A Leap in the Dark by A.V. Dicey

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(2) The Exchequer judges shall be removeable only by Her Majesty on
address from the two Houses of Parliament, and each such judge shall,
save as otherwise provided by Parliament, receive the same salary and be
entitled to the same pension as is at the time of his appointment fixed
for the puisne judges of the Supreme Court, and during his continuance
in office his salary shall not be diminished, nor his right to pension
altered, without his consent.

(3) An alteration of any rules relating to such legal proceedings as are
mentioned in this section shall not be made except with the approval of
Her Majesty the Queen in Council; and the sittings of the Exchequer
judges shall be regulated with the like approval.

(4) All legal proceedings in Ireland, which are instituted at the
instance of or against the Treasury or Commissioners of Customs, or any
of their officers, or relate to the election of members to serve in
Parliament, or touch any matter within the powers of the Irish
Legislature, or touch any matter affected by a law which the Irish
Legislature have not power to repeal or alter, shall, if so required by
any party to such proceedings, be heard and determined before the
Exchequer judges or (except where the case requires to be determined by
two judges) before one of them, and in any such legal proceeding an
appeal shall, if any party so requires, lie from any court of first
instance in Ireland to the Exchequer judges, and the decision of the
Exchequer judges shall be subject to appeal to Her Majesty the Queen in
Council and not to any other tribunal.

(5) If it is made to appear to an Exchequer judge that any decree or
judgment in any such proceeding as aforesaid has not been duly enforced
by the sheriff or other officer whose duty it is to enforce the same,
such judge shall appoint some officer whose duty it shall be to enforce
the judgment or decree; and for that purpose such officer and all
persons employed by him shall be entitled to the same privileges,
immunities, and powers as are by law conferred on a sheriff and his
officers.

(6) The Exchequer judges, when not engaged in hearing and determining
such legal proceedings as above in this section mentioned, shall perform
such of the duties ordinarily performed by other judges of the Supreme
Court in Ireland as may be assigned by Her Majesty the Queen in Council.

(7) All sums recovered by the Treasury or the Commissioners of Customs
or any of their officers, or recovered under any Act relating to duties
of customs, shall, notwithstanding anything in any other Act, be paid to
such public account as the Treasury or the Commissioners direct.

_Post Office Postal Telegraphs and Savings Banks_

20.--(1) As from _the appointed day_ the postal and telegraph service in
Ireland shall be transferred to the Irish Government, and may be
regulated by Irish Act, except as in this Act mentioned and except as
regards matters relating--

(_a_) to such conditions of the transmission or delivery of postal
packets and telegrams as are incidental to the duties on postage;
or

(_b_) foreign mails or submarine telegraphs or through lines in
connection therewith; or (_c_) to any other postal or telegraph
business in connection with places out of the United Kingdom.

(2) The administration of or incidental to the said excepted matters
shall, save as may be otherwise arranged with the Irish Post Office,
remain with the Postmaster-General.

(3) As regards the revenue and expenses of the postal and telegraph
service, the Postmaster-General shall retain the revenue collected and
defray the expenses incurred in Great Britain, and the Irish Post Office
shall retain the revenue collected and defray the expenses incurred in
Ireland, subject to the provisions of the Fourth Schedule to this Act;
which schedule shall have full effect, but may be varied or added to by
agreement between the Postmaster-General and the Irish Post Office.

(4) _The sums payable by the Postmaster-General or Irish Post Office to
the other of them in pursuance of this Act shall, if not paid out of the
Post Office moneys, be paid from the Exchequer of the United Kingdom or
of Ireland, as the case requires, to the other Exchequer_.

(5) Sections forty-eight to fifty-two of the Telegraph Act 1863, and any
enactment amending the same, shall apply to all telegraphic lines of the
Irish Government in like manner as to the telegraphs of a company within
the meaning of that Act.

21.--(1) As from _the appointed day_ there shall be transferred to the
Irish Government the post office savings banks in Ireland and all such
powers and duties of any department or officer in Great Britain as are
connected with post office savings banks, trustee savings banks or
friendly societies in Ireland, and the same may be regulated by Irish
Act.

(2) The Treasury shall publish not less than six months' previous notice
of the transfer of savings banks.

(3) If before the date of the transfer any depositor in a post office
savings bank so requests, his deposit shall, according to his request,
either be paid to him or transferred to a post office savings bank in
Great Britain, and after the said date the depositors in a post office
savings bank in Ireland shall cease to have any claim against the
Postmaster-General or the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom, but
shall have the like claim against the Government and Consolidated Fund
of Ireland.

(4) If before the date of the transfer the trustees of any trustee
savings bank so request, then, according to the request, either all sums
due to them shall be repaid and the savings bank closed, or those sums
shall be paid to the Irish Government, and after the said date the
trustees shall cease to have any claim against the National Debt
Commissioners or the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom, but shall
have the like claim against the Government and Consolidated Fund of
Ireland.

(5) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, if a sum
due on account of any annuity or policy of insurance which has before
the above-mentioned notice been granted through a post office or trustee
savings bank is not paid by the Irish Government, that sum shall be paid
out of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom.

_Irish Appeals and Decision of Constitutional Questions_

22.--(1) The appeal from courts in Ireland to the House of Lords shall
cease; and where any person would, but for this Act, have a right to
appeal from any court in Ireland to the House of Lords, such person
shall have the like right to appeal to Her Majesty the Queen in Council;
and the right so to appeal shall not be affected by any Irish Act; and
all enactments relating to appeals to Her Majesty the Queen in Council,
and to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, shall apply
accordingly.

(2) When the Judicial Committee sit for hearing appeals from a court in
Ireland, there shall be present not less than four Lords of Appeal,
within the meaning of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, 1876, and at least
one member who is or has been a judge of the Supreme Court in Ireland.

(3) A rota of privy councillors to sit for hearing appeals from courts
in Ireland shall be made annually by Her Majesty in Council, and the
privy councillors, or some of them, on that rota shall sit to hear the
said appeals. A casual vacancy in such rota during the year may be
filled by Order in Council.

(4) Nothing in this Act shall affect the jurisdiction of the House of
Lords to determine the claims to Irish peerages.

23.--(1) If it appears to the Lord Lieutenant or a Secretary of State
expedient in the public interest that steps shall be taken for the
speedy determination of the question whether any Irish Act or any
provision thereof is beyond the powers of the Irish Legislature, he may
represent the same to Her Majesty in Council, and thereupon the said
question shall be forthwith referred to and heard and determined by the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, constituted as if hearing an
appeal from a court in Ireland.

(2) Upon the hearing of the question such persons as seem to the
Judicial Committee to be interested may be allowed to appear and be
heard as parties to the case, and the decision of the Judicial Committee
shall be given in like manner as if it were the decision of an appeal,
the nature of the report or recommendation to Her Majesty being stated
in open court.

(3) Nothing in this Act shall prejudice any other power of Her Majesty
in Council to refer any question to the Judicial Committee or the right
of any person to petition Her Majesty for such reference.

_Lord Lieutenant and Crown Lands_

24.--(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Act, every
subject of the Queen shall be qualified to hold the office of Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland, without reference to his religious belief.

(2) The term of office of the Lord Lieutenant shall be _six years_,
without prejudice to the power of Her Majesty the Queen at any time to
revoke the appointment. 25. Her Majesty the Queen in Council may place
under the control of the Irish Government, for the purposes of that
government, such of the lands and buildings in Ireland vested in or held
in trust for Her Majesty, and subject to such conditions or restrictions
(if any) as may seem expedient.

_Judges and Civil Servants_

26. A judge of the Supreme Court or other superior court in Ireland, or
of any county court or other court with a like jurisdiction in Ireland,
appointed after the passing of this Act, shall not be removed from his
office except in pursuance of an address from the two Houses of the
Legislature of Ireland, nor during his continuance in office shall his
salary be diminished or right to pension altered without his consent.

27.--(1) All existing judges of the Supreme Court, county court judges,
and Land Commissioners in Ireland and all existing officers serving in
Ireland in the permanent civil service of the Crown and receiving
salaries charged on the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom, shall,
if they are removeable at present on address from both Houses of
Parliament, continue to be removeable only upon such address, and if
removeable in any other manner shall continue to be removeable only in
the same manner as heretofore; and shall continue to receive the same
salaries, gratuities, and pensions, and to be liable to perform the same
duties as heretofore, or such duties as Her Majesty may declare to be
analogous, and their salaries and pensions, if and so far as not paid
out of the Irish Consolidated Fund, shall be paid out of the Exchequer
of the United Kingdom: Provided that this section shall be subject to
the provisions of this Act with respect to the Exchequer judges.

(2) _If any of the said judges, commissioners, or officers retires from
office with the Queen's approbation before completion of the period of
service entitling him to a pension, Her Majesty may, if she thinks fit,
grant to him such pension, not exceeding the pension to which he would
on that completion have been entitled, as to Her Majesty seems meet_.

28.--(1) All existing officers in the permanent civil service of the
Crown, who are not above provided for, and are at the appointed day
serving in Ireland, shall after that day continue to hold their offices
by the same tenure and to receive the same salaries, gratuities, and
pensions, and to be liable to perform the same duties as heretofore or
such duties as the Treasury may declare to be analogous; _and the said
gratuities and pensions, and until three years after the passing of this
Act, the salaries due to any of the said officers if remaining in his
existing office, shall be paid to the payees by the Treasury out of the
Exchequer of the United Kingdom_.

(2) Any such officer may after _three years_ from the passing of this
Act retire from office, and shall, at any time during those three years,
if required by the Irish Government, retire from office, and on any such
retirement may be awarded by the Treasury a gratuity or pension in
accordance with the Fifth Schedule to this Act; Provided that--

(_a_) six months' written notice shall, unless it is otherwise
agreed, be given either by the said officer or by the Irish
Government as the case requires; and

(_b_) such number of officers only shall retire at one time and at
such intervals of time as the Treasury, in communication with the
Irish Government, sanction.

(3) If any such officer does not so retire, the Treasury may award him
after the said three years a pension in accordance with the Fifth
Schedule to this Act which shall become payable to him on his ultimate
retirement from the service of the Crown.

(4) _The gratuities and pensions awarded in accordance with the Fifth
Schedule to this Act shall be paid by the Treasury to the payees out of
the Exchequer of the United Kingdom._

(5) All sums paid out of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom in
pursuance of this section shall be repaid to that Exchequer from the
Irish Exchequer.

(6) This section shall not apply to officers retained in the service of
the Government of the United Kingdom.

29. Any existing pension granted on account of service in Ireland as a
judge of the Supreme Court or of any court consolidated into that court,
or as a county court judge, or in any other judicial position, or as an
officer in the permanent civil service of the Crown other than in an
office the holder of which is after the appointed day retained in the
service of the Government of the United Kingdom, shall be charged on the
Irish Consolidated Fund, and if and so far as not paid out of that fund,
shall be paid out of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom.

_Police_

30.--(1) The forces of the Royal Irish Constabulary and Dublin
Metropolitan Police shall, when and as local police forces are from time
to time established in Ireland in accordance with the Sixth Schedule to
this Act, be gradually reduced and ultimately cease to exist as
mentioned in that Schedule; and after the passing of this Act, no
officer or man shall be appointed to either of those forces;

Provided that until the expiration of _six_ years from the appointed
day, nothing in this Act shall require the Lord Lieutenant to cause
either of the said forces to cease to exist, if as representing Her
Majesty the Queen he considers it inexpedient.

(2) The said two forces shall, while they continue, be subject to the
control of the Lord Lieutenant as representing Her Majesty, and the
members thereof shall continue to receive the same salaries, gratuities,
and pensions, and hold their appointments on the same tenure as
heretofore, _and those salaries, gratuities, and pensions, and all the
expenditure incidental to either force, shall be paid out of the
Exchequer of the United Kingdom_.

(3) When any existing member of either force retires under the
provisions of the Sixth Schedule to this Act, the Treasury may award to
him a gratuity or pension in accordance with that Schedule.

(4) _Those gratuities and pensions and all existing pensions payable in
respect of service in either force, shall be paid by the Treasury to the
payees out of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom_.

(5) _Two-thirds of the net amount payable in pursuance of this section
out of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom shall be repaid to that
Exchequer from the Irish Exchequer_.

_Miscellaneous_

31. Save as may be otherwise provided by Irish Act--

(_a_) The existing law relating to the Exchequer and Consolidated
Fund of the United Kingdom shall apply with the necessary
modifications to the Exchequer and Consolidated Fund of Ireland,
and an officer shall be appointed by the Lord Lieutenant to be the
Irish Comptroller and Auditor General; and

(_b_) The accounts of the Irish Consolidated Fund shall be audited
as appropriation accounts in manner provided by the Exchequer and
Audit Departments Act, 1866, by or under the direction of such
officer.

32.--(1) Subject as in this Act mentioned and particularly to the
Seventh Schedule to this Act (which Schedule shall have full effect) all
existing election laws relating to the House of Commons and the members
thereof shall, so far as applicable, extend to each of the two Houses of
the Irish Legislature and the members thereof, but such election laws so
far as hereby extended may be altered by Irish Act.

(2) The privileges, rights, and immunities to be held and enjoyed by
each House and the members thereof shall be such as may be defined by
Irish Act, but so that the same shall never exceed those for the time
being held and enjoyed by the House of Commons, and the members thereof.

33.--(i) The Irish Legislature may repeal or alter any provision of this
Act which is by this Act expressly made alterable by that Legislature,
and also any enactments in force in Ireland, except such as either
relate to matters beyond the powers of the Irish Legislature, or being
enacted by Parliament after the passing of this Act may be expressly
extended to Ireland. An Irish Act, notwithstanding it is in any respect
repugnant to any enactment excepted as aforesaid, shall, though read
subject to that enactment, be, except to the extent of that repugnancy,
valid.

(2) An order, rule, or regulation, made in pursuance of, or having the
force of, an Act of Parliament, shall be deemed to be an enactment
within the meaning of this section.

(3) Nothing in this Act shall affect Bills relating to the divorce or
marriage of individuals, and any such Bill shall be introduced and
proceed in Parliament in like manner as if this Act had not passed.

34. The local authority for any county or borough or other area shall
not borrow money without either--

(_a_) special authority from the Irish Legislature, or

(_b_) the sanction of the proper department of the Irish
Government:

and shall not, without such special authority, borrow;

(i) in the case of a municipal borough or town or area less than a
county, any loan which together with the then outstanding debt of
the local authority, will exceed twice the annual rateable value of
the property in the municipal borough, town, or area; or

(ii) in the case of a country or larger area, any loan which
together with the then outstanding debt of the local authority,
will exceed one-tenth of the annual rateable value of the property
in the county or area; or

(iii) in any case a loan exceeding one-half of the above limits
without a local inquiry held in the county, borough, or area by a
person appointed for the purpose by the said department.

_Transitory Provisions_

35.--(1) During _three_ years from the passing of this Act, and if
Parliament is then sitting until the end of that session of Parliament,
the Irish Legislature shall not pass an Act respecting the relations of
landlord and tenant, or the sale, purchase, or letting of land
generally: Provided that nothing in this section shall prevent the
passing of any Irish Act with a view to the purchase of land for
railways, harbours, waterworks, town improvements, or other local
undertakings.

(2) During _six_ years from the passing of this Act, the appointment of
a judge of the Supreme Court or other superior courts in Ireland (other
than one of the Exchequer judges) shall be made in pursuance of a
warrant from Her Majesty countersigned as heretofore.

36.--(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act Her Majesty the Queen in
Council may make or direct such arrangements as seem necessary or proper
for setting in motion the Irish Legislature and Government and for
otherwise bringing this Act into operation. (2) The Irish Legislature
shall be summoned to meet on the _first Tuesday in September, one
thousand eight hundred and ninety-four_, and the first election of
members of the two Houses of the Irish Legislature shall be held at such
time before that day, as may be fixed by Her Majesty in Council. (3)
Upon the first meeting of the Irish Legislature the members of the House
of Commons then sitting for Irish constituencies, including the members
for Dublin University, shall vacate their seats, and writs shall, as
soon as conveniently may be, be issued by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland
for the purpose of holding an election of members to serve in
Parliament for the constituencies named in the Second Schedule of this
Act. (4) The existing Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and the senior of
the existing puisne judges of the Exchequer Division of the Supreme
Court, or if they or either of them are or is dead or unable or
unwilling to act, such other of the judges of the Supreme Court as Her
Majesty may appoint, shall be the first Exchequer judges. (5) Where it
appears to Her Majesty the Queen in Council, before the expiration of
_one year_ after the appointed day, that any existing enactment
respecting matters within the powers of the Irish Legislature requires
adaptation to Ireland, whether--

(_a_) by the substitution of the Lord Lieutenant in Council, or of
any department or officer of the executive Government in Ireland,
for Her Majesty in Council, a Secretary of State, the Treasury, the
Postmaster-General, the Board of Inland Revenue, or other public
department or officer in Great Britain; or (_b_) by the
substitution of the Irish Consolidated Fund or moneys provided by
the Irish Legislature for the Consolidated Fund of the United
Kingdom, or moneys provided by Parliament; or (_c_) by the
substitution or confirmation by, or other act to be done by or to,
the Irish Legislature for confirmation by or other act to be done
by or to Parliament; or (_d_) by any other adaptation; Her Majesty,
by Order in Council, may make that adaptation.

(6) Her Majesty the Queen in Council may provide for the transfer of
such property, rights, and liabilities, and the doing of such other
things as may appear to Her Majesty necessary or proper for carrying
into effect this Act or any Order in Council under this Act.

(7) An Order in Council under this section may make an adaptation or
provide for a transfer either unconditionally or subject to such
exceptions, conditions, and restrictions as may seem expedient.

(8) The draft of every Order in Council under this section shall be laid
before both Houses of Parliament for not less than two months before it
is made, and such Order when made shall, subject as respects Ireland to
the provisions of an Irish Act, have full effect, but shall not
interfere with the continued application to any place, authority,
person, or thing, not in Ireland, of the enactment to which the Order
relates.

37. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, all existing laws,
institutions, authorities, and officers in Ireland, whether judicial,
administrative, or ministerial, and all existing taxes in Ireland shall
continue as if this Act had not passed, but with the modifications
necessary for adapting the same to this Act, and subject to be
repealed, abolished, altered, and adapted in the manner and to the
extent authorised by this Act.

38. Subject as in this Act mentioned the appointed day for the purposes
of this Act shall be the day of the first meeting of the Irish
Legislature, or such other day not more than _seven_ months earlier or
later as may be fixed by order of Her Majesty in Council either
generally or with reference to any particular provision of this Act, and
different days may be appointed for different purposes and different
provisions of this Act, whether contained in the same section or in
different sections.

39. In this Act unless the context otherwise requires--The expression
'existing' means existing at the passing of this Act.

The expression 'constituency' means a parliamentary constituency or a
county or borough returning a member or members to serve in either House
of the Irish Legislature, as the case requires, and the expression
'parliamentary constituency' means any county, borough, or university
returning a member or members to serve in Parliament.

The expression 'parliamentary elector' means a person entitled to be
registered as a voter at a parliamentary election.

The expression 'parliamentary election' means the election of a member
to serve in Parliament.

The expression 'tax' includes duties and fees, and the expression
'duties of excise' does not include licence duties.

The expression 'foreign mails' means all postal packets, whether
letters, parcels, or other packets, posted in the United Kingdom and
sent to a place out of the United Kingdom, or posted in a place out of
the United Kingdom and sent to a place in the United Kingdom, or in
transit through the United Kingdom to a place out of the United Kingdom.

The expression 'telegraphic line' has the same meaning as in the
Telegraph Acts, 1863 to 1892.

The expression 'duties on postage' includes all rates and sums
chargeable for or in respect of postal packets, money orders, or
telegrams, or otherwise under the Post Office Acts or the Telegraph Act,
1892.

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