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Constitution of Ireland |
Herausgeber: Rechtsanwalt Möbius |
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Preamble |
German attorney at law |
In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred,
We, the people of Éire,
Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers through centuries of trial,
Gratefully remembering their heroic and unremitting struggle to regain the rightful independence of our Nation,
And seeking to promote the common good, with due observance of Prudence, Justice and Charity, so that the dignity and freedom of the individual may be assured, true social order attained, the unity of our country restored, and concord established with other nations,
Do hereby adopt, enact, and give to ourselves this Constitution.
Article 1 [Sovereign Rights]
The Irish nation hereby affirms its inalienable, indefeasible, and sovereign
right to choose its own form of Government, to determine its relations with
other nations, and to develop its life, political, economic and cultural, in
accordance with its own genius and traditions.
Article 2 [Territory
and citizenship]
It is the entitlement and birthright of every person
born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, to be part
of the Irish Nation. That is also the entitlement of all persons otherwise
qualified in accordance with law to be citizens of Ireland. Furthermore, the
Irish nation cherishes its special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living
abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage.
Article 3 [Extent of
Application of Laws]
(1)It is the firm will of the
Irish Nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share
the territory
of the island of Ireland, in all the diversity of their identities and
traditions, recognising that a united Ireland
shall be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of a majority
of the people, democratically
expressed, in both jurisdictions in the island. Until then, the laws enacted
by the Parliament established by
this Constitution shall have the like area and extent of application as the
laws enacted by the Parliament that
existed immediately before the coming into operation of this Constitution.
(2)Institutions with executive
powers and functions that are shared between those jurisdictions may be
established by their respective responsible authorities for stated purposes and may
excercise powers and functions in respect of all or any part of the island.
Article 4 [Name of the State]
The name of the State is Ireland.
Article 5 [State Principles]
Ireland is a sovereign, independent, democratic state.
Article 6 [Popular Sovereignty,
Rule of Law]
(1) All powers of government, legislative, executive and judicial, derive, under
God, from the people, whose right it is to designate the rulers of the State
and, in final appeal, to decide all questions of national policy, according to
the requirements of the common good.
(2) These powers of government are exercisable only by or on the authority of
the organs of State established by this Constitution.
Article 7 [Flag]
The national flag is the tricolor of green, white and orange.
Article 8 [Language]
(1) The Irish language as the national language is the first official language.
(2) The English language is recognized as a second official language.
(3) Provision may, however, be made by law for the exclusive use of either of
the said languages for any one or more official purposes, either throughout the
State or in any part thereof.
Article 9 [Citizenship]
(1.1) On the coming into operation of this Constitution any person who was a
citizen of Ireland immediately before the coming into operation of this
Constitution shall become and be a citizen of Ireland.
(1.2) The future acquisition and loss of Irish nationality and citizenship shall
be determined in accordance with law.
(1.3) No person may be excluded from Irish nationality and citizenship by reason
of the sex of such person.
(2) Fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State are fundamental political
duties of all citizens.
Article 10 [Natural Resources]
(1) All natural resources, including the air and all forms of potential energy,
within the jurisdiction of Parliament and Government established by this
Constitution and all royalties and franchises within that jurisdiction belong to
the State subject to all estates and interests therein for the time being
lawfully vested in any person or body.
(2) All land and all mines, minerals and waters which belonged to Ireland
immediately before the coming into operation of this Constitution belong to the
State to the same extent as they then belonged to Ireland.
(3) Provision may be made by law for the management of the property which
belongs to the State by virtue of this Article and for the control of the
alienation, whether temporary or permanent, of that property.
(4) Provision may also be made by law for the management of land, mines,
minerals and waters acquired by the State after the coming into operation of
this Constitution and for the control of the alienation, whether temporary or
permanent, of the land, mines, minerals and waters so acquired.
Article 11 [Fund]
All revenues of the State from whatever source arising shall, subject to such
exception as may be provided by law, form one fund, and shall be appropriated
for the purposes and in the manner and subject to the charges and liabilities
determined and imposed by law.
Article 12 [Election]
(1) There shall be a President of Ireland, hereinafter called the President, who
shall take precedence over all other persons in the State and who shall exercise
and perform the powers and functions conferred on the President by this
Constitution and by law.
(2.1) The President shall be elected by direct vote of the people.
(2.2) Every citizen who has the right to vote at an election for members of the
House of Representatives shall have the right to vote at an election for
President.
(2.3) The voting shall be by secret ballot and on the system of proportional
representation by means of the single transferable vote.
(3.1) The President shall hold office for seven years from the date upon which
he enters upon his office, unless before the expiration of that period he dies,
or resigns, or is removed from office, or becomes permanently incapacitated,
such incapacity being established to the satisfaction of the Supreme Court
consisting of not less than five judges.
(3.2) A person who holds, or who has held, office as President, shall be
eligible for re-election to that office once, but only once.
(3.3) An election for the office of President shall be held not later than, and
not earlier than the sixtieth day before, the date of the expiration of the term
of office of every President, but in the event of the removal from office of the
President or of his death, resignation, or permanent incapacity established as
aforesaid (whether occurring before or after he enters upon his office), an
election for the office of President shall be held within sixty days after such
event.
(4.1) Every citizen who has reached his thirty-fifth year of age is eligible for
election to the office of President.
(4.2) Every candidate for election, not a former or retiring President, must be
nominated either by:
(i) not less than twenty persons, each of whom is at the time a member of one of
the Houses of Parliament or
(ii) by the Councils of not less than four administrative Counties (including
County Boroughs) as defined by law.
(4.3) No person and no such Council shall be entitled to subscribe to the
nomination of more than one candidate in respect of the same election.
(4.4) Former or retiring Presidents may become candidates on their own
nomination.
(4.5) Where only one candidate is nominated for the office of President it shall
not be necessary to proceed to a ballot for his election.
(5) Subject to the provisions of this Article, elections for the office of
President shall be regulated by law.
(6.1) The President shall not be a member of either House of Parliament.
(6.2) If a member of either House of Parliament be elected President, he shall
be deemed to have vacated his seat in that House.
(6.3) The President shall not hold any other office or position of emolument.
(7) The first President shall enter upon his office as soon as may be after his
election, and every subsequent President shall enter upon his office on the day
following the expiration of the term of office of his predecessor or as soon as
may be thereafter or, in the event of his predecessor's removal from office,
death, resignation, or permanent incapacity established as provided by Section
(3), as soon as may be after the election.
(8) The President shall enter upon his office by taking and subscribing publicly,
in the presence of members of both Houses of Parliament, of Judges of the
Supreme Court and of the High Court, and other public personages, the following
declaration:
"In the presence of Almighty God I do solemnly and sincerely promise and
declare that l will maintain the Constitution of Ireland and uphold its laws,
that I will fulfill my duties faithfully and conscientiously in accordance with
the Constitution and the law, and that I will dedicate my abilities to the
service and welfare of the people of Ireland. May God direct and sustain me."
(9) The President shall not leave the State during his term of office save with
the consent of the Government.
(10.1) The President may be impeached for stated misbehavior.
(10.2) The charge shall be preferred by either of the Houses of Parliament,
subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(10.3) A proposal to either House of Parliament to prefer a charge against the
President under this section shall not be entertained unless upon a notice of
motion in writing signed by not less than thirty members of that House.
(10.4) No such proposal shall be adopted by either of the Houses of Parliament
save upon a resolution of that House supported by not less than two-thirds of
the total membership thereof.
(10.5) When a charge has been preferred by either House of Parliament, the other
House shall investigate the charge, or cause the charge to be investigated.
(10.6) The President shall have the right to appear and to be represented at the
investigation of the charge.
(10.7) If, as a result of the investigation, a resolution be passed supported by
not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House of Parliament by
which the charge was investigated, or caused to be investigated, declaring that
the charge preferred against the President has been sustained and that the
misbehavior, the subject of the charge, was such as to render him unfit to
continue in office, such resolution shall operate to remove the President from
his office
(11.1) The President shall have an official residence in or near the City of
Dublin.
(11.2) The President shall receive such emoluments and allowances as may be
determined by law.
(11.3) The emoluments and allowances of the President shall not be diminished
during his term of office.
Article 13 [Functions]
(1.1) The President shall, on the nomination of the House of Representatives,
appoint the Prime Minister.
(1.2) The President shall, on the nomination of the Prime Minister with the
previous approval of the House of Representatives, appoint the other members of
the Government.
(1.3) The President shall, on the advice of the Prime Minister, accept the
resignation or terminate the appointment of any member of the Government.
(2.1) the House of Representatives shall be summoned and dissolved by the
President on the advice of the Prime Minister.
(2.2) The President may in his absolute discretion refuse to dissolve the House
of Representatives on the advice of a Prime Minister who has ceased to retain
the support of a majority in the House of Representatives.
(2.3) The President may at any time, after consultation with the Council of
State, convene a meeting of either or both of the Houses of Parliament.
(3.1) Every Bill passed or deemed to have been passed by both Houses of
Parliament shall require the signature of the President for its enactment into
law.
(3.2) The President shall promulgate every law made by Parliament.
(4) The supreme command of the Defense Forces is hereby vested in the President.
(5.1) The exercise of the supreme command of the Defense Forces shall be
regulated by law.
(5.2) All commissioned officers of the Defense Forces shall hold their
commissions from the President.
(6) The right of pardon and the power to commute or remit punishment imposed by
any court exercising criminal jurisdiction are hereby vested in the President,
but such power of commutation or remission may, except in capital cases, also be
conferred by law on other authorities.
(7.1) The President may, after consultation with the Council of State,
communicate with the Houses of Parliament by message or address on any matter of
national or public importance.
(7.2) The President may, after consultation with the Council of State, address a
message to the Nation at any time on any such matter.
(7.3) Every such message or address must, however, have received the approval of
the Government.
(8.1) The President shall not be answerable to either House of Parliament or to
any court for the exercise and performance of the powers and functions of his
office or for any act done or purporting to be done by him in the exercise and
performance of these powers and functions.
(8.2) The behavior of the President may, however, be brought under review in
either of the Houses of Parliament for the purposes of Article
(9) The powers and functions conferred on the President by this Constitution
shall be exercisable and performable by him only on the advice of the
Government, save where it is provided by this Constitution that he shall act in
his absolute discretion or after consultation with or in relation to the Council
of State, or on the advice or nomination of, or on receipt of any other
communication from, any other person or body.
(10) Subject to this Constitution, additional powers and functions may be
conferred on the President by law.
(11) No power or function conferred on the President by law shall be exercisable
or performable by him save only on the advice of the Government.
Article 14 [Absence of the
President]
(1) In the event of the absence of the President, or his temporary
incapacity, or his permanent incapacity established as provided by Article
(2.1) The Commission shall consist of the following persons, namely, the Chief
Justice, the Chairman of the House of Representatives, and the Chairman of the
Senate.
(2.2) The President of the High Court shall act as a member of the Commission in
the place of the Chief Justice on any occasion on which the office of Chief
Justice is vacant or on which the Chief Justice is unable to act.
(2.3) The Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives shall act as a member
of the Commission in the place of the Chairman of the House of Representatives
on any occasion on which the office of Chairman of the House of Representatives
is vacant or on which the said Chairman is unable to act.
(2.4) The Deputy Chairman of the Senate shall act as a member of the Commission
in the place of the Chairman of the Senate on any occasion on which the office
of Chairman of the Senate is vacant or on which the said Chairman is unable to
act.
(3) The Commission may act by any two of their number and may act
notwithstanding a vacancy in their membership.
(4) The Council of State may by a majority of its members make such provision as
to them may seem meet for the exercise and performance of the powers and
functions conferred on the President by or under this Constitution in any
contingency which is not provided for by the foregoing provisions of this
article.
(5.1) The provisions of this Constitution which relate to the exercise and
performance by the President of the powers and functions conferred on him by or
under this Constitution shall subject to the subsequent provisions of this
section apply to the exercise and performance of the said powers and functions
under this article.
(5.2) In the event of the failure of the President to exercise or perform any
power or function which the President is by or under this Constitution required
to exercise or perform within a specified time, the said power or function shall
be exercised or performed under this article, as soon as may be after the
expiration of the time so specified.
[Chapter IV] The National
Parliament
[Part 1] Constitution and
Powers
Article 15
[Constitution, Functions]
(1.1) The National Parliament shall be called and known, and is in this
Constitution generally referred to, as Parliament.
(1.2) Parliament shall consist of the President and two Houses, viz.: a the
House of Representatives and a Senate.
(1.3) The Houses of Parliament shall sit in or near the City of Dublin or in
such other place as they may from time to time determine.
(2.1) The sole and exclusive power of making laws for the State is hereby vested
in Parliament: no other legislative authority has power to make laws for the
State.
(2.2) Provision may however be made by law for the creation or recognition of
subordinate legislatures and for the powers and functions of these legislatures.
(3.1) Parliament may provide for the establishment or recognition of functional
or vocational councils representing branches of the social and economic life of
the people.
(3.2) A law establishing or recognizing any such council shall determine its
rights, powers and duties, and its relation to Parliament and to the Government.
(4.1) Parliament shall not enact any law which is in any respect repugnant to
this Constitution or any provision thereof.
(4.2) Every law enacted by Parliament which is in any respect repugnant to this
Constitution or to any provision thereof, shall, but to the extent only of such
repugnancy, be invalid.
(5) Parliament shall not declare acts to be infringements of the law which were
not so at the date of their commission.
(6.1) The right to raise and maintain military or armed forces is vested
exclusively in Parliament.
(6.2) No military or armed force, other than a military or armed force raised
and maintained by Parliament, shall be raised or maintained for any purpose
whatsoever.
(7) Parliament shall hold at least one session every year.
(8.1) Sittings of each House of Parliament shall be public.
(8.2) In cases of special emergency, however, either House may hold a private
sitting with the assent of two-thirds of the members present.
(9.1) Each House of Parliament shall elect from its members its own Chairman and
Deputy Chairman, and shall prescribe their powers and duties.
(9.2) The remuneration of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of each House shall
be determined by law.
(10) Each House shall make its own rules and standing orders, with power to
attach penalties for their infringement, and shall have power to ensure freedom
of debate, to protect its official documents and the private papers of its
members, and to protect itself and its members against any person or persons
interfering with, molesting or attempting to corrupt its members in the exercise
of their duties.
(11.1) All questions in each House shall, save as otherwise provided by this
Constitution, be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present
and voting other than the Chairman or presiding member.
(11.2) The Chairman or presiding member shall have and exercise a casting vote
in the case of an equality of votes.
(11.3) The number of members necessary to constitute a meeting of either House
for the exercise of its powers shall be determined by its standing orders.
(12) All official reports and publications of Parliament or of either House
thereof and utterances made in either House wherever published shall be
privileged.
(13) The members of each House of Parliament shall, except in case of treason as
defined in this Constitution, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from
arrest in going to and returning from, and while within the precincts of, either
House, and shall not, in respect of any utterance in either House, be amenable
to any court or any authority other than the House itself.
(14) No person may be at the same time a member of both Houses of Parliament,
and, if any person who is already a member of either House becomes a member of
the other House, he shall forthwith be deemed to have vacated his first seat.
(15) Parliament may make provision by law for the payment of allowances to the
members of each House thereof in respect of their duties as public
representatives and for the grant to them of free traveling and such other
facilities (if any) in connection with those duties as Parliament may determine.
Article 16 [Eligibility]
(1.1) Every citizen without distinction of sex who has reached the age of
twenty-one years, and who is not placed under disability or incapacity by this
Constitution or by law, shall be eligible for membership of the House of
Representatives.
(1.2)(i) All citizens, and
(ii) such other persons in the State as may be determined by law,
without distinction of sex who have reached the age of eighteen years who are
not disqualified by law and comply with the provisions of the law relating to
the election of members of the House of Representatives, shall have the right to
vote at an election for members of the House of Representatives.
(1.3) No law shall be enacted placing any citizen under disability or incapacity
for membership of the House of Representatives on the ground of sex or
disqualifying any citizen or other person from voting at an election for members
of the House of Representatives on that ground.
(1.4) No voter may exercise more than one vote at an election for the House of
Representatives, and the voting shall be by secret ballot.
(2.1) the House of Representatives shall be composed of members who represent
constituencies determined by law.
(2.2) The number of members shall from time to time be fixed by law, but the
total number of members of the House of Representatives shall not be fixed at
less than one member for each thirty thousand of the population, or at more than
one member for each twenty thousand of the population.
(2.3) The ratio between the number of members to be elected at any time for each
constituency and the population of each constituency, as ascertained at the last
preceding census, shall, so far as it is practicable, be the same throughout the
country.
(2.4) Parliament shall revise the constituencies at least once in every twelve
years, with due regard to changes in distribution of the population, but any
alterations in the constituencies shall not take effect during the life of the
House of Representatives sitting when such revision is made.
(2.5) The members shall be elected on the system of proportional representation
by means of the single transferable vote.
(2.6) No law shall be enacted whereby the number of members to be returned for
any constituency shall be less than three.
(3.1) the House of Representatives shall be summoned and dissolved as provided
by Article
(3.2) A general election for members of the House of Representatives shall take
place not later than thirty days after a dissolution of the House of
Representatives.
(4.1) Polling at every general election for the House of Representatives shall
as far as practicable take place on the same day throughout the country.
(4.2) the House of Representatives shall meet within thirty days from that
polling day.
(5) The same the House of Representatives shall not continue for a longer period
than seven years from the date of its first meeting: a shorter period may be
fixed by law.
(6) Provision shall be made by law to enable the member of the House of
Representatives who is the Chairman immediately before a dissolution of the
House of Representatives to be deemed without any actual election to be elected
a member of the House of Representatives at the ensuing general election.
(7) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this article, elections for
membership of the House of Representatives, including the filling of casual
vacancies, shall be regulated in accordance with law.
Article 17 [Financial
Estimates]
(1.1) As soon as possible after the presentation to the House of Representatives
under Article
(1.2) Save in so far as may be provided by specific enactment in each case, the
legislation required to give effect to the Financial Resolutions of each year
shall be enacted within that year.
(2) the House of Representatives shall not pass any vote or resolution, and no
law shall be enacted, for the appropriation of revenue or other public moneys
unless the purpose of the appropriation shall have been recommended to the House
of Representatives by a message from the Government signed by the Prime
Minister.
Article 18 [Senate]
(1) The Senate shall be composed of sixty members, of whom eleven shall be
nominated members and forty-nine shall be elected members.
(2) A person to be eligible for membership of the Senate must be eligible to
become a member of the House of Representatives.
(3) The nominated members of the Senate shall be nominated, with their prior
consent, by the Prime Minister who is appointed next after the reassembly of the
House of Representatives following the dissolution thereof which occasions the
nomination of the said members.
(4.1) The elected members of the Senate shall be elected as follows:
(i) Three shall be elected by the National University of Ireland.
(ii) Three shall be elected by the University of Dublin.
(iii) Forty-three shall be elected from panels of candidates constituted as
hereinafter provided.
(4.2) Provision may be made by law for the election, on a franchise and in the
manner to be provided by law, by one or more of the following institutions,
namely:
(i) the universities mentioned in Section (4.1),
(ii) any other institutions of higher education in the State,
of so many members of the Senate as may be fixed by law in substitution for an
equal number of the members to be elected pursuant to Paragraphs (i) and (ii) of
the said subsection.
A member or members of the Senate may be elected under this subsection by
institutions grouped together or by a single institution.
(4.3) Nothing in this article shall be invoked to prohibit the dissolution by
law of a university mentioned in Section (4.1).
(5) Every election of the elected members of the Senate shall be held on the
system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote,
and by secret postal ballot.
(6) The members of the Senate to be elected by the Universities shall be elected
on a franchise and in the manner to be provided by law.
(7.1) Before each general election of the members of the Senate to be elected
from panels of candidates, five panels of candidates shall be formed in the
manner provided by law containing respectively the names of persons having
knowledge and practical experience of the following interests and services,
namely:
(i) National Language and Culture, Literature, Art, Education and such
professional interests as may be defined by law for the purpose of this panel;
(ii) Agriculture and allied interests. and Fisheries;
(iii) Labor, whether organized or unorganized;
(iv) Industry and Commerce, including banking, finance, accountancy, engineering
and architecture;
(v) Public Administration and social services, including voluntary social
activities.
(7.2) Not more than eleven and, subject to the provisions of Article
(8) A general election for the Senate shall take place not later than ninety
days after a dissolution of the House of Representatives, and the first meeting
of the Senate after the general election shall take place on a day to be fixed
by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.
(9) Every member of the Senate shall, unless he previously dies, resigns, or
becomes disqualified, continue to hold office until the day before the polling
day of the general election for the Senate next held after his election or
nomination.
(10.1) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this article elections of the
elected members of the Senate shall be regulated by law.
(10.2) Casual vacancies in the number of the nominated members of the Senate
shall be filled by nomination by the Prime Minister with the prior consent of
persons so nominated.
(10.3) Casual vacancies in the number of the elected members of the Senate shall
be filled in the manner provided by law.
Article 19 [Direct Election]
Provision may be made by law for the direct election by any functional or
vocational group or association or council of so many members of the Senate as
may be fixed by such law in substitution for an equal number of the members to
be elected from the corresponding panels of candidates constituted under Article
18.
Article 20 [Amendment by
Senate]
(1) Every Bill initiated in and passed by the House of Representatives shall be
sent to the Senate and may, unless it be a Money Bill, be amended in the Senate
and the House of Representatives shall consider any such amendment.
(2.1) A Bill other than a Money Bill may be initiated in the Senate, and if
passed by the Senate, shall be introduced in the House of Representatives.
(2.2) A Bill initiated in the Senate if amended in the House of Representatives
shall be considered as a Bill initiated in the House of Representatives.
(3) A Bill passed by either House and accepted by the other House shall be
deemed to have been passed by both Houses.
Article 21 [Initiative,
Procedure]
(1.1) Money Bills
(1.2) Every Money Bill passed by the House of Representatives shall be sent to
the Senate for its recommendations.
(2.1) Every Money Bill sent to the Senate for its recommendations shall, at the
expiration of a period not longer than twenty-one days after it shall have been
sent to the Senate, be returned to the House of Representatives, which may
accept or reject all or any of the recommendations of the Senate.
(2.2) If such Money Bill is not returned by the Senate to the House of
Representatives within such twenty-one days or is returned within such
twenty-one days with recommendations which the House of Representatives does not
accept, it shall be deemed to have been passed by both Houses at the expiration
of the said twenty-one days.
Article 22 [Definition of
Money Bills]
(1.1) A Money Bill means a Bill which contains only provisions dealing with all
or any of the following matters, namely, the imposition, repeal, remission,
alteration or regulation of taxation; the imposition for the payment of debt or
other financial purposes of charges on public moneys or the variation or repeal
of any such charges; supply; the appropriation, receipt, custody, issue or audit
of accounts of public money; the raising or guarantee of any loan or the
repayment thereof; matters subordinate and incidental to these matters or any of
them.
(1.2) In this definition the expressions "taxation", "public
money" and "loan" respectively do not include any taxation, money
or loan raised by local authorities
(2.1) The Chairman of the House of Representatives shall certify any Bill which,
in his opinion, is a Money Bill to be a Money Bill, and his certificate shall,
subject to the subsequent provisions of this section, be final and conclusive.
(2.2) the Senate, by a resolution. passed at a sitting at which not less than
thirty members are present, may request the President to refer the question
whether the Bill is or is not a Money Bill to a Committee of Privileges.
(2.3) If the President after consultation with the Council of State decides to
accede to the request he shall appoint a Committee of Privilege consisting of an
equal number of members of the House of Representatives and of the Senate and a
Chairman who shall be a judge of the Supreme Court: these appointments shall be
made after consultation with the Council of State. In the case of an equality of
votes but not otherwise the chairman shall be entitled to vote.
(2.4) The President shall refer the question to the Committee of Privileges so
appointed and the Committee shall report its decision thereon to the President
within twenty-one days after the day on which the Bill was sent to the Senate.
(2.5) The decision of the Committee shall be final and conclusive.
(2.6) If the President after consultation with the Council of State decides not
to accede to the request of the Senate, or if the Committee of Privileges fails
to report within the time hereinbefore specified the certificate of the Chairman
of the House of Representatives shall stand confirmed.
[Part 4] Time for
Consideration of Bills
Article 23 [Timing]
(1) This article applies to every Bill passed by the House of Representatives
and sent to the Senate other than a Money Bill or a Bill the time for the
consideration of which by the Senate shall have been abridged under Article
(1.1) Whenever a Bill to which this article applies is within the stated period
defined in the next following subsection either rejected by the Senate or passed
by the Senate with amendments to which the House of Representatives does not
agree or is neither passed (with or without amendment) nor rejected by the
Senate within the stated period, the Bill shall, if the House of Representatives
so resolves within one hundred and eighty days after the expiration of the
stated period be deemed to have been passed by both Houses of Parliament on the
day on which the resolution is passed.
(1.2) The stated period is the period of ninety days commencing on the day on
which the Bill is first sent by the House of Representatives to the Senate or
any longer period agreed upon in respect of the Bill by both Houses of
Parliament.
(2.1) The preceding section of this article shall apply to a Bill which is
initiated in and passed by the Senate, amended by the House of Representatives,
and accordingly deemed to have been initiated in the House of Representatives.
(2.2) For the purpose of this application the stated period shall in relation to
such a Bill commence on the day on which the Bill is first sent to the Senate
after having been amended by the House of Representatives.
Article 24 [Certification,
Urgency]
(1) If and whenever on the passage by the House of Representatives of any Bill,
other than a Bill expressed to be a Bill containing a proposal to amend the
Constitution, the Prime Minister certifies by messages in writing addressed to
the President and to the Chairman of each House of Parliament that, in the
opinion of the Government, the Bill is urgent and immediately necessary for the
preservation of the public peace and security, or by reason of the existence of
a public emergency, whether domestic or international, the time for the
consideration of such Bill by the Senate shall, if the House of Representatives
so resolves and if the President, after consultation with the Council of State,
concurs, be abridged to such period as shall be specified in the resolution.
(2) Where a Bill, the time for the consideration of which by the Senate has been
abridged under this article,
(a) is, in the case of a Bill which is not a Money Bill, rejected by the Senate
or passed by the Senate with amendments to which the House of Representatives
does not agree or neither passed nor rejected by the Senate, or
(b) is, in the case of a Money Bill, either returned by the Senate to the House
of Representatives with recommendations which the House of Representatives does
not accept or is not returned by the Senate to the House of Representatives,
within the period specified in the resolution, the Bill shall be deemed to have
been passed by both Houses of Parliament at the expiration of that period.
(3) When a Bill the time for the consideration of which by the Senate has been
abridged under this article becomes law it shall remain in force for a period of
ninety days from the date of its enactment and no longer unless, before the
expiration of that period, both Houses shall have agreed that such law shall
remain in force for a longer period and the longer period so agreed upon shall
have been specified in resolutions passed by both Houses.
[Part 5] Signing and Promulgation of Laws
Article 25 [Promulgation]
(1) As soon as
any Bill, other than a Bill expressed to be a Bill containing a proposal
for the amendment of this Constitution, shall have been passed or deemed
to have been passed by both Houses of Parliament, the Prime Minister shall
present it to the President for his signature and for promulgation by him
as a law in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(2.1) Save
as otherwise provided by this Constitution, every Bill so presented to the
President for his signature and for promulgation by him as a law shall be
signed by the President not earlier than the fifth and not later than the
seventh day after the date on which the Bill shall have been presented to
him.
(2.2) At the request of the Government, with the prior concurrence
of the Senate, the President may sign any Bill the subject of such request
on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after such date as
aforesaid
(3) Every Bill the time for the consideration of which by the
Senate shall have been abridged under Article 24 shall be
signed by the President on the day on which such Bill is presented to him
for signature and promulgation as a law.
(4.1) Every Bill shall become
and be law as on and from the day on which it is signed by the President
under this Constitution, and shall, unless the contrary intention appears,
come into operation on that day.
(4.2) Every Bill signed by the
President under this Constitution shall be promulgated by him as a law by
the publication by his direction of a notice in the Government Gazette
stating that the Bill has become law.
(4.3) Every Bill shall be signed
by the President in the text in which it was passed or deemed to have been
passed by both Houses of Parliament, and if a Bill is so passed or deemed
to have been passed in both the official languages, the President shall
sign the text of the Bill in each of those languages.
(4.4) Where the
President signs the text of a Bill in one only of the official languages,
an official translation shall be issued in the other official
language.
(4.5) As soon as may be after the signature and promulgation
of a Bill as a law, the text of such law which was signed by the President
or, where the President has signed the text of such law in each of the
official languages, both the signed texts shall be enrolled for record in
the office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court, and the text, or both
the texts, so enrolled shall be conclusive evidence of the provisions of
such law.
(4.6) In case of conflict between the texts of a law enrolled
under this section in both the official languages, the text in the
national language shall prevail.
(5.1) It shall be lawful for the Prime
Minister, from time to time as occasion appears to him to require, to
cause to be prepared under his supervision a text (in both the official
languages) of this Constitution as then in force embodying all amendments
theretofore made therein.
(5.2) A copy of every text so prepared, when
authenticated by the signatures of the Prime Minister and the Chief
Justice, shall be signed by the President and shall be enrolled for record
in the office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court.
(5.3) The copy so
signed and enrolled which is for the time being the latest text so
prepared shall, upon such enrolment, be conclusive evidence of this
Constitution as at the date of such enrolment and shall for that purpose
supersede all texts of this Constitution of which copies were previously
so enrolled.
(5.4) In case of conflict between the texts of any copy of
this Constitution enrolled under this section, the text in the national
language shall prevail.
[Part 6] Reference of Bills to the Supreme
Court
Article 26 [Review]
(0) This article
applies to any Bill passed or deemed to have been passed by both Houses of
Parliament other than a Money Bill, or a Bill expressed to be a Bill
containing a proposal to amend the Constitution, or a Bill the time for
the consideration of which by the Senate shall have been abridged under
Article 24.
(1.1)
The President may, after consultation with the Council of State, refer any
Bill to which this article applies to the Supreme Court for a decision on
the question as to whether such Bill or any specified provision or
provisions of such Bill is or are repugnant to this Constitution or to any
provision thereof.
(1.2) Every such reference shall be made not later
than the seventh day after the date on which such Bill have been presented
by the Prime Minister to the President for his signature.
(1.3) The
President shall not sign any Bill the subject of a reference to the
Supreme Court under this article pending the pronouncement of the decision
of the Court.
(2.1) The Supreme Court consisting of not less than five
judges shall consider every question referred to it by the President under
this article for a decision, and, having heard arguments by or on behalf
of the Attorney General and by counsel assigned by the Court, shall
pronounce its decision on such question in open court as soon as may be,
and in any case not later than sixty days after the date of such
reference.
(2.2) The decision of the majority of the judges of the
Supreme Court shall, for the purposes of this article, be the decision of
the Court and shall be pronounced by such one of those judges as the Court
shall direct, and no other opinion, whether assenting or dissenting, shall
be pronounced nor shall the existence of any such other opinion be
disclosed.
(3.1) In every case in which the Supreme Court decides that
any provision of a Bill the subject of a reference to the Supreme Court
under this article is repugnant to this Constitution or to any provision
thereof, the President shall decline to sign such Bill.
(3.2) If, in
the case of a Bill to which Article 27 applies,
a petition has been addressed to the President under that article, that
article shall be complied with.
(3.3) In every other case the President
shall sign the Bill as soon as may be after the date on which the decision
of the Supreme Court shall have been pronounced.
[Part 7] Reference of Bills to the People
Article 27 [Request of Veto]
(0) This
article applies to any Bill, other than a Bill expressed to be a Bill
containing a proposal for the amendment of this Constitution, which shall
have been deemed, by virtue of Article 23 hereof,
to have been passed by both Houses of Parliament.
(1) A majority of the
members of the Senate and not less than one-third of the members of the
House of Representatives may by a joint petition addressed to the
President by them under this article request the President to decline to
sign and promulgate as a law any Bill to which this article applies on the
ground that the Bill contains a proposal of such national importance that
the will of the people thereon ought to be ascertained.
(2) Every such
petition shall be in writing and shall be signed by the petitioners whose
signatures shall be verified in the manner prescribed by law.
(3) Every
such petition shall contain a statement of the particular ground or
grounds on which the request is based, and shall be presented to the
President not later than four days after the date on which the Bill shall
have been deemed to have been passed by both Houses of
Parliament.
(4.1) Upon receipt of a petition addressed to him under
this article, the President shall forthwith consider such petition and
shall, after consultation with the Council of State, pronounce his
decision thereon not later than ten days after the date on which the Bill
to which such petition relates shall have been deemed to have been passed
by both Houses of Parliament.
(4.2) If the Bill or any provision
thereof is or has been referred to the Supreme Court under Article 26, it
shall not be obligatory on the President to consider the petition unless
or until the Supreme Court has pronounced a decision on such reference to
the effect that the said Bill or the said provision thereof is not
repugnant to this Constitution or to any provision thereof, and, if a
decision to that effect is pronounced by the Supreme Court, it shall not
be obligatory on the President to pronounce his decision on the petition
before the expiration of six days after the day on which the decision of
the Supreme Court to the effect aforesaid is pronounced.
(5.1) In every
case in which the President decides that a Bill the subject of a petition
under this article contains a proposal of such national importance that
the will of the people thereon ought to be ascertained, he shall inform
the Prime Minister and the Chairman of each House of Parliament
accordingly in writing under his hand and Seal and shall decline to sign
and promulgate such Bill as a law unless and until the proposal shall have
been approved either
(i) by the people at a Referendum in accordance
with the provisions of Article 47 (2)
within a period of eighteen months from the date of the President's
decision, or
(ii) by a resolution of the House of Representatives
passed within the said period after a dissolution and reassembly of the
House of Representatives.
(5.2) Whenever a proposal contained in a Bill
the subject of a petition under this article shall have been approved
either by the people or by a resolution of the House of Representatives in
accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section, such Bill shall
as soon as may be after such approval be presented to the President for
his signature and promulgation by him as a law and the President shall
thereupon sign the Bill and duly promulgate it as a law.
(6) In every
case in which the President decides that a Bill the subject of a petition
under this article does not contain a proposal of such national importance
that the will of the people thereon ought to be ascertained, he shall
inform the Prime Minister and the Chairman of each House of Parliament
accordingly in writing under his hand and Seal, and such Bill shall be
signed by the President not later than eleven days after the date on which
the Bill shall have been deemed to have been passed by both Houses of
Parliament and shall be duly promulgated by him as a law.
Article 28 [Constitution,
Functions]
(1)
The Government shall consist of not less than seven and not more than
fifteen members who shall be appointed by the President in accordance with
the provisions of this Constitution.
(2) The executive power of the
State shall, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, be exercised
by or on the authority of the Government.
(3.1) War shall not be
declared and the State shall not participate in any war save with the
assent of the House of Representatives.
(3.2) In the case of actual
invasion, however, the Government may take whatever steps they may
consider necessary for the protection of the State, and the House of
Representatives if not sitting shall be summoned to meet at the earliest
practicable date.
(3.3) Nothing in this Constitution shall be invoked
to invalidate any law enacted by Parliament which is expressed to be for
the purpose of securing the public safety and the preservation of the
State in time of war or armed rebellion, or to nullify any act done or
purporting to be done in time of war or armed rebellion in pursuance of
any such law. In this subsection "time of war" includes a time when there
is taking place an armed conflict in which the State is not a participant
but in respect of which each of the Houses of Parliament shall have
resolved that, arising out of such armed conflict, a national emergency
exists affecting the vital interests of the State and "time of war or
armed rebellion" includes such time after the termination of any war, or
of any such armed conflict as aforesaid, or of an armed rebellion, as may
elapse until each of the Houses of Parliament shall have resolved that the
national emergency occasioned by such war, armed conflict, or armed
rebellion has ceased to exist.
(4.1) The Government shall be responsible to the House of
Representatives.
(4.2) The Government shall meet and act collective
authority, and shall be collectively responsible for the Departments of
State administered by the members of the Government.
(4.3) The
Government shall prepare Estimates of the Receipts and Estimates of the
Expenditure of the State for each financial year, and shall present them
to the House of Representatives for consideration.
(5.1) The head of
the Government shall be called, and is in this Constitution referred to,
as the Prime Minister.
(5.2) The Prime Minister shall keep the
President generally informed on matters of domestic and international
policy.
(6.1) The Prime Minister shall nominate a member of the
Government to be the Vice Prime Minister.
(6.2) The Vice Prime Minister
shall act for all purposes in the place of the Prime Minister if the Prime
Minister should die, or become permanently incapacitated, until a new
Prime Minister shall have been appointed.
(6.3) The Vice Prime Minister
shall also act for or in the place of the Prime Minister during the
temporary absence of the Prime Minister.
(7.1) The Prime Minister, the
Vice Prime Minister and the member of the Government who is in charge of
the Department of Finance must be members of the House of
Representatives.
(7.2) The other members of the Government must be
members of the House of Representatives or the Senate, but not more than
two may be members of the Senate.
(8) Every member of the Government
shall have the right to attend and be heard in each House of
Parliament.
(9.1) The Prime Minister may resign from office at any time
by placing his resignation in the hands of the President.
(9.2) Any
other member of the Government may resign from office by placing his
resignation in the hands of the Prime Minister for submission to the
President.
(9.3) The President shall accept the resignation of a member
of the Government, other than the Prime Minister, if so advised by the
Prime Minister.
(9.4) The Prime Minister may at any time, for reasons
which to him seem sufficient, request a member of the Government to
resign; should the member concerned fail to comply with the request, his
appointment shall be terminated by the President if the Prime Minister so
advises.
(10) The Prime Minister shall resign from office upon his
ceasing to retain the support of a majority in the House of
Representatives unless on his advice the President dissolves the House of
Representatives and on the reassembly of the House of Representatives
after the dissolution the Prime Minister secures the support of a majority
in the House of Representatives.
(11.1) If the Prime Minister at any
time resigns from office the other members of the Government shall be
deemed also to have resigned from office, but the Prime Minister and the
other members of the Government shall continue to carry on their duties
until their successors shall have been appointed.
(11.2) The members of
the Government in office at the date of a dissolution of the House of
Representatives shall continue to hold office until their successors shall
have been appointed.
(12) The following matters shall be regulated in
accordance with law, namely, the organization of, and distribution of
business amongst, Departments of State, the designation of members of the
Government to be the Ministers in charge of the said Departments, the
discharge of the functions of the office of a member of the Government
during his temporary absence or incapacity, and the remuneration of the
members of the Government.
[Chapter VI] International Relations
Article 29 [Peace, Principles of International
Law]
(1) Ireland affirms its devotion to the ideal of peace and
friendly co-operation amongst nations founded on international justice and
morality.
(2) Ireland affirms its adherence to the principle of the
pacific settlement of international disputes by international arbitration
or judicial determination.
(3) Ireland accepts the generally recognized
principles of international law as its rule of conduct in its relations
with other States.
(4.1) The executive power of the State in or in
connection with its external relations shall in accordance with Article 28 be
exercised by or on the authority of the Government.
(4.2) For the
purpose of the exercise of any executive function of the State in or in
connection with its external relations, the Government may to such extent
and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be determined by law, avail
of or adopt any organ, instrument, or method of procedure used or adopted
for the like purpose by the members of any group or league of nations with
which the State is or becomes associated for the purpose of international
co-operation in matters of common concern.
(4.3) The State may become a
member of the European Coal and Steel Community (established by Treaty
signed at Paris on the 18th day of April, 1951), the European Economic
Community (established by Treaty signed at Rome on March 25, 1957) and the
European Atomic Energy Community (established by Treaty signed at Rome on
March 25, 1957). The State may ratify the Single European Act (signed on
behalf of the Member States of the Communities at Luxembourg on the 17th
day of February, 1986, and at the Hague on February 28, 1986). The State
may ratify the Treaty on European Union signed at Maastricht on the 7th
day of February 1992 and may become a member of that Union. No provision
of this Constitution invalidates laws enacted, acts done or measures
adopted by the State necessitated by the obligations of membership of the
European Communities or of the Communities or prevents laws enacted, acts
done or measures adopted by the European Union or by the Communities, or
institutions thereof, or by bodies competent under the Treaties
establishing the Communities, from having the force of law in the State.
The State may ratify the Agreement relating to Community Patents drawn up
between the Member States of the Communities and done at Luxembourg on the
15th day of December, 1989.
(5.1) Every international agreement to
which the State becomes a party shall be laid before the House of
Representatives.
(5.2) The State shall not be bound by any
international agreement involving a charge upon public funds unless the
terms of the agreement shall have been approved by the House of
Representatives.
(5.3) This section shall not apply to agreements or
conventions of a technical and administrative character.
(6) No
international agreement shall be part of the domestic law of the State
save as may be determined by Parliament.
[Chapter VII] The Attorney General
Article 30 [Functions, Appointment]
(1)
There shall be an Attorney General who shall be the adviser of the
Government in matters of law and legal opinion, and shall exercise and
perform all such powers, functions and duties as are conferred or imposed
on him by this Constitution or by law.
(2) The Attorney General shall
be appointed by the President on the nomination of the Prime
Minister.
(3) All crimes and offenses prosecuted in any court
constituted under Article 34 other
than a court of summary jurisdiction shall be prosecuted in the name of
the People and at the suit of the Attorney General or some other person
authorized in accordance with law to act for that purpose.
(4) The
Attorney General shall not be a member of the Government.
(5.1) The
Attorney General may at any time resign from office by placing his
resignation in the hands of the Prime Minister for submission to the
President.
(5.2) The Prime Minister may, for reasons which to him seem
sufficient, request the resignation of the Attorney General.
(5.3) In
the event of failure to comply with the request, the appointment of the
Attorney General shall be terminated by the President if the Prime
Minister so advises.
(5.4) The Attorney General shall retire from
office upon the resignation of the Prime Minister, but may continue to
carry on his duties until the successor to the Prime Minister shall have
been appointed.
(6) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this
article, the office of Attorney General, including the remuneration to be
paid to the holder of the office, shall be regulated by law.
[Chapter VIII] The Council of State
Article 31 [Functions, Constitution]
(1)
There shall be a Council of State to aid and counsel the President on all
matters on which the President may consult the said Council in relation to
the exercise and performance by him of such of his powers and functions as
are by this Constitution expressed to be exercisable and performable after
consultation with the Council of State, and to exercise such other
functions as are conferred on the said Council by this
Constitution.
(2) The Council of State shall consist of the following
members:
(i) As ex-officio members: the Prime Minister, the Vice Prime
Minister, the Chief Justice, the President of the High Court, the Chairman
of the House of Representatives, the Chairman of the Senate, and the
Attorney General.
(ii) Every person able and willing to act as a member
of the Council of State who shall have held the office of President, or
the office of Prime Minister, or the office of Chief Justice, or the
office of President of the Executive Council of Ireland.
(iii) Such
other persons, if any, as may be appointed by the President under this
article to be members of the Council of State.
(3) The President may at
any time and from time to time by warrant under his hand and Seal appoint
such other persons as, in his absolute discretion, he may think fit, to be
members of the Council of State, but not more than seven persons so
appointed shall be members of the Council of State at the same time. 4.
Every member of the Council of State shall at the first meeting thereof
which he attends as a member take and subscribe a declaration in the
following form:
"In the presence of Almighty God I, , do solemnly
and sincerely promise and declare that I will faithfully and
conscientiously fulfill my duties as a member of the Council of
State."
(5) Every member of the Council of State appointed by the
President, unless he previously dies, resigns, becomes permanently
incapacitated, or is removed from office, shall hold office until the
successor of the President by whom he was appointed shall have entered
upon his office.
(6) Any member of the Council of State appointed by
the President may resign from office by placing his resignation in the
hands of the President.
(7) The President may, for reasons which to him
seem sufficient, by an order under his hand and Seal, terminate the
appointment of any member of the Council of State appointed by him.
(8)
Meetings of the Council of State may be convened by the President at such
times and places as he shall determine.
Article 32 [Consultation]
The President
shall not exercise or perform any of the powers or functions which are by
this Constitution expressed to be exercisable or performable by him after
consultation with the Council of State unless, and on every occasion
before so doing, he shall have convened a meeting of the Council of State
and the members present at such meeting shall have been heard by him.
[Chapter IX] The Comptroller and Auditor
General
Article 33 [Functions, Appointment]
(1)
There shall be a Comptroller and Auditor General to control on behalf of
the State all disbursements and to audit all accounts of moneys
administered by or under the authority of Parliament.
(2) The
Comptroller and Auditor General shall be appointed by the President on the
nomination of the House of Representatives.
(3) The Comptroller and
Auditor General shall not be a member of either House of Parliament and
shall not hold any other office or position of emolument.
(4) The
Comptroller and Auditor General shall report to the House of
Representatives at stated periods as determined by law.
(5.1) The
Comptroller and Auditor General shall not be removed from office except
for stated misbehavior or incapacity, and then only upon resolutions
passed by the House of Representatives and by the Senate calling for his
removal.
(5.2) The Prime Minister shall duly notify the President of
any such resolutions as aforesaid passed by the House of Representatives
and by the Senate and shall send him a copy of each such resolution
certified by the Chairman of the House of Parliament by which it shall
have been passed.
(5.3) Upon receipt of such notification and of copies
of such resolutions, the President shall forthwith, by an order under his
hand and Seal, remove the Comptroller and Auditor General from
office.
(6) Subject to the foregoing, the terms and conditions of the
office of Comptroller and Auditor General shall be determined by law.
Article 34 [Publicity]
(1) Justice shall be
administered in courts established
by law by judges appointed in the manner provided by this Constitution,
and, save in such special and limited cases as may be prescribed by law,
shall be administered in public.
(2) The Courts shall comprise Courts
of First Instance and a Court of Final Appeal.
(3.1) The Courts of
First Instance shall include a High Court invested with full original
jurisdiction in and power to determine all matters and questions whether
of law or fact, civil or criminal.
(3.2) Save as otherwise provided by
this article, the jurisdiction of the High Court shall extend to the
question of the validity of any law having regard to the provisions of
this Constitution, and no such question shall be raised (whether by
pleading, argument or otherwise) in any Court established under this or
any other article of this Constitution other than the High Court or the
Supreme Court.
(3.3) No Court whatever shall have jurisdiction to
question the validity of a law, or any provision of a law, the Bill for
which shall have been referred to the Supreme Court by the President under
Article 26, or to
question the validity of a provision of a law where the corresponding
provision in the Bill for such law shall have been referred to the Supreme
Court by the President under the said Article 26.
(3.4)
The Courts of First Instance shall also include Courts of local and
limited jurisdiction with a right of appeal as determined by law.
(4.1)
The Court of Final Appeal shall be called the Supreme Court.
(4.2) The
president of the Supreme Court shall be called the Chief Justice.
(4.3)
The Supreme Court shall, with such exceptions and subject to such
regulations as may be prescribed by law, have appellate jurisdiction from
all decisions of the High Court, and shall also have appellate
jurisdiction from such decisions of other courts as may be prescribed by
law.
(4.4) No law shall be enacted excepting from the appellate
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court cases which involve questions as to the
validity of any law having regard to the provisions of this
Constitution.<
alt"Constitutional Court" border0 height14 cal
width21>
(4.5) The decision of the Supreme Court on a question as
to the validity of a law having regard to the provisions of this
Constitution shall be pronounced by such one of the judges of that Court
as that Court shall direct, and no other opinion on such question, whether
assenting or dissenting, shall be pronounced, nor shall the existence of
any such other opinion be disclosed.
(4.6) The decision of the Supreme
Court shall in all cases be final and conclusive.
(5.1) Every person
appointed a judge under this Constitution shall make and subscribe the
following declaration:
"In the presence of Almighty God I, do
solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will duly and faithfully
and to the best of my knowledge and power execute the office of Chief
Justice (or as the case may be) without fear or favor, affection or
ill-will towards any man, and that I will uphold the Constitution and the
laws. May God direct and sustain me."
(5.2) This declaration shall
be made and subscribed by the Chief Justice in the presence of the
President, and by each of the other judges of the Supreme Court, the
judges of the High Court and the judges of every other Court in the
presence of the Chief Justice or the senior available judge of the Supreme
Court in open court.
(5.3) The declaration shall be made and subscribed
by every judge before entering upon his duties as such judge, and in any
case not later than ten days after the date of his appointment or such
later date as may be determined by the President.
(5.4) Any judge who
declines or neglects to make such declaration as aforesaid shall be deemed
to have vacated his office.
Article 35 [Judges by Appointment]
(1) The
judges of the Supreme Court, the High Court and all other Courts
established in pursuance of Article 34 hereof
shall be appointed by the President.
(2) All judges shall be
independent in the exercise of their
judicial functions and subject only to this Constitution and the
law.
(3) No judge shall be eligible to be a member of either House of
Parliament or to hold any other office or position of emolument.
(4.1)
A judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court shall not be removed from
office except for stated misbehavior or incapacity, and then only upon
resolutions passed by the House of Representatives and by the Senate
calling for his removal.
(4.2) The Prime Minister shall duly notify the
President of any such resolutions passed by the House of Representatives
and by the Senate, and shall send him a copy of every such resolution
certified by the Chairman of the House of Parliament by which it shall
have been passed.
(4.3) Upon receipt of such notification and of copies
of such resolutions, the President shall forthwith, by an order under his
hand and Seal, remove from office the judge to whom they relate.
(5)
The remuneration of a judge shall not be reduced during his continuance in
office.
Article 36 [Organization by Law]
Subject to
the foregoing provisions of this Constitution relating to the Courts, the
following matters shall be regulated in accordance with law, that is to
say:
(i) the number of judges of the Supreme Court, and of the High
Court, the remuneration, age of retirement and pensions of such
judges,
(ii) the number of the judges of all other Courts, and their
terms of appointment, and
(iii) the constitution and organization of
the said Courts, the distribution of jurisdiction and business among the
said Courts and judges, and all matters of procedure.
Article 37 [No Invalidation]
(1) Nothing in
this Constitution shall operate to invalidate the exercise of limited
functions and powers of a judicial nature, in matters other than criminal
matters, by any person or body of persons duly authorized by law to
exercise such functions and powers, notwithstanding that such person or
such body of persons is not a judge or a court appointed or established as
such under this Constitution.
(2) No adoption of a person taking effect
or expressed to take effect at any time after the coming into operation of
this Constitution under laws enacted by Parliament and being an adoption
pursuant to an order made or an authorization given by any person or body
of persons designated by those laws to exercise such functions and powers
was or shall be invalid by reason only of the fact that such person or
body of persons was not a judge or a court appointed or established as
such under this Constitution.
[Chapter XI] Trial of Offenses
Article 38 [Due Process]
(1) No person
shall be tried on any criminal charge save in due course of law.
(2)
Minor offenses may be tried by courts of summary jurisdiction.
(3.1)
Special courts may be established by law for the trial of offenses in
cases where it may be determined in accordance with such law that the
ordinary courts are inadequate to secure the effective the effective
administration of justice, and the preservation of public peace and
order.
(3.2) The constitution, powers, jurisdiction and procedure of
such special courts shall be prescribed by law.
(4.1) Military
tribunals may be established for the trial of offenses against military
law alleged to have been committed by persons while subject to military
law and also to deal with a state of war or armed rebellion.
(4.2) A
member of the Defence Forces 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 is within the jurisdiction of any
court martial or other military tribunal under any law for the enforcement
of military discipline.
(5) Save in the case of the trial of offenses
under Section (2), (3) or (4) no person shall be tried on any criminal
charge without a jury.
(6) The provisions of Articles 34 and 35 shall
not apply to any court or tribunal set up under Section (3) or (4) of this
article.
Article 39 [Treason]
Treason shall consist
only in levying war against the State, or assisting any State or person or
inciting or conspiring with any person to levy war against the State, or
attempting by force of arms or other violent means to overthrow the organs
of government established by this Constitution, or taking part or being
concerned in or inciting or conspiring with any person to make or to take
part or be concerned in any such attempt.
[Chapter XII] Fundamental Rights
Article 40 Personal Rights
(1) All citizens
shall, as human persons, be held equal before the law. This shall
not be held to mean that the State shall not in its enactments have due
regard to differences of capacity, physical and moral, and of social
function.
(2.1) Titles of nobility shall not be conferred by the
State.
(2.2) No title of nobility or of honor may be accepted by any
citizen except with the prior approval of the Government.
(3.1) The
State guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by
its laws to defend and vindicate the personal rights of the citizen.
(3.2) The
State shall, in particular, by its laws protect as best it may from unjust
attack and, in the case of injustice done, vindicate the life, person,
good name, and property rights of every citizen.
(3.3) The State
acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the
equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and,
as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.
This subsection shall not limit freedom to travel between the State and
another state. This subsection shall not limit freedom to obtain or make
available, in the State, subject to such conditions as may be laid down by
law, information relating to services lawfully available in another
state.
(4.1) No citizen shall be deprived of his personal liberty save
in accordance with law.
(4.2) Upon complaint being made by or on behalf
of any person to the High Court or any judge thereof alleging that such
person is being unlawfully detained, the High Court and any and every
judge thereof to whom such complaint is made shall forthwith enquire into
the said complaint and may order the person in whose custody such person
is detained to produce the body of such person before the High Court on a
named day and to certify in writing the grounds of his detention, and the
High Court shall, upon the body of such person being produced before that
Court and after giving the person in whose custody he is detained an
opportunity of justifying the detention, order the release of such person
from such detention unless satisfied that he is being detained in
accordance with the law.
(4.3) Where the body of a person alleged to be
unlawfully detained is produced before the High Court in pursuance of an
order in that behalf made under this section and that Court is satisfied
that such person is being detained in accordance with a law but that such
law is invalid having regard to the provisions of this Constitution, the
High Court shall refer the question of the validity of such law to the
Supreme Court by way of case stated and may, at the time of such reference
or at any time thereafter, allow the said person to be at liberty on such
bail and subject to such conditions as the High Court shall fix until the
Supreme Court has determined the question so referred to it.
(4.4) The
High Court before which the body of a person alleged to be unlawfully
detained is to be produced in pursuance of an order in that behalf made
under this section shall, if the President of the High Court or, if he is
not available, the senior judge of that Court who is available so directs
in respect of any particular case, consist of three judges and shall, in
every other case, consist of one judge only.
(4.5) Where an order is
made under this section by the High Court or a judge thereof for the
production of the body of a person who is under sentence of death, the
High Court or such judge thereof shall further order that the execution of
the said sentence of death shall be deferred until after the body of such
person has been produced before the High Court and the lawfulness of his
detention has been determined and if, after such deferment, the detention
of such person is determined to be lawful, the High Court shall appoint a
day for the execution of the said sentence of death and that sentence
shall have effect with the substitution of the day so appointed for the
day originally fixed for the execution thereof.
(4.6) Nothing in this
section, however, shall be invoked to prohibit, control, or interfere with
any act of the Defence Forces during the existence of a state of war or
armed rebellion.
(5) The dwelling of every citizen is inviolable and
shall not be forcibly entered save in accordance with law.
(6.1) The
State guarantees liberty for the exercise of the following rights, subject
to public order and morality:--
(i) The right of the citizens to
express freely their convictions and opinions.
The education of public opinion being, however, a matter
of such grave import to the common good, the State shall endeavor to
ensure that organs of public opinion, such as the radio, the press, the
cinema, while preserving their rightful liberty of expression, including
criticism of Government policy, shall not be used to undermine public
order or morality or the authority of the State.
The publication or
utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence
which shall be punishable in accordance with law.
(ii) The right of the
citizens to assemble peaceably and without arms.
Provision may be made
by law to prevent or control meetings which are determined in accordance
with law to be calculated to cause a breach of the peace or to be a danger
or nuisance to the general public and to prevent or control meetings in
the vicinity of either House of Parliament.
(iii) The right of the
citizens to form associations and unions.
Laws, however, may be enacted
for the regulation and control in the public interest of the exercise of
the foregoing right.
(6.2) Laws regulating the manner in which the
right of forming associations and unions and the right of free assembly
may be exercised shall contain no political, religious or class
discrimination.
Article 41 Family
(1.1) The State
recognizes the Family as the natural primary and fundamental unit group of
Society, and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and
imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive
law.
(1.2) The State, therefore, guarantees to protect the Family in
its constitution and authority, as the necessary basis of social order and
as indispensable to the welfare of the Nation and the State.
(2.1) In
particular, the State recognizes that by her life within the home, woman
gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be
achieved.
(2.2) The State shall, therefore, endeavor to ensure that
mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labor to
the neglect of their duties in the home.
(3.1) The State pledges itself
to guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the
Family is founded, and to protect it against attack.
(3.2) A Court
designated by law may grant a dissolution of marriage where, but only
where, it is satisfied that -
(i) at the date of the institution of the
proceedings, the spouses have lived apart from one another for a period
of, or periods amounting to, at least four years during the previous five
years,
(ii) there is no reasonable prospect of a reconciliation between
the spouses,
(iii) such provision as the Court considers proper having
regard to the circumstances exists or will be made for the spouses, any
children of either or both of them and any other person prescribed by law,
and
(iv) any further conditions prescribed by law are complied with.
(3.3) No person whose marriage has been dissolved under the civil law of
any other State but is a subsisting valid marriage under the law for the
time being in force within the jurisdiction of the Government and
Parliament established by this Constitution shall be capable of
contracting a valid marriage within that jurisdiction during the lifetime
of the other party to the marriage so dissolved.
Article 42 Education
(1) The State
acknowledges that the primary and natural educator of the child is the
Family and guarantees to respect the inalienable right and duty of parents
to provide, according to their means, for the religious and moral,
intellectual, physical and social education of their children.
(2)
Parents shall be free to provide this education in their homes or in
private schools or in schools recognized or established by the
State.
(3.1) The State shall not oblige parents in violation of their
conscience and lawful preference to send their children to schools
established by the State, or to any particular type of school designated
by the State.
(3.2) The State shall, however, as guardian of the common
good, require in view of actual conditions that the children receive a
certain minimum education. moral. intellectual and social.
(4) The
State shall provide for free primary education and shall endeavor to
supplement and give reasonable aid to private and corporate educational
initiative, and, when the public good requires it, provide other
educational facilities or institutions with due regard, however, for the
rights of parents, especially in the matter of religious and moral
formation .
(5) In exceptional cases, where the parents for physical or
moral reasons fail in their duty towards their children, the State as
guardian of the common good, by appropriate means shall endeavor to supply
the place of the parents, but always with due regard for the natural and
imprescriptible rights of the child.
Article 43 Private Property
(1.1) The State
acknowledges that man, in virtue of his rational being, has the natural
right, antecedent to positive law, to the private ownership of external
goods.
(1.2) The State accordingly
guarantees to pass no law attempting to abolish the right of private
ownership or the general right to transfer, bequeath, and inherit
property.
(2.1) The State recognizes, however, that the exercise of the
rights mentioned in the foregoing provisions of this article ought, in
civil society, to be regulated by the principles of social
justice.
(2.2) The State, accordingly, may as occasion requires delimit
by law the exercise of the said rights with a view to reconciling their
exercise with the exigencies of the common good.
Article 44 Religion
(1) The State
acknowledges that the homage of public worship is due to Almighty God. It
shall hold His Name in reverence, and shall respect and honor
religion.
(2.1) Freedom of conscience and the free profession and
practice of religion are, subject to public order and morality, guaranteed
to every citizen.
(2.2) The
State guarantees not to endow any religion.
(2.3) The State shall not
impose any disabilities or make any discrimination on the ground of
religious profession, belief or status.
(2.4) Legislation providing
State aid for schools shall not discriminate between schools under the
management of different religious denominations, nor be such as to affect
prejudicially the right of any child to attend a school receiving public
money without attending religious instruction at that school.
(2.5)
Every religious denomination shall have the right to manage its own
affairs, own, acquire and administer property, movable and immovable, and
maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes.
(2.6) The
property of any religious denomination or any educational institution
shall not be diverted save for necessary works of public utility and on
payment of compensation.
[Chapter XIII] Directive principles of social
policy
Article 45 [Social Policy]
(0) The
principles of social policy set forth in this article are intended for the
general guidance of Parliament. The application of those principles in the
making of laws shall be the care of Parliament exclusively, and shall not
be cognisable by any Court under any of the provisions of this
Constitution.
(1) The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the
whole people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may a social
order in which justice and charity shall inform all the institutions of
the national life.
(2) The State shall, in particular, direct its
policy towards securing:
(i) That the citizens (all of whom, men and
women equally, have the right to an adequate means of livelihood) may
through their occupations find the means of making reasonable provision
for their domestic needs.
(ii) That the ownership and control of the
material resources of the community may be so distributed amongst private
individuals and the various classes as best to serve the common
good.
(iii) That, especially, the operation of free competition shall
not be allowed so to develop as to result in the concentration of the
ownership or control of essential commodities in a few individuals to the
common detriment.
(iv) That in what pertains to the control of credit
the constant and predominant aim shall be the welfare of the people as a
whole.
(v) That there may be established on the land in economic
security as many families as in the circumstances shall be
practicable.
(3.1) The State shall favor and, where necessary,
supplement private initiative in industry and commerce.
(3.2) The State
shall endeavor to secure that private enterprise shall be so conducted as
to ensure reasonable efficiency in the production and distribution of
goods and as to protect the public against unjust exploitation.
(4.1)
The State pledges itself to safeguard with especial care the economic
interests of the weaker sections of the community, and, where necessary,
to contribute to the support of the infirm, the widow, the orphan, and the
aged.
(4.2) The State shall endeavor to ensure that the strength and
health of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children shall not
be abused and that citizens shall not be forced by economic necessity to
enter avocations unsuited to their sex, age or strength.
[Chapter XIV] Amendment of the
Constitution
Article 46 [Amendment]
(1) Any provision of
this Constitution may be amended, whether by way of variation, addition,
or repeal, in the manner provided by this article.
(2) Every proposal
for an amendment of this Constitution shall be initiated in the House of
Representatives as a Bill, and shall upon having been passed or deemed to
have been passed by both Houses of Parliament, be submitted by Referendum
to the decision of the people in accordance with the law for the time
being in force relating to the Referendum.
(3) Every such Bill shall be
expressed to be "An Act to amend the Constitution".
(4) A Bill
containing a proposal or proposals for the amendment of this Constitution
shall not contain any other proposal.
(5) A Bill containing a proposal
for the amendment of this Constitution shall be signed by the President
forthwith upon his being satisfied that the provisions of this article
have been complied with in respect thereof and that such proposal has been
duly approved by the people in accordance with the provisions of Article
Article 47 [Referendum]
(1) Every proposal
for an amendment of this Constitution which is submitted by Referendum to
the decision of the people shall, for the purpose of Article, be held
to have been approved by the people, if, upon having been so submitted, a
majority of the votes cast at such Referendum shall have been cast in
favor of its enactment into law.
(2.1) Every proposal, other than a
proposal to amend the Constitution, which is submitted by Referendum to
the decision of the people shall be held to have been vetoed by the people
if a majority of the votes cast at such Referendum shall have been cast
against its enactment into law and if the votes so cast against its
enactment into law shall have amounted to not less than thirty-three and
one-third per cent. of the voters on the register.
(2.2) Every
proposal, other than a proposal to amend the Constitution, which is
submitted by Referendum to the decision of the people shall for the
purposes of Article 27 hereof
be held to have been approved by the people unless vetoed by them in
accordance with the provisions of the foregoing subsection of this
section.
(3) Every citizen who has the right to vote at an election for
members of the House of Representatives shall have the right to vote at a
Referendum.
(4) Subject as aforesaid, the Referendum shall be regulated
by law.
[Chapter XVI]
Repeal
of Constitution of Saorstát Éireann and Continuance of Laws
Article 48 [Repeal of Old Constitution]
The Constitution of Saorstát Éireann
in force immediately prior to the date of the coming into operation of
this Constitution and the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát
Éireann) Act, 1922, in so far as that Act or any provision thereof is
then in force shall be and are hereby repealed as on and from that date.
Article 49 [Repeal of Powers]
(1) All
powers, functions, rights and prerogatives whatsoever exercisable in or in
respect of Saorstát Éireann
immediately before the 11th day of December, 1936,
whether in virtue of the Constitution then in force or otherwise, by the
authority in which the executive power of Ireland was then vested are
hereby declared to belong to the people.
(2) It is hereby enacted that,
save to the extent to which provision is made by this Constitution or may
hereafter be made by law for the exercise of any such power, function,
right or prerogative by any of the organs established by this
Constitution, the said powers, functions, rights and prerogatives shall
not be exercised or be capable of being exercised in or in respect of the
State save only by or on the authority of the Government.
(3) The
Government shall be the successors of the Government of Ireland as regards
all property, assets, rights and liabilities.
Article 50 [Coninuation of Old Laws]
(1)
Subject to this Constitution and to the extent to which they are not
inconsistent therewith, the laws in force in Saorstát
Éireann immediately prior to
the date of the coming into operation of this Constitution shall continue
to be of full force and effect until the same or any of them shall have
been repealed or amended by enactment of Parliament.
(2) Laws enacted
before, but expressed to come into force after, the coming into operation
of this Constitution, shall, unless otherwise enacted by Parliament, come
into force in accordance with the terms thereof.
Dochum Glóire Dé
agus
Onóra na hÉireann