The Special Powers Act – Gary McKeever

The Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1922 came into force on 9 April 1922. It was reenacted annually until 1928 and then every five years thereafter, becoming permanent in 1933. It was repealed when the Northern Ireland Parliament fell on 13 March 1972. Many of its provisions survived in the 1973 Northern Ireland Emergency Powers Act.

In April 1963, Balthazar Johannes Vorster, apartheid South Africa’s Minister for Justice compared his own country’s repressive legislation to Northern Ireland’s Special Powers Act, commenting that he “Would be willing to exchange all the legislation of that sort for one clause of the Northern Ireland Special Powers Act.”

It’s likely he was thinking of Section 2 (4): “If any person does any act of such a nature as to be calculated to be prejudicial to the preservation of peace or the maintenance of order and not specifically provided for in the regulations, he shall be deemed to be guilty of an offence against the regulations.”

Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1922

An Act to empower certain authorities of the Government of Northern Ireland to take steps for preserving the peace and maintaining order in Northern Ireland, and for purposes connected therewith. [7th April, 1922.]

Be it enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, and the Senate and the House of Commons of Northern Ireland in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Powers for preserving peace and maintaining order.

(1) The civil authority shall have power, in respect of persons, matters and things within the jurisdiction of the Government of Northern Ireland, to take all such steps and issue all such orders as may be necessary for preserving the peace and maintaining order, according to and in the execution of this Act and the regulations contained in the Schedule thereto, or such regulations as may be made in accordance with the provisions of this Act (which regulations, whether contained in the said Schedule or made as aforesaid, are in this Act referred to as “the regulations”):

Provided that the ordinary course of law and avocations of life and the enjoyment of property shall be interfered with as little as may be permitted by the exigencies of the steps required to be taken under this Act.

(2) For the purposes of this Act the civil authority shall be the Minister of Home Affairs for Northern Ireland, but that Minister may delegate, either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as he thinks fit, all or any of his powers under this Act to any officer of police, and any such officer of police shall, to the extent of such delegation, be the civil authority as respects any part of Northern Ireland specified in such delegation.

(3) The Minister of Home Affairs shall have power to make regulations –

(a) for making further provision for the preservation of the peace and maintenance of order, and

(b) for varying or revoking any provision of the regulations; and any regulations made as aforesaid shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, have effect and be enforced in like manner as regulations contained in the Schedule to this Act.

(4) All regulations made as aforesaid shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament as soon as may be after they are made, and, if an address is presented to the Lord Lieutenant by either House within the next fourteen days on which such House shall be sitting after any such regulation is laid before it praying that the regulation may be annulled, the Lord Lieutenant may annul that regulation and it shall thenceforth be void, without prejudice to the validity of anything done thereunder, or to the power of making a new regulation; and regulations made as aforesaid shall not be deemed to be statutory rules within the meaning of section one of the Rules Publication Act, 1893.

General provisions as to offences.

(1) It shall be the duty of every person affected by any order issued by the civil authority or other person in pursuance of the regulations to comply with that order, and if he fails to do so he shall be guilty of an offence against the regulations.

(2) Any person who attempts to commit, or solicits or incites or endeavours to persuade another person to commit, or procures, aids or abets, or does any act preparatory to, the commission of, any act prohibited by the regulations, or any order, rules or other instrument made thereunder, or harbours any person whom he knows, or has reasonable grounds for supposing, to have acted rn contravention of the regulations, or any order, rules, or other instrument made thereunder, shall be guilty of an offence against the regulations.

(3) It shall be the duty of any person who knows, or has good reason for believing, that some other person is acting, has acted, or is about to act, in contravention of any provisions of the regulations to inform the civil authority of the fact, and if he fails to do so he shall be guilty of an offence against the regulations.

(4) If any person does any act of such a nature as to be calculated to be prejudicial to the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order in Northern Ireland and not specifically provided for in the regulations, he shall be deemed to be guilty of an offence against the regulations.

(5) Where the offence against the regulations is committed by a corporation or company, every director and officer of the corporation or company shall be guilty of the like offence, unless he proves that the act constituting the offence took place without his knowledge or consent.

(6) Where under the regulations any act if done without lawful authority or without lawful authority or excuse is an offence against the regulations, the burden of proving that the act was done with lawful authority or with lawful authority or excuse shall rest on the person alleged to be guilty of the offence.

(7) Sections one to four, inclusive, of the Criminal Evidence Act, 1898, shall apply in the case of a person charged with an offence against the regulations.

Trial of offences.

(1) A person alleged to be guilty of an offence against the regulations may be tried by a court of summary jurisdiction constituted in accordance with this section, and not otherwise.

(2) An offence against the regulations shall not be prosecuted except by such officer or person as may be authorised in that behalf by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, and in accordance with such directions as may be given by the said Attorney General.

(3) Any person aggrieved by a conviction of a court. of summary jurisdiction for any such offence may appeal in manner provided by the Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Acts.

(4) A court of summary jurisdiction when trying a person charged with an offence against the regulations shall be constituted of two or more resident magistrates, but one resident magistrate may act alone in doing anything antecedent to the hearing of the charge under this. Act, or in adjourning a court or the hearing of a case, or in committing the defendant to prison or admitting him to bail, until the time to which the court or case has been adjourned; and a court of quarter sessions, when hearing and determining an appeal against a conviction of a court of summary jurisdiction for any such offence, shall be constituted of the recorder or county court judge sitting alone.

Punishment of offences against the regultions.

A person convicted of an offence against the regulations shall be liable to be sentenced to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or to both such imprisonment and fine, and the court may, in addition to any other sentence which may be imposed, order that any goods or articles in respect of which the offence has been committed shall be forfeited.

Special punishments for certain offences.

Where after trial by any court a person is convicted of any crime or offence to which this section applies, the court may, in addition to any other punishment which may lawfully be imposed, order such person, if a male, to be once privately whipped, and the provisions of subsection (6) of section thirty-seven of the Larceny Act, 1916, as to sentences of whipping shall apply accordingly.

The crimes and offences to which this section applies are as follows:

(1) Any crime under the Explosive Substances Act, 1883, as extended by section eighteen of the Firearms Act, 1920.

(2) Any offence against the Firearms Act, 1920, in relation to the having, keeping or using of firearms.

(3) Any offence against the regulations in relation to the carrying, having or keeping of firearms, military arms, ammunition or explosive substances.

(4) Any offence against section thirty of the Larceny Act, 1916, (which relates to demanding with menaces, with intent to steal).

(5) Arson, whether by common law or by statute, and any offence punishable on indictment under the Malicious Damage Act, 1861.

Provided that this section shall not be deemed to apply to any crime or offence committed before the passing of this Act.

Death penalty.

A crime under section two or section three of the Explosive Substances Act, 1883, shall be a crime punishable by death: provided that this section shall not apply to any such crime committed before the passing of this Act.

Where a sentence of death is pronounced by the court upon conviction for a crime to which this section applies, the sentence may be pronounced and carried into execution, and all other proceedings thereupon and in respect thereof may be had and taken, in the same manner as sentence might have been pronounced and carried into execution, and proceedings might have been had and taken, upon a conviction for murder.

Power of arrest.

Any person authorised by the civil authority, or any police constable, or any member of any of His Majesty’s forces on duty may, where it is necessary for the purpose of effecting an arrest in respect of any crime or any offence against the regulations, exercise the like powers as may at common law be exercised by a police constable in effecting arrest in a case where a felony has been committed.

Power of police in Northern Ireland.

Where any enactment or other provision of law (including this Act or the regulations) provides for the exercise of any power by, or imposes any duty on, any inspector, head-constable, sergeant, or constable of the Royal Irish Constabulary in connection with the arrest, prosecution, remand, trial or conviction of any person for any crime or offence, whether punishable on indictment or summary conviction, that enactment or provision shall in Northern Ireland have effect as if the said power were also exercisable by, or the said duty were also imposed on, the corresponding officer or member (by whatever title designated) of any police force under the management and control of the Government of Northern Ireland; and references in any such enactment or provision to any inspector, head-constable, sergeant, or constable of the said constabulary, shall be construed accordingly.

Extension of 14 & 15 Vict. C.93

The provisions of section fourteen of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, in relation to the reading of depositions as evidence upon the trial of a person charged with an indictable crime or offence, shall extend so as to authorise the reading of such depositions as evidence, where it is proved that a witness is so ill as to be unable to travel or where the attendance of the witness cannot be procured, owing to the prevalence of a state of disorder.

Provisions as to inquests.

(1) For the purpose of preserving the peace and maintaining order, the Minister of Home Affairs may by order:

(a) Prohibit the holding of inquests by coroners on dead bodies in any area in Northern Ireland specified in the order, either absolutely or except in such circumstances or on such conditions as may be specified in the order; or

(b) Prohibit the holding of any particular inquest specified in the order; and

(c) Provide for the duties of a coroner and a coroner’s jury (or of either of them) as respects any inquest prohibited by the order being performed by such officer or court as may be determined by the order.

(2) Any such officer or court shall have and may exercise, for the purposes of any inquiry directed to be held in pursuance of such order or any report thereon, all or any of the powers which might have been exercised by the coroner or coroner’s jury for the purposes of the inquest which has been prohibited and the finding thereon, whether conferred by statute or at common law.

Provisions as to compensations.

(1) Where, under the powers conferred by this Act or the regulations, any lands, buildings, goods, chattels or other property are taken, occupied or destroyed, or any other act is done involving interference with private rights of property, compensation shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be payable by the civil authority out of moneys provided by Parliament.

(2) If any question arises as to such compensation, such question, if not settled by agreement, shall be referred for settlement to the county court or an arbitrator to be appointed by that court, and all questions in dispute shall be settled in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed by rules made by the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland after consultation with the civil authority.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as giving to any person, where an offence against the regulations has been committed, any right to compensation in respect of lands, buildings, goods, chattels or other property taken, occupied or destroyed in connection with such offence.

Duration of Act.

This Act shall continue in force for one year and no longer, unless Parliament otherwise determines.

Short title.

This Act may be cited as the Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland), 1922.

SCHEDULE.

REGULATIONS FOR PEACE AND ORDER IN NORTHERN IRELAND.

The civil authority may by order require every person within any area specified in the order to remain within doors between such hours as may be specified in the order, and in such case, if any person within that area is or remains out between such hours without a permit in writing from the civil authority or some person duly authorised by him, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

The civil authority may by order

(1) Require all or any licensed premises within any area specified in the order to be closed, either altogether, or subject to such exceptions as to hours and purposes, and to compliance with such directions, as may be specified in the order

(2) Make such provisions as he thinks necessary for the prevention of the practice of treating in any licensed premises within any area specified in the order.

Any order of the civil authority under this regulation may be made to apply either generally or as respects all or any members of the police or other forces mentioned in the order, and may require copies of the order to be exhibited in a prominent place in any licensed premises affected thereby.

If any person contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of an order made under this regulation or any conditions or restrictions imposed thereby, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations, and the civil authority may cause such steps to be taken as may be necessary to enforce compliance with the order.

In this regulation the expression “licensed premises” includes any premises or place where the sale of intoxicating liquor is carried on under a licence.

(1) The civil authority may make orders prohibiting or restricting in any area

(a) The holding of or taking part in meetings, assemblies (including fairs and markets), or processions in public places;

(b) The use or wearing or possession of uniforms or badges of a naval, military or police character, or of uniforms or badges indicating membership of any association or body specified in the order;

(d) The carrying, having or keeping of firearms, military arms, ammunition or explosive substances; and

(e) The having, keeping, or using of a motor or other cycle, or motor car by any person, other than a member of a police force, without a permit from the civil authority, or from the chief officer of the police in the district in which the person resides.

(2) Any order under this regulation may be made so as to apply generally to the whole of the area aforesaid or to any special localities in that area, and so as to prohibit all or any of the Acts and matters aforesaid absolutely or subject to such exceptions or save upon such conditions as may he specified therein.

(3) If any person contravenes, or fails to comply with, any provision of any order made under this regulation, or fails to comply with any condition subject to which anything is authorised under any such order, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

(4) The civil authority, or any person authorised by him in writing, or any police constable, or any member of His Majesty’s forces on duty (without prejudice to the powers given by any other regulation)

(a) If he suspects that any firearms, military arms, motor or other cycles or motor cars, ammunition or explosive substances are, or are kept, in or upon any house, building, land, vehicle, vessel, or other premises in contravention of an order under this regulation, or otherwise unlawfully, may enter, if need be by force, the house, building, land, vehicle, vessel, or premises, at any time of the day or night and examine, search and inspect the same or any part thereof, and may seize any firearms, military arms, motor or other cycles or motor cars, ammunition or explosive substances found therein or thereon which he suspects to be, or to be kept, therein or thereon in contravention of the order, or otherwise unlawfully; and

(b) If he suspects that any person is carrying any firearms, military arms, ammunition, or explosive substances in contravention of any such order, may stop that person and search him and

(c) May seize any firearms, military arms, ammunition, explosive substances or other articles carried by any person in contravention of any such order, or otherwise unlawfully, or any motor or other cycle or motor car used by or in the possession or custody of any person in contravention of any such order.

Any firearms, military arms, ammunition, explosive substances, motor cycles, motor cars, or other articles seized under this regulation may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as may be ordered by the civil authority or chief officer of police.

Where there appears to be reason to apprehend that the assembly of any persons for the purpose of the holding of any meeting will give rise to grave disorder, and will thereby cause undue demands to be made upon the police forces, or that the holding of any procession will conduce to a breach of the peace or will promote disaffection, it shall be lawful for the civil authority, or for any magistrate or chief officer of police who is duly authorised for the purpose by the civil. authority, or for two or more of such persons so authorised, to make an order prohibiting the holding of the meeting or procession, and if a meeting or procession is held or attempted to be held in contravention of any such prohibition, it shall be lawful to take such steps as may be necessary to disperse the meeting or procession or prevent the holding thereof; and every person taking part in any such prohibited meeting or procession shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

(1) The Minister of Home Affairs may, by order, declare this regulation to be in force in any area, and in any such area no person other than a member of the police forces, shall, subject to any exceptions for which provision may be made in the order, practise, take part in, or he concerned in any exercise, movement, evolution, or drill of a military nature, or be concerned in, or assist the promotion or organisation of any such exercise, movement, evolution, or drill, by persons other than members of the police forces.

(2) If any person acts in contravention of this regulation he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

(3) The provisions of this regulation are in addition to and not in derogation of any other provision of law relating to the same subject matter.

The civil authority, and any person duly authorised by him shall have right of access to any land or buildings or other property whatsoever.

The civil authority, if he considers it necessary so to do for the purposes of any work of defence or other defended work, or for any other purpose for which it is deemed necessary for preserving the peace or maintaining order to afford protection, may, by order, close, stop, or divert any road, lane, passage, pathway, or ferry, for so long as the order remains in force: provided that where any public road or ferry is so closed, stopped or diverted the civil authority shall publish notice thereof in such manner as he may consider best adapted for informing the public, and where any road is stopped by means of any physical obstruction he shall cause lights sufficient for the warning of passengers to be set up every night whilst the road is so stopped.

It shall be lawful for the civil authority and any person duly authorised by him, where for the purposes of this Act it is necessary so to do:

(a) To take possession of any land and to construct works, including roads, thereon, and to remove any trees, hedges, and fences therefrom;

(b) To take possession of any buildings or other property, including works for the supply of gas, electricity or water, and of any sources of water supply;

(d) To cause any buildings or structures to be destroyed, or any property to be moved from one place to another, or to be destroyed;

(e) To take possession of any arms, ammunition, explosive substances, equipment, or stores intended or liable to be used for purposes prejudicial to the preservation of the peace or the maintenance of order; to take possession of any horses, vehicles or mechanically propelled vehicles, or other means of transport, or require them to be placed at the disposal of any Government Department or person specified by the Civil Authority in that behalf, either absolutely or by the way of hire, and either for immediate or future use.

(f) To do any other act involving interference with private rights of property which is necessary for the purposes of this Act.

If, after the civil authority has issued a notice that he has taken or intends to take possession of any movable property in pursuance of this regulation, any person having control of any such property sells, removes or secretes it without the consent of the civil authority, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

Every person who uses or keeps motor spirit, whether for the purpose of supplying motive power to motor-cars or for any other purpose, shall supply such information in relation to the motor spirit used or kept by him, and the purposes for which and the manner in which it is used or kept by him, as the civil authority may by any general or special order require, giving such particulars in such form and at such times as the civil authority may by order direct and if any person fails to comply with this regulation, or with any order made thereunder, or knowingly gives any false information, he shall he guilty of an offence against these regulations. For the purposes of this regulation “motor spirit” has the same meaning as in section eighty-four of the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910.

No person shall, without lawful authority, collect, record, publish or communicate, or attempt to elicit, any information with respect to the movement, numbers, description, condition, or disposition of any police force, or with respect to the plans or conduct, or supposed plans or conduct, of any operations by any such force, or any information of such a nature as is calculated to be or might be directly or indirectly useful to persons hostile or opposed to the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order, and if any person contravenes the provisions of this regulation, or without lawful authority or excuse has in his possession any document containing any such information as aforesaid, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

No person without lawful authority shall injure, or tamper or interfere with, any wire or other apparatus for transmitting telegraphic or telephonic messages, or any apparatus or contrivance intended for or capable of being used for a signalling apparatus, either visual or otherwise, or prevent or obstruct or in any manner whatsoever interfere with the sending, conveyance or delivery of any communication by means of telegraph, telephone, or otherwise, or be in possession of any apparatus intended for or capable of being used for sending messages, or tapping messages sent, by wireless telegraphy or otherwise, and if any person contravenes the provisions of this regulation he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

If any person, without lawful authority or excuse, uses or has in his possession or under his control any cipher, code, or other means adapted for secretly communicating information which may be prejudicial to the preservation of peace or the maintenance of order he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations, unless he proves that the cipher, code, or other means of secret communication is intended and used solely for commercial or other legitimate purposes. Any person who has in his possession or under his control any cipher, code, or other means of secret communication shall, if required by the civil authority, or any person authorised by him, or by any police constable, supply the key or other means for deciphering it, and if he fails to do so shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

If any person does any injury to any railway, or is upon any railway, or on, under or near any tunnel, bridge, viaduct, or culvert, or loiters on or in any road or path or other place near a railway tunnel, bridge, viaduct or culvert, with intent to do injury thereto, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

(a) Where a person employed by a Government Department or by a municipal authority or by any company or contractor upon whom is imposed by Act of Parliament the duty, or who have otherwise assumed the duty of supplying any city, borough, town or place, or any part thereof, with electricity, gas, or water, wilfully and maliciously breaks a contract of service with that department, authority, company, or contractor, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the probable consequence of his so doing, either alone or in combination with others, will be to deprive the inhabitants of that city, borough, town, place or part, wholly or to a great extent of their supply of electricity, gas or water, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

Where a person employed by a Government Department or by a municipal authority or by any company or contractor upon whom is imposed by Act of Parliament the duty, or who have otherwise assumed the duty of supplying any city, borough, town or place, or any part thereof, with electricity, gas, or water, wilfully and maliciously breaks a contract of service with that department, authority, company, or contractor, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the probable consequence of his so doing, either alone or in combination with others, will be to deprive the inhabitants of that city, borough, town, place or part, wholly or to a great extent of their supply of electricity, gas or water, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

If any person by the discharge of firearms or otherwise endangers the safety of any police officer or constable or other person who is charged with the execution of any duties under these regulations, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

If any person attempts or does any act calculated or likely to cause mutiny, sedition, or disaffection in any police force or among the civilian population, or to impede delay or restrict any work necessary for the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

No person shall obstruct, knowingly mislead or otherwise interfere with or impede, or withhold any information in his possession which he may reasonably be required to furnish from an officer or other person who is carrying out the orders of the civil authority, or who is otherwise acting in accordance with his duty under these regulations, and if he does so shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations. If any person obstructs, impedes, or otherwise interferes with any member of any police or other authorised force in the execution of his duties, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

The civil authority, or any person duly authorised by him, or any police constable, or any member of any of His Majesty’s forces on duty, may, if he has reason to suspect that any house, building, land, vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or other premises or any things therein are being or have been, or are about to be, constructed, used or kept for any purpose or in any way prejudicial to the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order, or that a crime or an offence against these regulations is being or has been committed thereon or therein, enter, if need be by force, the house, building, land, vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or premises at any time of the day or night, and examine, search and inspect the same or any part thereof, and may seize anything found therein or any such vehicle or vessel which he has reason to suspect is being used or intended to be used for any such purpose as aforesaid, or is being kept or used in contravention of these regulations, and the civil authority may order anything so seized to be destroyed or otherwise disposed of.

Where the civil authority, or any superior officer of police, is of opinion that a meeting or assembly is being or about to be held of such a character that an offence against these regulations may he committed thereat, he may authorise in writing a police constable or other person to attend the meeting or assembly, and any police constable or person so authorised may enter the place at which the meeting or assembly is held and remain there during its continuance. In this regulation the expression “superior officer of police” means an officer of police of a rank superior to that of constable. The powers given by this regulation shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any powers of the civil authority, constables, or superior officers of police.

If a justice of the peace is satisfied, by information in writing upon oath laid before him by any person duly authorised by the civil authority, that any house, land, building, or other premises are being or are about to be used for any purpose or in any way prejudicial to the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order by persons suspected of attempting to cause mutiny, sedition, or disaffection among the police forces or among the civil population, the justice may by order require the premises either to be closed altogether or not to be used for any purpose prohibited by the order, or not to be used except in accordance with conditions and restrictions imposed by the order, and if the owner or occupier of the premises or any other person contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of the order or any conditions or restrictions imposed thereby, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations, and the civil authority may cause such steps to be taken as may be necessary to enforce compliance with the order.

Any police officer or constable may stop any vehicle travelling along any public road, and, if he has reason to suspect that any vehicle upon any public road is being used for any purpose or in any way prejudicial to the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order, or otherwise unlawfully, may search and seize the vehicle and seize anything found therein which be has reason to suspect is being used or intended to be used for any such purpose as aforesaid.

The civil authority may by order require any person or persons of any class or description to furnish him, either verbally or in writing, with such information as may be specified in the order, and the order may require any person to attend at such time and such place as may be specified in the order for the purpose of furnishing such information, and if any person fails to comply with the order he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

Any person authorised for the purpose by the civil authority, or any police constable, or member of any of His Majesty’s forces on duty when the occasion for the arrest arises, may arrest without warrant any person whose behaviour is of such a nature as to give reasonable grounds for suspecting that he has acted or is acting or is about to act in a manner prejudicial to the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order, or upon whom may be found any article, book, letter, or other document, the possession of which gives ground for such a suspicion, or who is suspected of having committed an offence against these regulations, or of being in possession of any article or document which is being used or intended to be used for any purpose or in any way prejudicial to the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order, and anything found on any person so arrested which there is reason to suspect is being so used or intended to be used may be seized, and the civil authority may order anything so seized to be destroyed or otherwise disposed of. Any person so arrested may, on the order of the civil authority, be detained in any of His Majesty’s prisons as a person committed to prison on remand, until he has been discharged by direction of the Attorney General or is brought before a court of summary jurisdiction. Any person to be brought before a court under this regulation shall receive at least twenty-four hours’ notice in writing of the nature of the charge preferred against him. On a person being taken into custody under this regulation he may apply to the civil authority for release on bail, and, if the civil authority so directs in writing, any resident magistrate may discharge the person so in custody upon his entering into a recognisance, with, or without, sureties, for a reasonable amount to appear at a time and place to be named in the recognisance. If any person assists or connives at the escape of any person who may be in custody under this regulation, or knowingly harbours or assists any person who has so escaped, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

(1) Any person who does any act with a view to promoting or calculated to promote the objects of an unlawful association within the meaning of section 7 of the Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act, 1887, shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

(2) If any person, without lawful authority or excuse, has in his possession any document relating or purporting to relate to the affairs of any such association, or emanating or purporting to emanate from an officer of any such association, or addressed to the person as an officer or member of any such association, or indicating that he is an officer or member of any such association, that person shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations unless he proves that he did not know or had no reason to suspect that the document was of any such character as aforesaid or that he is not an officer or member of the association. Where a person is charged with having in his possession any such document, and the document was found on premises in his occupation, or under his control, or in which he has resided, the document shall be presumed to have been in his possession unless the contrary is proved.

No person shall by word of mouth or in writing, or in any newspaper, periodical, book, circular, or other printed publication

(a) spread false reports or make false statements; or

(b) spread reports or make statements intended or likely to cause disaffection to His Majesty, or to interfere with the success of any police or other force acting for the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order in Northern Ireland; or

(c) spread reports or make statements intended or likely to prejudice the recruiting or enrolment of persons to serve in any police or other force enrolled or employed for the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order in Northern Ireland, or to prejudice the training, discipline, or administration of any such force; and no person shall produce any performance on any stage, or exhibit any picture or cinematograph film, or commit any act which is intended or likely to cause any disaffection, interference or prejudice as aforesaid, and if any person contravenes any of the above provisions he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

If any person without lawful authority or excuse has in his possession or on premises in his occupation or under his control, any document containing a report or statement the publication of which would be a contravention of the foregoing provisions of this regulation, he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations, unless he proves that he did not know and had no reason to suspect that the document contained any such report or statement, or that he had no intention of transmitting or circulating the document or distributing copies thereof to or amongst other persons.

The civil authority may by notice prohibit the circulation of any newspaper for any specified period, and any person circulating or distributing such newspaper within such specified period shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

If any person in any newspaper, periodical, circular or other printed publication, or in any public speech, without lawful authority shall publish the contents of any confidential document belonging to, or of any document which has in confidence been communicated by, or any confidential information obtained from, any Department of the Government of Northern Ireland, or any person in the service of that Government, such first mentioned person shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

Every document purporting to be an order or other instrument issued by the civil authority and to be signed by that authority shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such an order or instrument without further proof unless the contrary is shown, and the Documentary Evidence Act, 1868, as amended by the Documentary Evidence Act, 1882, shall apply as if the civil authority were mentioned in the first column of the schedule to the first-mentioned Act, and as if the civil authority or any person authorised by the civil authority to act on his behalf were mentioned in the second column of that schedule.

The powers conferred by these regulations are in addition to and not in derogation of any powers exerciseable by the civil authority and other persons to take such steps as may be necessary for securing the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order, and save as otherwise expressly provided by these regulations nothing in these regulations shall affect the liability of any person to trial and punishment for any offence or crime otherwise than in accordance with these regulations. Provided that no person shall be liable to be punished twice for the same offence or crime.

The civil authority, or any other person by whom an order is made in pursuance of these regulations, shall publish notice of the order in such manner as he may consider best adapted for informing persons affected by the order, and no person shall, without lawful authority, deface or otherwise tamper with any notice posted up in pursuance of these regulations, or any other notice, advertisement or placard, relating to any matters connected with the preservation of the peace or maintenance of order, exhibited or posted up under lawful authority, and if he does so shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

Any person claiming to act under any permit or permission granted under or for the purposes of these regulations shall, if at any time he is required to do so by the civil authority or any person authorised by him, or by any officer of police, produce the permit or permission for inspection, and if he refuses to do so he shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations. Any permit or permission granted under or for the purposes of any provision of these regulations may at any time he revoked.

In addition and without prejudice to any powers which a court may possess to order the exclusion of the public from any proceedings, if in the course of such proceedings application is made by the prosecution on behalf of the civil authority that in the public interest all or any portion of the public shall be excluded during any part of the hearing, the court may make an order to that effect.

If it is made to appear to a county court judge or recorder that personal service of any civil bill returnable to his court, or such other service as is by law prescribed, cannot be effected owing to the prevalence of a state of disorder or otherwise, he may, in addition and without prejudice to any other powers in that behalf, make such order for substituted or other service, or for the substitution for service of notice by advertisement or otherwise as may seem just, or may declare the service actually effected sufficient.

For the purposes of the trial of a person for an offence under these regulations, or under the Firearms Act, 1920, by a court of summary jurisdiction and the punishment thereof, the offence shall be deemed to have been committed either at the place in which the same actually was committed or in any place in which such person may be or to which he may be brought, and the trial, or any proceedings antecedent thereto or connected therewith, may take place on any date appointed by a resident magistrate having jurisdiction in such place, and a summons may be issued by a justice to a witness who is not within his jurisdiction, and any such summons may be issued, served and enforced in the same manner as a summons to a witness within the jurisdiction of the issuing justice.

These regulations shall not, save as therein expressly provided, be construed as applying to members of His Majesty’s forces when acting within the scope of their duties.