Chapter XIV: Appendix: A

THE HOME RULE BILL OF 1912.

A BILL TO

[Sidenote: A.D. 1912.]

AMEND the PROVISION for the Government of Ireland. BE it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:--

_Legislative Authority._

[Sidenote: Establishment of Irish Parliament.]

1.--(1) On and after the appointed day there shall be in Ireland an Irish Parliament consisting of His Majesty the King and two Houses, namely, the Irish Senate and the Irish House of Commons.

(2) Notwithstanding the establishment of the Irish Parliament or anything contained in this Act, the supreme power and authority of the Parliament of the United Kingdom shall remain unaffected and undiminished over all persons, matters, and things within His Majesty's dominions.

[Sidenote: Legislative powers of Irish Parliament.]

2. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Irish Parliament shall have power to make laws for the peace, order, and government of Ireland with the following limitations, namely, that they shall not have power to make laws except in respect of matters exclusively relating to Ireland or some part thereof, and (without prejudice to that general limitation) that they shall not have power to make laws in respect of the following matters in particular, or any of them, namely--

(1) The Crown, or the succession to the Crown, or a Regency; or
the Lord Lieutenant except as respects the exercise of his
executive power in relation to Irish services as defined
for the purposes of this Act; or

(2) The making of peace or war or matters arising from a state
of war; or the regulation of the conduct of any portion of
His Majesty's subjects during the existence of hostilities
between Foreign States with which His Majesty is at peace,
in relation to those hostilities; or

(3) The navy, the army, the territorial force, or any other
naval or military force, or the defence of the realm, or any
other naval or military matter; or

(4) Treaties, or any relations, with Foreign States, or
relations with other parts of His Majesty's dominions, or
offences connected with any such treaties or relations, or
procedure connected with the extradition of criminals under
any treaty, or the return of fugitive offenders from or to
any part of His Majesty's dominions; or

(5) Dignities or titles of honour; or

(6) Treason, treason felony, alienage, naturalisation, or aliens
as such; or

(7) Trade with any place out of Ireland (except so far as trade
may be affected by the exercise of the powers of taxation
given to the Irish Parliament, or by the regulation of
importation for the sole purpose of preventing contagious
disease); quarantine; or navigation, including merchant
shipping (except as respects inland waters and local health
or harbour regulations); or

(8) Lighthouses, buoys, or beacons (except so far as they can
consistently with any general Act of the Parliament of the
United Kingdom) be constructed or maintained by a local
harbour authority; or

(9) Coinage; legal tender; or any change in the standard of
weights and measures; or

(10) Trade marks, designs, merchandise marks, copyright, or
patent rights; or

(11) Any of the following matters (in this Act referred to as
reserved matters), namely--

[Sidenote: 8 Edw. 7. c. 40 1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 16. 1 & 2 Geo. 5. c.
55. 9 Edw. c. 7.]

(a) The general subject-matter of the Acts relating
to Land Purchase in Ireland, the Old Age Pensions Acts,
1908 and 1911, the National Insurance Act, 1911, and
the Labour Exchanges Act, 1909;

(b) The collection of taxes;

(c) The Royal Irish Constabulary and the management
and control of that force;

(d) Post Office Savings Banks, Trustee Savings Banks,
and Friendly Societies; and

(e) Public loans made in Ireland _before the passing
of this Act_:

Provided that the limitation on the powers of the
Irish Parliament under this section shall cease as
respects any such reserved matter if the corresponding
reserved service is transferred to the Irish Government
under the provisions of this Act.

Any law made in contravention of the limitations imposed by this section shall, so far as it contravenes those limitations, be void.

[Sidenote: Prohibition of laws interfering with religious equality, &c.]

3. In the exercise of their power to make laws under this Act the Irish Parliament shall not make a law so as either directly or indirectly to establish or endow any religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof, or give a preference, privilege, or advantage, or impose any disability or disadvantage, on account of religious belief or religious or ecclesiastical status, or make any religious belief or religious ceremony a condition of the validity of any marriage.

Any law made in contravention of the restrictions imposed by this section shall, so far as it contravenes those restrictions, be void.

_Executive Authority._

[Sidenote: Executive power in Ireland.]

4.--(1) The executive power in Ireland shall continue vested in His Majesty the King, and nothing in this Act shall affect the exercise of that power except as respects Irish services as defined for the purposes of this Act.

(2) As respects those Irish services the Lord Lieutenant or other chief executive officer or officers for the time being appointed in his place, on behalf of His Majesty, shall exercise any prerogative or other executive power of His Majesty the exercise of which may be delegated to him by His Majesty.

(3) The power so delegated shall be exercised through such Irish Departments as may be established by Irish Act, or subject thereto, by the Lord Lieutenant, and the Lord Lieutenant may appoint officers to administer those Departments, and those officers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Lord Lieutenant.

(4) The persons who are for the time being heads of such Irish Departments as may be determined by Irish Act, or, in the absence of any such determination, by the Lord Lieutenant, and such other persons (if any) as the Lord Lieutenant may appoint, shall be the Irish Ministers.

Provided that--

(a) No such person shall be an Irish Minister unless he is a
member of the Privy Council of Ireland; and

(b) No such person shall hold office as an Irish Minister for a
longer period than six months, unless he is or becomes a
member of one of the Houses of the Irish Parliament; and

(c) Any such person not being the head of an Irish Department
shall hold office as an Irish Minister during the pleasure
of the Lord Lieutenant in the same manner as the head of an
Irish Department holds his office.

(5) The persons who are Irish Ministers for the time being shall be an Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Ireland (in this Act referred to as the "Executive Committee"), to aid and advise the Lord Lieutenant in the exercise of his executive power in relation to Irish services.

(6) For the purposes of this Act, "Irish services" are all public services in connexion with the administration of the civil government of Ireland except the administration of matters with respect to which the Irish Parliament have no power to make laws, including in the exception all public services in connexion with the administration of the reserved matters (in this Act referred to as "reserved services").

[Sidenote: Future transfer of certain reserved services.]

5.--(1) The public services in connexion with the administration of the Acts relating to the Royal Irish Constabulary and the management and control of that force, shall by virtue of this Act be transferred from the Government of the United Kingdom to the Irish Government on the expiration of a period of six years from the appointed day and those public services shall then cease to be reserved services and become Irish services.

(2) If a resolution is passed by both Houses of the Irish Parliament providing for the transfer from the Government of the United Kingdom to the Irish Government of the following reserved services, namely--

(a) All public services in connexion with the administration of
the Old Age Pensions Acts, 1908 and 1911; or

(b) All public services in connexion with the administration of
Part I. of the National Insurance Act, 1911; or

(c) All public services in connexion with the administration of