessels (whether boats, barges, or other) used for the transport of any commodities whatsoever upon any canal or navigable river, and also of aircraft of every description, and also of food, forage, and stores of every description.
(3) A District Justice or Peace Commissioner on demand by an officer of the portion of the Forces mentioned in a requisition of emergency, or by an officer authorised by the Minister in this behalf, and on production of the requisition, shall issue his warrant for the provision of such carriages, animals, vessels, aircraft, food, forage and stores as are stated by the officer producing the requisition of emergency to be required for the purpose mentioned in the requisition, and such warrant shall be executed in like manner, and all the provisions of this Act as to the provision or furnishing of carriages and animals, including those respecting fines on officers, non-commissioned officers, District Justices or Peace Commissioners, constables, or owners of motor-vehicles, carriages or animals, shall apply in like manner as in the case where a District Justice or Peace Commissioner issues, in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this Act, a warrant for the provision of carriages and animals, and shall apply to vessels, aircraft, food, forage and stores, in like manner in all respects as they apply to carriages.
(4) A requisition of emergency may authorise any officer mentioned therein to require any motor vehicles, carriages and horses furnished in pursuance of this Section to be delivered at such place (not being more than one hundred miles in the case of a motor car or other locomotive, and not being more than ten miles in the case of any other carriage or horse, from the premises of the owner) and at such time as may be specified by any officer mentioned in the requisition; and in such case it shall be the duty of a constable executing a warrant issued by a District Justice or Peace Commissioner under this Section upon the demand of any officer producing the requisition of emergency to insert in his order such time and place for delivery of any vehicle or horse to which the order relates as may be specified by such officer, and the obligation of the owners to furnish carriages and horses shall include an obligation to deliver the carriages and horses at such place and time as may be specified in such order; and the provisions of this Act shall have effect as if references therein to the furnishing of carriages and horses included, as respects any such carriage or horse as aforesaid, delivery at such time and place as aforesaid.
(5) The Minister shall cause due payment to be made for articles furnished in pursuance of this Section, and if any difference arises respecting the amount of payment for any article, the amount shall be such as may be fixed by a certificate of a County Court Judge having jurisdiction in any place in which such article was furnished or through which it travelled or was carried in pursuance of the requisition; and for the purpose of fixing such amount the provisions set out in the Eighth Schedule to this Act shall have effect.
Where a sum has been paid or tendered by or on behalf of the Minister under this sub-section, that sum shall be deemed to be the amount due, unless within three weeks from the date of payment or tender an application is made to a County Court Judge for his certificate.
(6) Canal, river, or lock tolls are hereby declared not to be demandable for vessels while employed in any service in pursuance of this Section or returning therefrom; and any toll collector who demands or receives toll in contravention of this exemption shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds nor less than ten shillings.
(7) A requisition of emergency, purported to be issued in pursuance of this Section and to be signed by an officer therein stated to be authorised in accordance with this Section, shall be evidence, until the contrary is proved, of its being duly issued and signed in pursuance of this Act, and if delivered to an officer of the Forces, shall be a sufficient authority to such officer to demand carriages, animals, vessels, food, forage, and stores in pursuance of this Section, and when produced by such officer shall be conclusive evidence to a District Justice, Peace Commissioner and constable of the authority of such officer to make such demand in accordance with such requisition; and it shall be lawful to convey on such carriages, animals and vessels, not only the baggage, provisions and military stores of the troops mentioned in the requisition of emergency, but also the officers, soldiers, servants, women, children and other persons of and belonging to the same.
(8). Whenever a proclamation ordering the Reserve to be called out on permanent service is in force, the order of the Executive Council authorising an officer to issue a requisition of emergency may authorise him to extend such requisition to the provision of carriages, animals, vessels, aircraft, food, forage, and stores for the purpose of being purchased, as well as of being hired, on behalf of Saorstát Eireann.
(9). Where a District Justice of Peace Commissioner on demand by an officer and on production of a requisition of emergency, has issued his warrant for the provision of any articles, and any person ordered in pursuance of such warrant to furnish any such article refuses or neglects to furnish the same according to the orders; then if a proclamation ordering the Reserve to be called out on permanent service is in force, the said officer may seize (and if need be by force) the article requisitioned, and may use the same in like manner as if it had been furnished in pursuance of the order, but the said person shall be entitled to payment for the same in like manner as if he had duly furnished the same according to the order.
(10) A requisition of emergency issued under this Section may prohibit, during such period as may be specified in the requisition, the sale and purchase of horses to or by any person other than a person appointed by the Minister to purchase horses; and if any person sells or purchases or is concerned in the sale or purchase of a horse in contravention of such prohibition, he shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding three months, or to both such imprisonment and fine.
Offences in Relation to the Impressment of Carriages, &c.
Offences by constables.
181.—Any constable who—
(1) Neglects or refuses to execute any warrant of a District Justice or Peace Commissioner requiring him to provide carriages, animals, vessels, aircraft, food, forage or stores; or,
(2) Receives, demands, or agrees for any money or reward whatsoever to excuse or relieve any person from being entered in a list as liable to furnish, or from being required to furnish, or from furnishing such article; or,
(3) Orders any such article to be furnished for any person or purpose or on any occasion for and on which it is not required by this Act to be furnished,
shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine of not less than twenty shillings nor more than twenty pounds.
Offences by persons ordered to furnish carriages, animals, vessels, etc.
182.—A person ordered by a constable in pursuance of this Act to furnish any article who—
(1) refuses or neglects to furnish the same according to the orders of such constable and this Act; or,
(2) gives or agrees to give to a constable or to any officer or non-commissioned officer any money or reward whatsoever to be excused from being entered in a list as liable to furnish, or from being required to furnish, or from furnishing, or in lieu of furnishing, any article in pursuance of this Act; or,
(3) does any act or thing by which the execution of any warrant or order for providing or furnishing any article is hindered,
shall, on summary conviction, be liable to pay a fine of not less than forty shillings nor more than ten pounds.
Offences by officers or soldiers.
183.—(1) Any officer or soldier who commits any offence in relation to the impressment of carriages for which he is liable to be punished under Part II., Chapter 1, of this Act, other than an offence in respect of which any other remedy is given by this Chapter of this Part of this Act to the person aggrieved shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds nor less than forty shillings.
(2) A certificate of a conviction for an offence under this Section shall be transmitted by the Court making such conviction to the Minister.
Supplemental Provisions as to Billeting and Impressment of Carriages.
Application to Court of Summary Jurisdiction respecting sums due to keepers of victualling houses or owners of carriages, etc.
184.—(1) The following persons, that is to say:—
(a) If any officer or soldier fails to comply with the provisions of this Part of this Act with respect to the payment of a sum due to a keeper of a victualling house or in respect of motor vehicles, carriages, or animals, or to the making up of an account of the sum due, the person to whom the sum is due; or,
(b) If a keeper of a victualling house suffers any ill-treatment by violence, extortion or making disturbance in billets from any officer or soldier billeted upon him, or if the owner of any article or the person in charge of any carriage, animal, vessel or aircraft, furnished in pursuance of this Part of this Act, suffers any ill-treatment, from any officer or soldier, the person suffering such ill-treatment, but, when there is an officer commanding such officer or soldier present at the place, only after first making due complaint, if practicable, to such Commanding Officer,
may apply to a Court of Summary Jurisdiction; and such Court, if satisfied on oath of such failure or such ill-treatment, and of the amount fairly due to the applicant, including the costs of his application to the Court of Summary Jurisdiction, shall certify such amount to the Minister, who shall forthwith cause the amount due to be paid.
(2) Provided that the Minister, if it appears to him that the amount in such certificate is not justly due, or is in excess of the amount justly due, may direct a complaint to be made to a Court of Summary Jurisdiction for the county, borough, or place for which the Court giving the certificate acted, and the Court after hearing the case may, by order, confirm the said certificate, or vary it in such manner as to the Court seems just.
Provisions as to constables, police authorities and peace commissioners.
185.—A constable shall observe the directions given to him for the due execution of this Part of this Act by the police authority; and the police authority, and every Peace Commissioner may, if it seems necessary, and in the absence of a constable shall, himself exercise the powers and perform the duties by this Part of this Act vested in or imposed on a constable, and in such case every such person is in this Part of this Act included in the expression “constable.”
Fraudulent claim for carriages; animals, etc.
186.—If any person—
(1) Forges or counterfeits any route or requisition of emergency, or knowingly produces to a District Justice, Peace Commissioner or constable any route or requisition of emergency so forged or counterfeited; or,
(2) Personates or represents himself to be an officer or soldier authorised to demand any billet, or any carriage, animal, vessel, aircraft, food, forage, or stores, or to be entitled to be billeted, or have his horse billeted, or personates or represents himself to be a person authorised to act in the purchase or hire for the purpose of the military service of Saorstát Eireann, of any carriage, animal, vessel, aircraft, food, forage or stores; or,
(3) Produces to a District Justice or a Peace Commissioner or constable a route or requisition which he is not authorised to produce, or a document falsely purporting to be a route or requisition;
he shall be liable, on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months, with or without hard labour, or to a fine of not less than twenty shillings and not more than five pounds.
CHAPTER VII.
Legal Penalties in Matters Respecting the Forces.
Punishment for pretending to be a deserter.
187.—Any person who falsely represents himself to any military or civil authority to be a deserter from the Forces shall, on summary conviction, be sentenced to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any period not exceeding three months.
Punishment for inducing officers or soldiers to desert or absent themselves without leave.
188.—Any person who by any means whatsoever—
(1) Procures or persuades any officer or soldier to desert or absent himself without leave, or attempts to procure or persuade any officer or soldier to absent himself without leave; or,
(2) Knowing that an officer or soldier is about to desert or absent himself without leave, aids or assists him in deserting or absenting himself without leave; or,
(3) Knowing an officer or soldier to be a deserter or absentee without leave, conceals such officer or soldier, or aids or assists him in concealing himself or aids or assists in his rescue,
shall be liable, on summary conviction, to be imprisoned with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding six months
Penalty for interference with military duties, etc.
189.—Any person who—
(a) wilfully obstructs, impedes, or otherwise interferes with any officer or soldier in the execution of his duties; or,
(b) wilfully produces any disease or infirmity in, or maims or injures, any man whom he knows to be a soldier with a view to enabling such a man to avoid military service; or,
(c) with the intent of enabling a soldier to render himself, or induce the belief that he is, permanently or temporarily unfit for service, supplies to or for such soldier any drug or preparation calculated to, or likely to render him, or lead to the belief that he is, permanently or temporarily, unfit for service,
shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a term of imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to both such imprisonment and fine.
Apprehension of deserters.
190.—With respect to deserters and absentees without leave, the following provisions shall have effect:—
(1) Upon reasonable suspicion that a person is a deserter or absentee without leave, it shall be lawful for any constable, or if no constable can be immediately met with, then for any officer or soldier or other person, to apprehend such suspected person and forthwith to bring him before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
(2) Any person having authority to issue a warrant for the apprehension of a person charged with crime may, if satisfied by evidence on oath, that a deserter or absentee without leave, is or is reasonably suspected to be, within his jurisdiction, issue a warrant authorising such deserter or absentee without leave to be apprehended and brought forthwith before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
(3) Where a person is brought before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction charged with being a deserter or absentee without leave under this Act, such Court may deal with the case in like manner as if such person were brought before the Court charged with an indictable offence.
(4) The Court, if satisfied either by evidence on oath or by the confession of such person that he is a deserter or absentee without leave, shall forthwith, as it may seem to the Court most expedient with regard to his safe custody, cause him either to be delivered into military custody in such manner as the Court may deem most expedient, or, until he can be so delivered, to be committed to some prison, police station, or other place legally provided for the confinement of persons in custody, for such reasonable time as appears to the Court reasonably necessary for the purpose of delivering him into military custody.
(5) Where the person confesses himself to be a deserter or absentee without leave, and evidence of the truth or falsehood of such confession is not then forthcoming, the Court shall remand such person for the purpose of obtaining information as to the truth or falsehood of such confession, and for that purpose the Court shall transmit to the Minister a return (in this Act referred to as a descriptive return) containing such particulars and being in such form as is specified in the Seventh Schedule to this Act, as may be from time to time directed by the Minister.
(6) The Court may from time to time remand the said person for a period not exceeding eight days in each instance, and not exceeding in the whole such period as appears to the Court reasonably necessary for the purpose of obtaining the said information.
(7) Where the Court causes a person either to be delivered into military custody or to be committed as a deserter or absentee without leave, the Court shall send to the Minister, or as he may direct, a descriptive return in relation to such deserter or absentee without leave, for which the Clerk of the Court shall be entitled to a fee of two shillings.
(8) The Minister shall direct payment of the said fee.
(9) Where a person surrenders himself to a constable in Saorstát Eireann as being a deserter or absentee without leave, the officer of police in charge of the police station to which he is brought, shall forthwith inquire into the case, and if it appears that that person is a deserter or absentee without leave, he may cause him to be delivered into military custody without bringing him before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction under this Section, and in such case shall send to the Minister, or as he may direct, a certificate signed by himself as to the fact, date and place of such surrender.
Penalty on trafficking in commissions.
191.—Every person who negotiates, acts as agent for, or otherwise aids or connives at—
(1) The sale or purchase of any commission in the Forces; or,
(2) The giving or receiving of any valuable consideration in respect of any promotion in or retirement from such Forces, or any employment therein; or,
(3) Any exchange which is made in manner not authorised by regulations for the time being in force and in respect of which any sum of money or other consideration is given or received;
shall be liable on conviction on indictment or information to a fine of one hundred pounds, or to imprisonment for any period not exceeding six months, and if an officer, on conviction by Court-Martial, to be dismissed from the Forces.
Penalty on purchasing from soldiers regimental necessaries, equipment, stores, etc., and for unlawful possession of military certificates, etc.
192.—(1) Every person who—
(a) Buys, exchanges, takes in pawn, detains or receives from any person, on any pretence whatsoever; or,
(b) Solicits or entices any person to sell, exchange, pawn, or give away; or
(c) Assists or acts for any person in selling, exchanging, pawning, or making away with,
any of the property following, namely, any arms, ammunition, equipments, instruments, regimental necessaries, or clothing issued for the use of officers or soldiers, or any military decorations of an officer or soldier, or any furniture, bedding, blankets, sheets, utensils, and stores in regimental charge, or any provisions or forage issued for the use of an officer or soldier, or his horse, or any horse employed in the service, shall, unless he proves either that he acted in ignorance of the same being such property as aforesaid, or that the same was sold by order or with the consent of the Minister or some competent military authority, or that the same was the personal property of an officer who had retired or ceased to be an officer, or a soldier who had been discharged, or of the legal personal representatives of an officer or soldier who had died, be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, together with treble the value of any property of which such offender has become possessed by means of his offence, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a term not exceeding six months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(2) Where any such property as is above in this Section mentioned is found in the possession or keeping of any person, such person may be taken or summoned before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, and if such Court have reasonable ground to believe that the property so found was stolen, or was bought, exchanged, taken in pawn, obtained or received in contravention of this Section, then if such person does not satisfy the Court that he came by the property so found lawfully and without any contravention of this Act, he shall be liable on summary conviction to the same penalties as are prescribed in the case of a contravention of the last preceding sub-section.
(3) A person charged with an offence against this Section, and the wife or husband of such person may, if he or she think fit, be sworn and examined as an ordinary witness in the case.
(4) A person found committing an offence against this Section may be apprehended without warrant, and taken, together with the property which is the subject of the offence, before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction; and any person to whom any such property asabove mentioned is offered to be sold, pawned, or delivered, who has reasonable cause to suppose that the same is offered in contravention of this Section, may, and if he has the power shall, apprehend the person offering such property and bring him before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction
(5) A Court of Summary Jurisdiction, if satisfied on oath that there is reasonable cause to suspect that any person has in his possession or on his premises, any property on or with respect to which any offence in this Section mentioned has been committed, may grant a warrant to search for such property, as in the case of stolen goods; and any property found on such search shall be seized by the officer charged with the execution of such warrant, who shall bring the person in whose possession the same is found before some Court of Summary Jurisdiction, to be dealt with according to law.
(6) For the purpose of this Section, property shall be deemed to be in the possession or keeping of a person if he knowingly has it in the actual possession or keeping of any other person or in any house, building, lodging, apartment, field or place, open or enclosed, whether occupied by himself or not, and whether the same is so had for his own use or benefit or for the use or benefit of another.
(7) Articles which are public stores within the meaning of the Public Stores Act, 1875, and are not included in the foregoing description, shall not be deemed to be stores issued as regimental necessaries or otherwise within the meaning of Section thirteen of that Act.
(8) Every person who—
(a) Receives, detains or has in his possession any identity certificate, life certificate or other certificate, or official document evidencing or issued in connection with the right of any person to a military pension pay or reserve pay, or to any bounty, allowance, gratuity, relief, benefit or advantage, granted in connection with military service, as a pledge or security for a debt, or with a view to obtaining payment from the person entitled thereto of a debt due either to himself or to any other person; or
(b) Without lawful authority or excuse (the proof whereof shall lie on the accused) has in his possession any such certificate or document, or any certificate of discharge or any other official document issued in connection with the mobilisation or demobilisation of any of the Forces or any member thereof;
shall be liable on summary conviction to the like penalty as for an offence under sub-section (1) of this Section, and any such certificate or other document shall be deemed to be property within the meaning of this Section.
Unauthorised use of decorations, etc.
193.—If—
(1) any unauthorised person uses or wears any military decoration or medal, or medal ribbon, or any badge, wound stripe, or emblem supplied or authorised by the Minister, or any decoration, medal or medal ribbon, badge, wound stripe, or emblem so nearly resembling the same as to be calculated to deceive; or
(2) any person falsely represents himself to be a person who is or has been entitled to use or wear any such decoration, medal or medal ribbon, badge, wound stripe, or emblem as aforesaid; or
(3) any person without lawful authority or excuse supplies or offers to supply any such decoration or medal as aforesaid to any person not authorised to use or wear the same;
he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months:
Provided that nothing in this Section shall be deemed to prohibit the wearing or supply of ordinary regimental badges or any brooch or ornament representing the same.
CHAPTER VIII.
Jurisdiction.
Liability to military law in respect of status.
194.—(1) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by any person while subject to military law such person may be taken into and kept in military custody and tried and punished for such offence, although he, or the corps or battalion to which he belongs has ceased to be subject to military law, in like manner as he might have been taken into and kept in military custody, tried or punished, if he or such corps or battalion had continued to be so subject:
Provided that where a person has since the commission of an offence ceased to be subject to military law, he shall not be tried for such offence, except in the case of the offence of mutiny, desertion, or fraudulent enlistment, unless his trial commences within three months after he has ceased to be subject to military law; but this Section shall not affect the jurisdiction of a Civil Court in the case of any offence triable by such Court as well as by Court-Martial.
(2) Where a person subject to military law is sentenced by Court-Martial to penal servitude, imprisonment, or detention, this Act shall apply to him during the term of his sentence, notwithstanding that he is discharged or dismissed from the service, or has otherwise ceased to be subject to military law, and he may be kept, removed, imprisoned, made to undergo detention, and punished accordingly as if he continued to be subject to military law.
Adjustment of military and civil law.
195.—(1) If a person sentenced by a Court-Martial in pursuance of this Act to punishment for an offence is afterwards tried by a Civil Court for the same offence, that Court shall, in awarding punishment, have regard to the military punishment he may have already undergone.
(2) Save as aforesaid, nothing in this Act shall exempt an officer or soldier from being proceeded against by the ordinary course of law, when accused or convicted of any offence, except such an offence as is declared not to be a crime for the purpose of the provisions of this Act relating to taking a soldier out of the service.
(3) If an officer—
(a) Neglects or refuses on application to deliver over to the civil magistrate any officer or soldier under his command who is so accused or convicted as aforesaid; or
(b) Wilfully obstructs or neglects or refuses to assist constables or other ministers of justice in apprehending any such officer or soldier,
such officer shall, on conviction in any Superior Court, be guilty of a misdemeanour.
(4) A certificate of a conviction of an officer under this Section, with the judgment of the Court thereon in such form as may be directed by the Minister, shall be transmitted to the Minister.
CHAPTER IX.
Evidence.
Certain matters and documents to be evidence.
196.—The following enactments shall have effect with respect to evidence in Proceedings under this Act, whether before a Civil Court, or Court-Martial, that is to say:—
(1) Any agreement, attestation or other form or document purporting to be signed by any person, upon his being attested as a soldier or enrolled in any portion of the Forces, shall be evidence of the fact that such person gave, in answer to the questions set forth in such form or document, the answers he is therein represented as having given.
(2) The enlistment or enrolment of any person in the Forces may be proved by the production, by a witness on oath, of a copy of such person's attestation, or agreement form, purporting to be certified to be a true copy by the officer having the custody of such original attestation or agreement form, without proof of the handwriting of such officer or of his having custody of such original form.
(3) A letter, return, or other document, respecting the service of any person in, or the discharge of any person from, any portion of the Forces, if purporting to be signed by or on behalf of the Minister, or the Commanding Officer of any portion of the Forces to which such person appears to have belonged,” or alleges that he belongs or had belonged, shall be evidence of the relevant facts stated in such letter, return, or other document.
(4) Copies purporting to be printed and published by or under the authority of the Stationery Office of orders, rules, and regulations made under this Act, and of circulars or orders, shall be evidence of such orders, rules, regulations and circulars.
(5) A Defence Force List or Defence Force Gazette purporting to be printed and published by or under the authority of the Stationery Office shall be evidence of the status and rank of the officers therein mentioned and of any appointment held by such officers and of the corps or battalion or army or branch of the Service to which such officers belong.
(6) When a record is made and filed in any battalion or command file of records in pursuance of this Act or otherwise in pursuance of military duty, and purports to be signed by the Commanding Officer, or by the officer whose duty it is to make such record, such record shall be evidence of the facts therein stated.
A copy of any such record purporting to be certified to be a true copy by the officer having the custody of such record, shall be evidence of such record.
(7) A descriptive return within the meaning of this Act, purporting to be signed by a District Justice, shall be evidence of the matters therein stated.
(8) Where the proceedings are proceedings against an officer or soldier on a charge of being a deserter or absentee without leave, and the officer or soldier has surrendered himself into the custody of an officer or any portion of the Forces, a certificate purporting to have been signed by such officer or by the Commanding Officer of the portion of the Forces to whom the surrender was made, and stating the fact, date, and place of such surrender, shall be evidence of the matters so stated.
(9) Where the proceedings are proceedings against an officer or soldier on a charge of being a deserter or absentee without leave, and the officer or soldier has been delivered into military custody by a police officer in charge of a police station, a certificate purporting to be signed by such a police officer, and stating the fact, date, and place of the surrender of the officer or soldier, shall be evidence of the matters so stated.
(10) For the purpose of this Act, the expression “Stationery Office” means the Stationery Office of the Government of Saorstát Eireann.
Evidence of conviction or civil acquittal.
197.—Whenever any person subject to military law has been tried by any Civil Court, the certificate of the Clerk of such Court or of his deputy, or of any other officer having the custody of the records of such Court, setting out the offence for which such person subject to military law was tried, together with the judgment of the Court thereon, or if such person was acquitted, the acquittal shall be evidence of the conviction and sentence, or of the order of the Court, or of the acquittal of such person, as the case may be.
Evidence of conviction by Court-Martial.
198.—The original proceedings of a Court-Martial purporting to be signed by the president thereof, and being in the custody of the prescribed officer having the lawful custody thereof, shall be deemed admissible in evidence on their mere production from such custody; and any copy purporting to be certified by the prescribed officer, having such custody as aforesaid, to be a true copy of such proceedings, or of any part thereof, shall be admissible in evidence without proof of the signature of such officer.
CHAPTER X.
Summary and other Legal Proceedings.
Prosecution of offences and recovery and application of fines.
199.—(1) A Court of Summary Jurisdiction, having jurisdiction in the place where the offence was committed or in the place where the offender may for the time being be, shall have jurisdiction over all offences triable in a Civil Court under this Act, except any such offence as is declared by this Act to be a misdemeanour or to be punishable on indictment; and any offence within the jurisdiction of a Court of Summary Jurisdiction may be prosecuted, and the fine and forfeiture in respect thereof may be recovered on summary conviction, in manner provided by the Summary Jurisdiction Acts.
(2) Any proceedings taken before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction in pursuance of this Act shall be taken in accordance with the Summary Jurisdiction Acts so far as applicable.
(3) A Court of Summary Jurisdiction imposing a fine in pursuance of this Act may, if it seems fit, order a portion of such fine, not exceeding one half, to be paid to the informer.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this Act with regard to the payment to the informer, fines and other sums recovered before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction in pursuance of this Act shall, be applied in manner directed by the Fines Act (Ireland), 1851, and any Acts amending the same.
Protection of persons acting under this Act.
200.—(1) Any action, prosecution or proceeding against any person for any act done in pursuance or execution or intended execution of this Act, or in respect of any alleged, neglect or default in the execution of this Act, shall not lie or be instituted unless it is commenced within six months next after the act, neglect or default complained of, or, in case of a continuance of injury or damage, within six months next after the ceasing thereof.
(2) In any such action tender of amends before the action was commenced may, in lieu of or in addition to any other plea, be pleaded. If the action was commenced after such tender, or is proceeded with after payment into Court of any money in satisfaction of the plaintiff's claim, and the plaintiff does not recover more than the sum tendered or paid, he shall not recover any costs incurred after such tender or payment, and the defendants shall be entitled to costs, to be taxed as between solicitor and client, as from the time of such tender or payment; but this provision shall not affect costs on any injunction in the action.
(3) Every such action, and also every action against a member or minister of a Court-Martial in respect of a sentence of such Court, or of anything done by virtue, or in pursuance, of such sentence, shall be brought in a Superior Court.
CHAPTER XI
Miscellaneous.
Exercise of powers vested in holder of military office.
201.—Any power or jurisdiction given to, and any act or thing to be done by, to, or before any person holding any military office may be exercised by or be done by, to, or before any other person for the time authorised in that behalf according to the customs of the service, or according to rules made under Section 125 of this Act.
Provisions as to warrants and orders of military authorities.
202.—(1) Where any order is authorised by this Act to be made by the Minister, or by any general or other officer commanding, such order may be signified by an order, instruction or letter under the hand of any officer authorised to issue orders on behalf of the Minister, general or other officer commanding, and an order, instruction or letter purporting to be signed by any officer appearing therein to be so authorised shall be evidence of his being so authorised.
(2) The foregoing enactment of this Section shall extend to any order or direction issued in pursuance of this Act in relation to a military convict or military prisoner or soldier undergoing detention, and any such order or direction shall not be held invalid by reason of the death or removal from office of the officer signing or ordering the issue of same, or by reason of any defect in such order or direction, if it be alleged in such order or directions that the convict or prisoner or soldier undergoing detention has been convicted, and there is a good and valid conviction to sustain the order or direction.
(3) An order in any case, if issued in the prescribed form, shall be valid, but an order deviating from the prescribed form, if otherwise valid, shall not be rendered invalid by reason only of such deviation.
(4) Where any military convict, or military prisoner or soldier undergoing detention is for the time being in custody, whether military or civil, in any place or manner in which he might legally be kept in pursuance of this Act, the custody of such convict or prisoner or soldier shall not be deemed to be illegal only by reason of any informality or error in or as respects the order, warrant, or other document, or the authority by or in pursuance whereof such convict, prisoner or soldier, was brought into or is detained in such custody, and any such order, warrant or document may be amended accordingly.
(5) Where a military convict, or a military prisoner, or a soldier undergoing detention, or a person who is subject to military law and charged with an offence, is a prisoner or soldier in military custody and for the purpose of conveyance by sea is delivered on board a ship to the person in command of the ship, or to any other person on board the ship acting under the authority of the commander, the order of the military authority which authorises the prisoner or soldier to be conveyed by sea shall be a sufficient authority to such person, and to the person for the time being in command of the ship, to keep the said prisoner or soldier in custody and convey him in accordance with the order, and the prisoner or soldier while so kept shall be deemed to be kept in military custody.
Furlough in case of sickness.
203.—If any soldier on furlough is detained by sickness or other casualty rendering necessary any extension of such furlough in any place, and there is not any officer in the performance of military duty of the rank of captain, or of higher rank, within convenient distance of the place, any District Justice or Peace Commissioner who is satisfied of such necessity may grant an extension of furlough for a period not exceeding one fortnight, and the said District Justice or Peace Commissioner shall by letter immediately certify such extension and the cause thereof to the Commanding Officer of such soldier, if known, and if not, then to the Minister. The soldier may be recalled to duty by his Commanding Officer or other competent military authority, and the furlough shall not be deemed to be extended after such recall but, save as aforesaid, the soldier shall not in respect of the period of such extension of furlough, be liable to be treated as a deserter or as absent without leave.
Licences of canteens.
204.—(1) When a person holds a canteen under the authority of the Minister, it shall be lawful for a District Justice within his jurisdiction to grant, transfer, or renew any licence for the time being required to enable such person to obtain or hold any excise licence for the sale of any intoxicating liquor, without regard to the time of year, and without regard to the requirements as to notices, certificates, or otherwise, of any Acts, for the time being in force affecting such licences; and excise licences may be granted to such persons accordingly.
(2) For the purpose of this Section the expression “licence” includes any licence or certificate for the time being required by law to be granted, renewed or transferred by any District Justice, in order to enable any person to obtain or hold any excise licence for the sale of any intoxicating liquor.
Use of recreation rooms without licence.
205.—Notwithstanding anything in the Disorderly Houses Act, 1751, or in the Theatres Act, 1843, where a recreation room is managed or conducted under the authority of the Minister, it may be used for public dancing, music, or other public entertainment of the like kind or for the public performance of stage plays, without any licence in pursuance of those Acts, or either of them.
Conveyance of the Forces by railway.
206.—(1) For the purpose of moving by railway on any occasion of the public service any member of the Forces, every railway company in Saorstát Eireann shall, on the production of a route duly signed for the conveyance of any members of the Forces, provide conveyance for such members of the Forces and their personal luggage, and also for any public baggage, stores, arms, ammunition and other necessaries and things whether actually accompanying such members of the Forces or not, at all usual times at which passengers are conveyed by the company, on such terms as may be agreed on between the railway company and the Minister and subject to and in default of such agreement on the following terms:—
(i) The passenger carriages provided shall be of such classes in use on the railway, and in such proportions, as specified in the route, all carriages being protected from weather and having proper accommodation.
(ii) The fares shall not exceed the following proportions of the fares charged to private passengers for the single journey by ordinary train in the respective classes of carriages specified in the route, that is to say, if the number of persons conveyed is less than one hundred and fifty three-fourths; and if the number is one hundred and fifty or more, then for the first hundred and fifty three-fourths, as for four officers and one hundred and forty-six soldiers or other persons; and for the numbers in excess of the said one hundred and fifty, one half.
(iii) This Section shall apply to such wives and widows, and children of members of the Forces as are entitled to be conveyed at the public expense, in like manner as if they were part of the Forces, but children less than three years old shall be conveyed free of charge, and the fare for a child more than three and less than twelve years old shall be half the fare payable under this Section for an adult.
(iv) One hundred weight of personal luggage shall be conveyed by the railway company free of charge for every one person conveyed under this Section who is required by the route to be conveyed first class, and half a hundred weight for every other person conveyed; and any excess of weight shall be conveyed at not more than two-thirds of the rate charged to the public for excess luggage.
(v) The said public luggage, stores, arms, ammunition, necessaries and things shall be carried at rates not exceeding two pence per ton per mile; the assistance of the Forces shall be given in loading and unloading the same.
(vi) Provided that the company shall not be bound under this Section to carry gunpowder or other explosive or combustible matter, except on terms agreed upon between the company and the Minister, as the case may be.
(2) For the purposes of this Section, a route duly signed shall be deemed to be a route issued and signed in accordance with Section one hundred and sixty-seven of this Act, or an order signed by a person authorised in this behalf by the Minister.
Sanction of Finance Minister necessary for regulations.
207.—Any regulations of the Minister under this Act which involve a charge on public funds shall be made with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance.
CHAPTER XII.
Application of Military Law.
Persons subject to military law as officers.
208.—The persons in this Section mentioned are persons subject to military law as officers, and this Act shall apply to all persons so specified, that is to say:—
(1) Officers of the Forces on the active list, within the meaning of any warrant for regulating the pay and promotion of the Forces, and officers not on such active list who are employed on military service under the orders of an officer of the Forces who is subject to military law.
(2) Any officer belonging to the Reserve when he is ordered on duty for which, as an officer belonging to the Reserve, he is liable.
Persons subject to military law as soldiers.
209.—The persons in this Section mentioned are persons subject to military law as soldiers, and this Act shall apply accordingly to all persons so specified, that is to say:—
(1) All soldiers of the Forces.
(2) All non-commissioned officers and men belonging to the Reserve—
(a) When called for training and exercise; and
(b) When called out for duty in aid of the civil power; and
(c) When called out on permanent service; and
(d) When employed in military service under the orders of an officer of the Forces.
PART III.
The Reserve.
Raising and number of Reserve.
210.—It shall be lawful for the Executive Council to raise and maintain a reserve force (hereinafter referred to as the Reserve) for the Forces consisting of such number of officers, non-commissioned officers and men as may from time to time be provided by the Oireachtas.
Control of the Reserve.
211.—The control of the Reserve shall be vested in the Executive Council subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act.
Personnel of the Reserve.
212.—The Reserve shall consist of—
1. The Reserve of Officers.
2. The Reserve of Men.
Composition of Reserve of Officers.
213.—(1) The Reserve of Officers shall consist of officers of the Forces who have retired therefrom.
(2) Officers belonging to the Reserve of Officers shall be liable to be recalled to service in the Forces under such conditions as may be prescribed.
(3) Officers belonging to the Reserve of Officers shall serve under such conditions as may be prescribed.
Composition of Reserve of Men.
214.—(1) The Reserve of Men shall consist of non-commissioned officers and men who having served in the Forces have been transferred to the Reserve in pursuance of Part II., Chapter V., of this Act.
(2) Men belonging to the Reserve of Men shall be liable to be recalled to service in the Forces as provided by this Part of this Act.
The expression “man” when used in this Part of this Act shall unless inconsistent with the context include a noncommissioned officer.
General organisation of the Reserve.
215.—The Reserve shall be organised by such units of the various combatant arms and departmental services as may be prescribed.
Orders and regulations as to the Reserve.
216.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act it shall be lawful for the Minister from time to time to make and when made revoke and vary orders with respect to the government, discipline, and pay of the Reserve and with respect to other matters and things relating to the Reserve, including any matter by this Part of this Act authorised to be prescribed or expressed to be subject to orders or regulations.
(2) All orders and general regulations made under this Part of this Act shall be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas as soon as practicable after they are made if both Houses be then sitting, or if both Houses of the Oireachtas be not sitting, then as soon as practicable after the beginning of the then next session of the Oireachtas.
Date of establishment of the Reserve.
217.—The Reserve shall be established as from a date to be fixed by Proclamation of the Executive Council in the Iris Oifigiúil.
Calling out the Reserve in aid of the civil power.
218.—(1) It shall be lawful for an Executive Minister at any time, when occasion appears to so require, to call out the whole or so many of the Reserve as he thinks necessary to aid the civil power in the preservation of public order.
(2) It shall be lawful for any officer commanding the Forces in any town or district on the requisition in writing of a District Justice to call out for the purpose aforesaid the men belonging to the Reserve who are resident in such town or such of them as he may think necessary.
Punishment of certain offences by Reserve men.
219.—(1) Where a man belonging to the Reserve—
(a) Fails without reasonable excuse on two consecutive occasions to comply with the orders or regulations in force under this Part of this Act with respect to the payment of the Reserve; or
(b) When required by or in pursuance of the orders or regulations in force under this Part of this Act to attend at any place fails without reasonable excuse to attend in accordance with such requirements; or
(c) Uses threatening or insulting language or behaves in an insubordinate manner to any officer or non-commissioned officer who in pursuance of the orders or regulations in force under this Part of this Act is acting in execution of his office and who would be the superior officer of such man, if such man were subject to military law; or
(d) By any fraudulent means obtains or is accessory to the obtaining of any pay or other sum contrary to the orders or regulations in force under this Part of this Act; or
(e) Fails without reasonable excuse to comply with the orders or regulations in force under this Part of this Act;
he shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) A man belonging to the Reserve who commits an offence under this Section, whether otherwise subject to military law or not shall be liable as follows:—
(a) Be liable to be tried by Court-Martial and on conviction to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in Part II., Chapter I., of this Act mentioned; or
(b) Be liable to be convicted by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction and to be sentenced to a fine of not less than forty shillings and not more than twenty-five pounds, and in default of payment to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any term of not less than seven days and not more than the maximum term allowed by law for non-payment of the fine and may in any case be taken into military custody.
(3) Where a man belonging to the Reserve commits in the presence of any officer an offence under this Section, or any offences under sub-section two or sub-section three of Section 135 of this Act (relating to the punishment of personation) that officer may, if he thinks fit, order such man, in lieu of being taken into military custody, to be taken into the custody of any Civic Guard, and brought before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction for the purpose of being dealt with by that Court.
(4) A certificate purporting to be signed by an officer who is therein mentioned as an officer appointed to pay a man belonging to the Reserve, and stating that such man has failed on two consecutive occasions to comply with the orders or regulations in force under this Part of this Act with respect to the payment of the Reserve, shall, without proof of the signature or appointment of such officer, be evidence of such failure.
(5) Where a man belonging to the Reserve is required by or in pursuance of the orders or regulations in force under this Part of this Act to attend at any place, a certificate purporting to be signed by an officer or person who is mentioned in such certificate as appointed to be present at such place for the purpose of inspecting men belonging to the Reserve, or for any other purpose connected with the Reserve, and stating that the man failed to attend in accordance with the said requirement, shall, without proof of the signature or appointment of such officer or person, be evidence of such failure.
Training of Reserve men.
220.—(1) All or any of the men belonging to the Reserve may be called out for training at such times and at such place or places within Saorstát Eireann and for such periods as may be prescribed not exceeding in any one year thirty days.
(2) Every man so called out may during his training be attached to and trained with a body of the Forces.
Calling out the Reserve on permanent service.
221.—(1) In case of imminent national danger or of great emergency it shall be lawful for the Executive Council by proclamation the occasion being first communicated to the Oireachtas if the Oireachtas be then sitting, or notified by proclamation if the Oireachtas be not then sitting, to order that the Reserve shall be called out on permanent service.
(2) It shall be lawful for the Executive Council by any such proclamation to order an Executive Minister from time to time to give and when given to revise or vary such directions as may seem necessary or proper for calling out the force mentioned in the proclamation or all or any of the men belonging thereto.
(3) Every such proclamation and the directions given in pursuance thereof shall be obeyed as if enacted in this Act, and every man for the time being called out by such directions shall attend at the place and time fixed by those directions and at and after that time shall be deemed to be called out on permanent service.
(4) A proclamation under this Section shall for the purpose of Section one hundred and fifty-five of this Act be deemed to be a proclamation requiring soldiers in the Reserve to re-enter upon army service.
Assembly of both Houses of the Oireachtas when the Reserve is ordered to be called out on permanent service.
222.—Whenever the Executive Council orders the Reserve to be called out on permanent service if the Oireachtas be then separated by such adjournment or prorogation as will not expire within ten days, a proclamation shall be issued for the meeting of the Oireachtas within ten days and the Oireachtas shall accordingly meet and sit upon the day appointed by such proclamation, and shall continue to sit and act in like manner as if it had stood adjourned or prorogued to the same day.
Service of Reserve men called out.
223.—(1) A man belonging to the Reserve when called out on permanent service shall be liable to serve until the Executive Council no longer requires his services, so however that he shall not be required to serve for a period exceeding in the whole the remainder unexpired of his term of service in the Reserve and any further period not exceeding twelve months during which as a soldier of the Forces he can under Section one hundred and fifty-five of this Act, be detained in service after the time at which he would be entitled to be discharged.
(2) A man called out on permanent service shall during his service form part of the Forces and be subject to Part II. of this Act accordingly and the prescribed military authority within the meaning of Chapter V. of Part II. of this Act may if it seems proper appoint him to any corps as a soldier of the Forces and the said prescribed military authority may within three months after such appointment transfer him to any other corps of the Forces.
Punishment for non-attendance for annual training or permanent service, etc.
224.—(1) When a man belonging to the Reserve is called out for annual training or on permanent service, or when a man belonging to the Reserve is called out in aid of the civil power, and such man without leave lawfully granted or such sickness or other reasonable excuse as may be allowed in the prescribed manner, fails to appear at any time and place at which he is required upon such calling out to attend, he shall—
(a) If called out on permanent service or in aid of the civil power be guilty according to the circumstances of deserting within the meaning of Section forty-two of this Act or of absenting himself without leave within the meaning of Section forty-five of this Act; and
(b) If called out for annual training be guilty of absenting himself without leave within the meaning of Section forty-five of this Act.
(2) A man belonging to the Reserve who commits an offence under this Section or under Section forty-two or Section forty-five of this Act, whether otherwise subject to military law or not, shall be liable as follows, that is to say:—
(a) Be liable to be tried by Court-Martial and convicted and punished accordingly; or
(b) Be liable to be convicted by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, and to be sentenced to a fine of not less than forty shillings and not more than twenty-five pounds, and in default of payment to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not less than seven days and not more than the maximum term allowed by law for non-payment of the fine,
and may in any case be taken into military custody.
Supplemental provisions as to deserters and absentees.
225.—(1) Section one hundred and ninety of this Act shall apply to a man who is a deserter or absentee from the Reserve within the meaning of this Part of this Act in like manner as it applies to a deserter in that Section mentioned, and a man who under that Section is delivered into military custody or committed for the purpose of being so delivered may be tried as provided by this Part of this Act.
(2) Any person who falsely represents himself to be a deserter or absentee without leave from the Reserve, shall be liable on conviction by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding three months.
Punishment for inducing Reserve man to desert or absent himself.
226.—(1) Any person who by any means whatever—
(a) Procures or persuades any man belonging to the Reserve to commit an offence of absence without leave within the meaning of this Part of this Act or attempts to procure or persuade any man belonging to the Reserve to commit such offence; or
(b) Knowing that a man belonging to the Reserve is about to commit an offence of absence without leave within the meaning of this Part of this Act, aids or assists him in so doing; or
(c) Knowing any man belonging to the Reserve to be an absentee without leave within the meaning of this Part of this Act, conceals such man or aids or assists him in concealing himself or employs or continues to employ him or aids or assists in his rescue;
shall be liable on conviction by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
(2) Section one hundred and eighty-eight of this Act shall apply as if a man belonging to the Reserve were a soldier and as if the word “desert” and any other words referring to desertion included desertion within the meaning of this Part of this Act as well as desertion within the meaning of Part II. Chapter I. of this Act; and any person who, knowing any man belonging to the Reserve to be a deserter within the meaning of this Act employs or continues to employ such man, shall be deemed to aid him in concealing himself within the meaning of the said Section.
Record of illegal absence of Reserve man.
227.—(1) Where a man belonging to the Reserve is subject to military law, and is illegally absent from duty, a court of inquiry under Section one hundred and nineteen of this Act, may be assembled after the expiration of twenty-one days from the date of such absence, notwithstanding that the period during which such man was subject to military law is less than twenty-one days, or has expired before the expiration of twenty-one days; and the record mentioned in that Section may be entered in the manner thereby provided, or in such regimental books and by such officer as may be prescribed.
(2) Where a man belonging to the Reserve fails to appear at the time and place at which he is required upon being called out for training or on permanent service to attend, and his absence continues for not less than fourteen days, an entry of such absence shall be made by the prescribed officer in the prescribed manner and in the prescribed regimental books and such entry shall be conclusive evidence of the fact of such absence.
Exercise of powers vested in holder of military office.
228.—(1) Any power or jurisdiction given to and any act or thing to be done by, to or before any person holding any military office may in relation to the Reserve be exercised by or done by, to or before any other person for the time being authorised in that behalf according to the custom of the service.
(2) Where by this Part of this Act or by any order or regulation in force under this Part of this Act, any order is authorised to be made by any military authority such order may be signified by an order, instruction or letter under the hand of an officer authorised to issue orders on behalf of such military authority, and an order, instruction, or letter purporting to be signed by an officer appearing therein to be so authorised shall be evidence of his being so authorised.
Application to the Reserve of enactments respecting exemption from tolls and conveyance of the Forces.
229.—(1) For the purpose of Section one hundred and thirty-nine of this Act and of all other enactments relating to such duties, tolls and ferries as are in that Section mentioned officers and men belonging to the Reserve when going to or returning from any place at which they are required to attend and for non-attendance at which they are liable to be punished shall be deemed to be officers and soldiers of the Forces on duty.
(2) The provisions of Section two hundred and six of this Act and all other enactments for the time being in force concerning the conveyance by railway or otherwise of any part of the Forces and their baggage, stores, arms, ammunition and other necessaries and things, shall apply as if the Reserve were such part of the Forces.
Notices.
230.—With respect to notices required in pursuance of the orders or regulations in force under this Part of this Act to be given to men belonging to the Reserve the following provisions shall have effect:—
(i) A notice may be served on any such man either by being sent by post to his last registered place of abode or by being served in the prescribed manner;
(ii) Evidence of the delivery at the last registered place of abode of a man belonging to the Reserve of a notice, or of a letter addressed to such man and containing a notice, shall be evidence that such notice was brought to the knowledge of such man;
(iii) The publication of a notice in the prescribed manner in the parish in which the last registered place of abode of a man belonging to the Reserve is situate shall be sufficient notice to such man, notwithstanding that a copy of such notice is not served on him;
(iv) Every Civic Guard shall when so required by or on behalf of the Minister, conform with the orders and regulations for the time being in force under this Part of this Act with respect to the publication and service of notices, and in default shall be liable on conviction by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
Trial of offences.
231.—(1) Any offence, which under this Act is punishable on conviction by Court-Martial, shall for the purposes of and incidental to the arrest, trial and punishment of the offender, including the summary dealing with the case by his Commanding Officer, be deemed to be an offence under Part II. of this Act with this modification that reference in Part II. of this Act to forfeitures and stoppages shall be construed to refer to such forfeitures and stoppages as may be prescribed.
(2) Any offence which under this Part of this Act is punishable on conviction by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction may be prosecuted, and any fine recoverable on such conviction may be recovered in manner provided by Section one hundred and ninety-nine of this Act (in like manner as if that Section was herein re-enacted and in terms made applicable to this Part of this Act).
(3) Save as provided by the said Section one hundred and ninety-nine the minimum fixed by this Part of this Act for the amount of any fine or for the term of any imprisonment shall be duly observed by Courts of Summary Jurisdiction and shall notwithstanding anything contained in any other Act not be reduced by way of mitigation or otherwise.
(4) For the purposes of this Section the expression “tried by Court-Martial” shall include “summarily dealt with.”
Provisions as to offences.
232.—With respect to the trial and punishment of men charged with offences which in pursuance of this Act are cognisable both by a Court-Martial and by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, the following provisions shall have effect:—
(i) An alleged offender shall not be liable to be, tried by Court-Martial and by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, but may be tried by either of such Courts, according as may be prescribed by orders or regulations under this Part of this Act.
(ii) Proceedings against an alleged offender before either a Court-Martial or his Commanding Officer or a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, may be instituted whether the term of his Reserve service has or has not expired, and may notwithstanding anything in any Act, be instituted at any time within two months after the time at which the offence becomes known to an officer who under the powers or regulations in force under this Part of this Act has power to direct the offender to be tried by a Court-Martial or by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, if the offender is apprehended at that time, or if he is not apprehended at that time, then within two months after the time at which he is apprehended, whether such apprehension is by a civil or military authority, and any limitation contained in any other Act with respect to the time for hearing and determining an offence shall not apply in the case of any proceeding so instituted.
Evidence.
233.—(1) Section one hundred and ninety-seven of this Act (which relates to evidence of the civil conviction or acquittal of a person subject to military law) shall apply to a man belonging to the Reserve who is tried by a Civil Court, whether he is or is not at the time of such trial subject to military law.
(2) Section one hundred and ninety-six of this Act (relating to evidence) shall apply to all proceedings under this Part of this Act.
PART IV.
Transitory Provisions.
Duration of this Part of Act.
234.—Until the Forces have been established under Section twenty-two of this Act, the provisions hereinafter mentioned shall have effect.
National Forces as at present constituted to be armed forces mentioned in Article 46 of the Constitution.
235.—The armed forces of the State as at present constituted and existing (hereinafter referred to as the National Forces) shall be deemed to be the armed forces to be raised under Article 46 of the Constitution and the maintenance thereof is hereby declared to be legal.
Provisions as to command-in-chief and administrative and executive powers.
236.—The command-in-chief of and all executive and administrative powers in relation to the National Forces (including the power to delegate authority to such persons as may be thought fit) shall be vested in the Executive Council and exercised through and in the name of the Minister.
General organisation of the National Forces.
237.—The organisation of the National Forces shall be as at present existing. The Minister may however make such changes therein as he may deem necessary.
Orders and regulations now in force to have effect.
238.—All orders and regulations now in force in the National Forces shall continue to be in full force and effect.
Liability of soldiers now serving in National Forces.
239.—All soldiers now serving in the National Forces by virtue of any agreement or attestation shall be liable to continue to serve in accordance with the terms of such agreement or attestation.
Officers.
240.—All officers now serving in the National Forces shall continue to hold their appointments as such during the pleasure of the Executive Council.
Power to dismiss officer or soldier.
241.—The Executive Council acting through the Minister may dismiss or dispense with the services of any officer of the National Forces or discharge any soldier of the National Forces.
Application of Part II. of Act.
242.—The provisions of Part II. save Chapters V. and XII. of this Act shall apply to all members of the National Forces as if for references therein to the Forces were substituted references to the National Forces subject however to the following modifications:—
(1) The expressions contained in Part II. of this Act which are also mentioned in Section two hundred and forty-six of this Act shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them by Section two hundred and forty-six of this Act and not the meanings respectively assigned to them by Section three of this Act.
(2) Such other general or specific modifications or adaptations as the Minister may prescribe.
Application of Section 2 of Act.
243.—In the application of Section two of this Act the National Forces shall be deemed to be included in the expression “the armed forces to be raised under this Act.”
Provision as regards Article 71 of the Constitution.
244.—For the purposes of Article 71 of the Constitution all members of the National Forces shall be deemed to be on active service.
Power to make Regulations.
245.—(1) The Minister may make regulations relating to all matters which are by this Part of this Act required or permitted to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for securing the good government of the National Forces, or for carrying out and giving effect to the provisions of this Part of this Act.
(2) The Rules Publication Act, 1893, shall not apply to regulations made under this Section.
Definitions.
246.—In this Part of this Act if not inconsistent with the context the following expressions shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them by this Section that is to say:—
(a) The expression “person subject to military law” means any officer, non-commissioned officer or soldier attached to or serving with the National Forces at the date of the passing of this Act and includes all persons under sentence of a Court-Martial.
(b) The expression “officer” means any officer appointed as such and serving with the National Forces at the date of the passing of this Act and includes any officer in pay as an officer of the National Forces.
(c) The expression “soldier” includes a non-commissioned officer or soldier of the National Forces but does not include an officer as above defined.
FIRST SCHEDULE.
Form of Commission to an Officer.
SAORSTÁT EIREANN.
OGLAIGH na heireann.
To (Name of Officer)_________________trusting in your loyalty to our country and reposing special confidence in your courage honour good conduct and intelligence the Executive Council of Saorstát Eireann in exercise of the powers in that behalf conferred by the Defence Forces (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923, hereby constitutes and appoints you to be an officer in OGLAIGH na hEIREANN as from the ____________day of __________19 ___________You will bear true faith and allegiance to our country and serve and defend her against all her enemies whomsoever. You will discharge your duty in the rank of ____________or in any higher rank to which your merit may hereafter determine your appointment or promotion, which appointment or promotion will be notified in the “Iris Oifigiúil.” You will exercise and train in arms and maintain in good order and discipline the soldiers and inferior officers serving under you who are hereby each and all enjoined and commanded to render you obedience as their superior officer. You will yourself observe and obey without question such orders and directions as you shall from time to time receive from the Minister for Defence for the time being or from any of your superior officers according to law.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF WE have hereunto set our respective hands and seals at___________this____________day of___________in the year one thousand nine hundred and____________
Signed ________________
President of Executive Council of Saorstát Eireann
__________
Minister of Defence, Commander-in-Chief.
SECOND SCHEDULE.
Form of Oath or Declaration to be taken or made under Section 21 of the Act.
Sections 21 and 148 (4) (a):
I do solemnly swear (or declare) that I have this day freely and voluntarily enlisted as a soldier in Oglaigh na hEireann; that I will faithfully serve as such for the period of from the day of 19 (unless sooner discharged by proper authority) and under the conditions prescribed in accordance with law; and I will accept such pay, bounty, rations and clothing as may from time to time be prescribed in accordance with law;
And I further solemnly swear (or declare) that I will bear true faith and allegiance to our country and faithfully serve and defend her against all her enemies whomsoever and that I will submit myself to discipline, and obey without question the orders of the officers appointed over me according to law.
Signature.
Sworn (Declared) before me this day of 19 at
_____________
Signature of District Justice or Peace Commissioner attesting.
THIRD SCHEDULE.
Abduction.
Arson.
Assault.
Blasphemy.
Bigamy.
Breaking and Entering.
Bribery.
Burglary.
Cheating.
Coining.
Embezzlement.
False Imprisonment.
False Personation.
False Pretences
Falsification of Accounts
Forgery.
Housebreaking.
Incest.
Inciting to Commit Crime.
Indecent Assault on Males or Females.
Larceny.
Malicious Damage.
Perjury.
Poaching.
Receiving Stolen Property.
Robbery.
Shooting.
Suicide: Attempt to Commit.
Wounding.
FOURTH SCHEDULE.
Form of Oath to be taken by a Master whose Apprentice has absconded, and of District Justice's Certificate Annexed.
I, of do make oath, that I am by trade a and that was bound to serve as an apprentice to me in the said trade, by indenture dated the day of for the term of years; and that the said did on or about the day of abscond and quit my service without my consent; and that to the best of my knowledge and belief the said is aged about years. Witness my hand at the day of one thousand nine hundred and
(Signed) _______________________________
(Signed) _______________________________
District Justice for
I hereby certify that the foregoing affidavit was sworn before me at this day of one thousand nine hundred and |
FIFTH SCHEDULE.
BILLETING.
Sections 170 and 172.
PART I.
Accommodation to be Furnished by Keeper of Victualling House.
A keeper of a victualling house on whom any officer, soldier, or horse is billeted—
(1). Shall furnish the officer and soldier with lodging and attendance; and
(2). Shall, if required by the officer and soldier, furnish him for every day of the march, and for not more than two days, if the officer or soldier is halted at an intermediate place on the march for more than two days, and on the day of arrival at the place of final destination, with breakfast, hot dinner, and supper on each day, such meals to consist of such quantities of food and drink as may from time to time be fixed by Regulations of the Minister, not exceeding—
(a) For breakfast, five ounces of bread, one pint of tea with milk and sugar, four ounces of bacon;
(b) For hot dinner, twelve ounces of meat, previous to being dressed, six ounces of bread, eight ounces of potatoes or other vegetables;
(c) For supper, five ounces of bread, one pint of tea with milk and sugar, two ounces of cheese; and
(3). When an officer or a soldier is not so entitled to be furnished with “a meal,” shall furnish the officer or soldier with candles, vinegar and salt, and allow him the use of fire, and the necessary utensils for dressing and eating his meal; and
(4). Shall furnish stable room and ten pounds of oats, twelve pounds of hay, and eight pounds of straw on every day for each horse.
For the purposes of this Part of this Schedule the expression “furnished with lodging” shall include the provision of a separate bed for each officer and soldier.
PART II.
Regulations as to Billets.
(1). When the troops are on the march the billets given shall, except in case of necessity or of an order of a District Justice, be upon victualling houses in or within one mile from the place mentioned in the route.
(2). Care shall always be taken that the billets be made out to the less distant victualling houses in which suitable accommodation can be found before billets are made out for the more distant victualling houses
(3). Except in case of necessity, where horses are billeted, each man and his horse shall be billeted on the same victualling house.
(4). Except in case of necessity, one soldier at least shall be billeted where there are one or two horses, and two soldiers at least where there are four horses, and so in proportion for a greater number,
(5). Except in case of necessity, a soldier and his horse shall not be billeted at a greater distance from each other than one hundred yards.
(6). When any soldiers with their horses are billeted upon the keeper of a victualling house who has no stables, on the written requisition of the Commanding Officer present the constable shall billet the soldiers and their horses, or the horses only, on the keeper of some other victualling house who has stables, and a Court of Summary Jurisdiction upon complaint by the keeper of the last-mentioned victualling house may order a proper allowance to be paid to him by the keeper of the victualling house releived.
(7). An officer demanding billets may allot the billets among the soldiers under his command and their horses as he thinks most expedient for the public service, and may from time to time vary such allotment.
(8). The Commanding Officer may, where it is practicable, require that not less than two men shall be billeted in one house
SIXTH SCHEDULE.
Impressment of Carriages.
Table of Rates of Payment for Carriages and Animals.
Carriages and Animals. | Rate per Mile. |
For every hundredweight loaded on any wheeled vehicle. | One halfpenny. |
The mileage when reckoned for the purpose of payment shall include the distance from home to the place of starting, and the distance home from the place of discharge.
Regulations as to Carriages and Animals.
(1). Where the whole distance for which a carriage is furnished is under one mile the payment shall be for a full mile.
(2). The minimum sum payable for a car shall be threepence, and for a dray, sixpence per mile.
(3). The payment shall be at the same rate for each hundredweight in excess of the amount which the carriage is liable under this schedule to carry.
(4). A carriage shall not be required to travel more than twenty-five miles.
(5). A carriage shall not, except in case of pressing emergency, be required to travel more than one day's march prescribed in the route.
(6). A carriage shall not be required to carry, if a car more than six hundredweight, and if a dray more than twelve hundredweight.
(7). The load for each carriage shall, if required, at the expense of the owner of the carriage, and if the same can be done within a reasonable time without hindrance to the service, be weighed before it is placed in the carriage.
SEVENTH SCHEDULE.
Form of Descriptive Return.
Descriptive Return of who at on the day of and was committed to confinement at on the day of as a Deserter (or Absentee without leave) from the Bn. of the Regiment of
After the word “who” to be inserted either the words “was apprehended” or “surrendered himself” as the case may be.
Age _________________________________________________________________
Height ________________________________ Feet. Inches.
Complexion ___________________________________________________________
Hair _________________________________________________________________
Eyes _________________________________________________________________
Marks ________________________________________________________________
In uniform or plain clothes_________________________________________________
Probable date and place of attestation________________________________________
Probable date of desertion or beginning of absence, and from what place _______________________________
Name, occupation, and address of the person by whom or through whose means the Deserter (or Absentee without leave) was apprehended and secured __________________________________________________
Particulars in the evidence on which the Prisoner is committed, and showing whether he surrendered or was apprehended, and in what manner and upon what grounds. The fullest possible details to be given__________________________________________________
I do hereby certify that the Prisoner has been duly examined before me as to the circumstances herein stated, and has declared in my presence that he | ______________ Signature. | } | of Committing District Justice. |
______________ Residence. | |||
______________ Post Town |
the before mentioned corps, and I recommend for a reward of | _______________ Signature of Prisoner. _______________ Signature of Informant. |
Or where the Prisoner confessed and evidence of the truth or falsehood of such confession is not then forthcoming—
I hereby certify that the above named Prisoner confessed to the circumstances above stated, but that evidence of the truth or falsehood of such confession is not forthcoming, and that the case was adjourned until the day of for the purpose of obtaining such evidence from a Member of the Executive Council. | ____________ Signature. ____________ Residence. ____________ Post Town. |
EIGHTH SCHEDULE.
Provisions as to Determining Amount to be Paid for Articles Requisitioned.
1. Subject to provisions of this Schedule an application to a County Court Judge for a certificate shall be made in manner provided by Rules of Court, and shall be heard by the Judge without a Jury, and his decision shall not be subject to appeal.
2. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule and to Rules of Court, the Judge shall on such application act in accordance with the law regulating, and shall have the powers attaching to, the exercise of his ordinary jurisdiction.
3. The amount fixed by the certificate shall be such amount as appears to the County Court Judge to be the fair market value of the article requisitioned on the day on which it was required to be furnished as between a willing buyer and a willing seller, and where the owner of a carriage or horse has been required to deliver it at a distance from his premises shall include such sum as the Judge may consider reasonable to cover the cost of such delivery.
4. No Court fees shall be payable on the application, but the Judge may, if he thinks fit, order either party to pay such sum as he may consider proper by way of costs to the other party, which sum shall be added to or deducted from the amount fixed by the County Court Judge as the value of the article requisitioned, and the amount to be included in the certificate shall be adjusted accordingly.
5. If the amount already paid by the Minister exceeds the amount specified in the certificate, the County Court Judge shall certify the amount of the excess and shall order the amount so certified to be paid to the Minister, which order shall be enforceable in like manner as a decree or judgment of a County Court Judge.