{"id":4918,"date":"2018-12-30T15:31:38","date_gmt":"2018-12-30T15:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-independence\/"},"modified":"2023-10-30T10:02:28","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T10:02:28","slug":"pre-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"Pre-Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_63 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-independence\/#Pre-Modern\" title=\"Pre-Modern\">Pre-Modern<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-independence\/#Early_Modern_Era\" title=\"Early Modern Era\">Early Modern Era<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-independence\/#19th_Century\" title=\"19th Century\">19th Century<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-independence\/#Union_with_Great_Britain\" title=\"Union with Great Britain\">Union with Great Britain<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-independence\/#Partition\" title=\"Partition\">Partition<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-independence\/#Courts\" title=\"Courts\">Courts<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-independence\/#Pre-Independence_Courts\" title=\"Pre-Independence Courts\">Pre-Independence Courts<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-independence\/#Government_and_Local_Government\" title=\"Government and Local Government\">Government and Local Government<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Pre-Modern\"><\/span>Pre-Modern<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The present legal system has evolved in the context of the history of Ireland.\u00a0 The present-day legal system is the product of and still contains many elements which evolved in and can be traced to particular historical phases.<\/p>\n<p>The ancient Irish Brehon laws were displaced in the Pale with the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the 12<sup>th<\/sup> century. \u00a0In practice, however, the jurisdiction of English law was limited to the East Coast.<\/p>\n<p>In the 12<sup>th<\/sup> century, the monarchy in England enjoyed almost exclusive legal authority.\u00a0 Over the centuries culminating with the English Civil War the parliament consisting of the Commons and the Lords supplanted much of the King\\&#8217;s legal authority so that the monarchy was ultimately left with a symbolic role.<\/p>\n<p>After the Anglo-Norman invasion, English law and Royal Courts equivalent to those in England were introduced and the Judges applied customary rules.\u00a0 Common law Judges in Ireland applied broadly the same customary rules as those in England. \u00a0This body of rules became known as the common law of England.\u00a0Judges were effectively the King\u2019s delegates in adjudicating on disputes and applying the common law rules.<\/p>\n<p>The common law rules were in many cases technical and inflexible. \u00a0Because the inflexible common law rules may lead to injustices there existed a system of petitions to the Lord Chancellor, petitions from the common law Courts, which were decided on the basis of justice and equity rather than the technical common law rules.<\/p>\n<p>Over time the Chancellor\u2019s Department grew into the Courts of Chancery and themselves applied the so-called body of law known as equity. \u00a0Originally equity was much more flexible than the common law. \u00a0However, by the 18<sup>th<\/sup> century, its rules and principles became much more rigid.\u00a0 In both the Courts of law (common law, equity and chancery) the system of precedent and decision and application of consistent principles predominated.<\/p>\n<p>There existed Irish parliaments from the 12<sup>th<\/sup> century onwards. \u00a0These were limited bodies which were convoked and revoked for certain periods only.<\/p>\n<p>Parliaments in the middle ages were not democratic bodies and did not make a significant amount of legal rules. \u00a0Over the 12<sup>th<\/sup> to 17<sup>th<\/sup> centuries the role of parliament was minimal in relation to the development of law.<\/p>\n<p>Over time, however, culminating in the 16<sup>th<\/sup> century the Judges and Courts came to accept the supremacy of parliament.\u00a0 Parliament\\&#8217;s\u00a0power to make laws empowered it to overturn common law rules and legislate in any area.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Early_Modern_Era\"><\/span>Early Modern Era<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The influence of English law declined in the 14<sup>th<\/sup> and 15<sup>th<\/sup> century.\u00a0 Many of the Norman English married into Gaelic Irish families and \\&#8221;became more Irish than the Irish themselves\\&#8221;.The 16<sup>th<\/sup> century saw a re-establishment of English law outside of the Pale to most of Ireland under the Tudor monarch.\u00a0 After various rebellions, many former Gaelic chiefs were brought firmly under the system of surrender and regrant.<\/p>\n<p>A law passed at the end of the 15<sup>th<\/sup> century, so-called Poynings\u2019 Law, which reaffirmed that legislation of Irish parliaments could only be convoked with the consent of the Kings Council and the King\\&#8217;s Lieutenant and that any laws passed by such parliament English laws were deemed to be applicable and supreme so that any Irish law already made or made after that time would be deemed ineffective to the extent it was inconsistent with English law.<\/p>\n<p>After the failed Ulster rebellion at the end of the 16<sup>th<\/sup> century, much of the lands held by the Ulster chiefs was regranted to English and Scottish settlers.The 17<sup>th<\/sup> century saw a number of rebellions and further conquests and reconquests culminating with the Battle of the Boyne followed by a reassertion of English law throughout Ireland.\u00a0 Traditional Gaelic law was firmly supplanted.<\/p>\n<p>Following the English revolution of 1689 with the accession of William III in place of James II the English Bill of Rights set limits on the Royal power.\u00a0 The rights applied only to the established church.\u00a0 Those included did not adhere to be established right and in particular, so-called papists (Roman Catholics) were largely deprived of civil rights in terms of political participation, landholding and other contexts. Throughout this period Ireland remained formally a separate kingdom until 1800.<\/p>\n<p>The English Parliament renounced its claim to make laws for Ireland in 1783 and there briefly existed in the Irish parliament known as Grattan\\&#8217;s Parliament. \u00a0Following the 1798 rebellion, the Act of Union permanently terminated the Irish parliament and merged Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"19th_Century\"><\/span>19th Century<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The Act of Union carried over all existing laws and firmly established the United Kingdom Parliament as supreme.\u00a0By the Act of Union, the government and executive powers had been transferred to the ministers selected by parliament.\u00a0 The parliament consisted of the House of Commons and House of Lords.<\/p>\n<p>Progressively the House of Commons being the elected body became the increasingly powerful body.\u00a0 The ministers were presided over by the first Lord of the Treasury, known as the Prime Minister.\u00a0 However, the House of Lords remained influential and it was not until 1911 in the context of the Irish Home Rule Bill that the power of the House of Lords to beat the legislation was removed.<\/p>\n<p>The government\\&#8217;s representative in Ireland was the chief secretary who was a member of Cabinet.\u00a0 The Irish executive was based in Dublin Castle represented by the undersecretary who exercised to most effect real power.\u00a0 The Crown\u2019s representative was the Lord Lieutenant or Viceroy.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Union_with_Great_Britain\"><\/span>Union with Great Britain<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Throughout the 19<sup>th<\/sup> century the parliamentary right to vote widened considerably. \u00a0Following the campaigns of Daniel O\\&#8217;Connell the rights of Roman Catholics to sit in parliament was established.<\/p>\n<p>By the 1870s the Irish party represented a strong block within the House of Commons and campaigned vigorously for and aligned themselves with the Liberals. They campaigned vigorously for home rule within the United Kingdom.\u00a0 This would not have represented independence but a position similar to that enjoyed by Northern Ireland today.<\/p>\n<p>Two Home Rule Bills in 1886 and 1893 were defeated ultimately following the Parliament Act 1911 firstly the first in the Commons and the second in the House of Lords.\u00a0 Due to its opposition to Irish home rule and significant budgetary reforms the Parliament Act in 1911 was passed which limited the power of the House of Lords to veto a bill for three sessions only.<\/p>\n<p>The Home Rule Act was finally enacted in 1914 as the Government of Ireland act.\u00a0 The Act was suspended due to the outbreak of World War I and the unresolved opposition of Ulster Unionists.<\/p>\n<p>The Home Rule Act was overtaken by the 1916 rebellion and subsequent rise and eclipse by Sinn Fein of the Irish Parliamentary party. Following the 1918 general election, the Sinn Fein candidates representing principally the present 26 Republic of Ireland met in independent parliament D\u00e1il Eireann.<\/p>\n<p>Following a guerrilla\/military style campaign of two years between the nationalists and United Kingdom authority articles for a treaty with a Constitution annexed were signed.\u00a0 The Treaty was narrowly passed by the second D\u00e1il which comprised the Sinn Fein representatives to the parliament of southern Ireland. \u00a0Following this the Treaty and the Free State Constitution were ratified D\u00e1il Eireann.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Partition\"><\/span>Partition<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The Government of Ireland Act 1920 equivalent to the \\&#8221;Home Rule\\&#8221; Government of Ireland Act 1914 provided separately for Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland with Dublin and Belfast as capitals.\u00a0 Each body was to have separate parliaments and Courts with a High Court of Appeal for all Ireland.<\/p>\n<p>The Northern Ireland State came into existence in July 1921 and continued as such until 1972.\u00a0 The Government of Ireland Act in respect of Southern Ireland was superseded by the Treaty and Irish Free State Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>The Irish Free State comprising the 26 counties obtained dominion status.\u00a0 Disagreement over the Treaty and partition and limited independence led to a brief civil war from 1922 to 1923.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Courts\"><\/span>Courts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The medieval role of the chancellors by the Act of Union the Supreme Court had become the judicial committee of the House of Lords.\u00a0 Although formerly a part of the House of Lords, the upper house of parliament cases were only heard by the judicial law lords appointed for this purpose.\u00a0 The law lords ceased to be involved in the law-making powers of the House.<\/p>\n<p>In Ireland, England and Wales the separate Courts of law and equity could reach different conclusions on the same matter. \u00a0The Chancery Courts generally dealt with certain subject matters such as land, succession, trusts.\u00a0 The common law Courts dealt with most matters including most commercial matters.\u00a0 There could be contradictory decisions by the Courts.\u00a0 There was scope for contradictory decisions and uncertainty.<\/p>\n<p>In 1873 in England and Wales and 1877 in Ireland, a unified system of Courts was established. \u00a0From that time forward all Courts must apply both common law and equitable rules.\u00a0 Rules of equity were stated to prevail in the event of a conflict.<\/p>\n<p>The High Court of Justice was established which is the direct predecessor of today\\&#8217;s High Court.\u00a0 It was divided up into a number of divisions which took certain ancient Courts which have existed since ancient medieval times.<\/p>\n<p>The Court of King\\&#8217;s Bench or the Queen\\&#8217;s Bench was the principal division.\u00a0 It dealt with most legal, criminal and civil matters and exercised supervision over lower Courts.\u00a0 The Court of Exchequer and Court of Common Plea grew from certain older Courts.\u00a0 Finally, the Chancery Division was the successor of the Courts of Chancery which had developed in medieval times as a counterbalance to the Courts of law.<\/p>\n<p>The Courts were further rationalised in the late 19<sup>th<\/sup> century and early 20<sup>th<\/sup> century so that the High Court divisions were reduced to two namely the King\\&#8217;s Bench Division and Chancery Division.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Pre-Independence_Courts\"><\/span>Pre-Independence Courts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The Assize Courts in Ireland replicated those in England. \u00a0The Assize Courts travelled through the Kingdom hearing cases in certain provincial towns. \u00a0Their modern equivalent is the High Court on Circuit.\u00a0 They are effectively High Court Judges.<\/p>\n<p>Justices of the Peace are officials who heard less serious criminal offences, effectively the equivalent of the District Court.\u00a0 They travelled to various towns in a circuit generally four times a year in what was known as the Quarter Sessions.<\/p>\n<p>The Justices heard both preliminary cases hearings where the Assize Courts and heard minor offences.\u00a0 Outside of the Quarter Sessions Petty Sessions were held being equivalent to the preliminary hearings for the Assize Courts equivalent to the preliminary hearing that existed until relatively recently in the Circuit Court and District Court.\u00a0 If it was found that there were was a case of sufficiently serious nature a Grand Jury would decide whether there was sufficient prima facia evidence to support an indictment by jury at the Assize\u2019s hearings.<\/p>\n<p>Justices of the Peace remain as a feature of England and Wales Courts to this day and are non-legal lay appointees.\u00a0 In Ireland in many areas magistrates were appointed to deal with Petty Session matters due to criticisms of the Justice of the Peace.<\/p>\n<p>Much present-day District Court legislation and procedure derive from the powers and jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace.<\/p>\n<p>In England and Wales and Northern Ireland lay magistrates guided and assisted by qualified magistrates\u2019 clerks are the equivalent of the Petty Sessions.<\/p>\n<p>The County Courts were established in 1877 to deal with civil cases that would otherwise have been heard by the Assize Courts.\u00a0 The Circuit Court is the direct successor of the County Court. \u00a0Much of their procedures and legislation is still based directly on that of the County Court.\u00a0 The Courts were originally the agents for the King.\u00a0 They came to have the authority to deal with individual disputes.<\/p>\n<p>The Courts as carried over into the Irish Free State and the Republic of Ireland have the same broad characteristics as those existing prior to independence.\u00a0 Many of the Court rules and procedures remain unchanged and in broadly common form.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Government_and_Local_Government\"><\/span>Government and Local Government<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Many of present-day government institutions were established and evolved in the 19<sup>th<\/sup> century.\u00a0In the early 19<sup>th<\/sup> century there existed miscellaneous municipal corporations which performed some of the functions of the local authority. \u00a0More general enabling legislation allowed for town bodies to be formulated to provide for such matters as lighting and very basic amenities.<\/p>\n<p>The Grand Jury which wwasmade up of wealthier land owners were bodies throughout the country which raised monies equivalent to the so-called county cess.\u00a0 In 1838 the poor losses system was established for the charging of administration of relief in workhouses and financed principally by the so-called poor law rates. \u00a0Modern day local authority late rates are still based on the original poor law rate legislation.<\/p>\n<p>Legisltion was passed in the mid-19<sup>th<\/sup> century to facilitate the wider organisation of water supplies, sewerage, gas and later telegraphs and electricity.<\/p>\n<p>In 1878 the Public Health Act brought much established rural and urban sanitary authorities to provide water, sewerage and deal public nuisances and basic public health issue.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately County Councils were formed in 1888 incorporating the powers of the poor law commissioners, urban and sanitary authorities and Grand Jury to form County Councils rural and urban district councils throughout the country.\u00a0 These were locally elected and raised a single rate for the county.\u00a0 Local government powers were further enhanced in the late 19<sup>th<\/sup> and early 20<sup>th<\/sup> century incorporating housing and more general civic responsibilities.<\/p>\n<p>The equivalent of modern government departments evolved from parts of the Dublin based administration.\u00a0 The local government board oversaw local government matters such as public health and local government legislation. \u00a0It ultimately at independence became the Department of Local Government latterly the Department of the Environment and Local Government.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction was established at the turn of the 20<sup>th<\/sup> century to support agriculture and instruction to perform a specific role in the board.<\/p>\n<p>The Board of Public Works play a significant role in managing the infrastructure and land of the State.\u00a0 Its present day successor is the Office of Public Works which still largely manages the State infrastructure and is directly under the auspices of the Department of Finance.\u00a0 Other agencies such as the Board of Trade, the Post Office were effectively the Irish branch of the UK wide body.<\/p>\n<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-4918\" data-postid=\"4918\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-4918 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pre-Modern The present legal system has evolved in the context of the history of Ireland.\u00a0 The present-day legal system is the product of and still contains many elements which evolved in and can be traced to particular historical phases. The ancient Irish Brehon laws were displaced in the Pale with the arrival of the Anglo-Normans [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,33],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4918"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4918"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19027,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4918\/revisions\/19027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}