OFFENCE AGAINST STATE

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 October 1939, Page 4

OFFENCE AGAINST STATE

I | SPECIAL COURTS IN EIRE. | DUBLIN, August 22. The Government in Dublin to-night issued proclamations setting up a special criminal court to try persons arrested under the Offences Against the State Act and providing also for the creation of internment camps. The court, will consist of three persons, drawn from the existing courts, from officers of the Army, or solicitors and barristers of seven years’ standing. The proclamations cover two sections of the Act. which were left in abeyance until a state of emergency should arise. The Government decided to-day that the ordinary courts were not adequate, in view of the state of affairs. The Operation of these sections en- ! ables the Government to detain per-

u . . rlsons suspected of being engaged m ’ activities prejudicial to the preserva- > lion of the peace. ; The special court will not replace • the military tribunal, but it is recogi nised as a departure from the ordinary course of law. It is expected that persons now in . custody willl be brought before the court, when the responsible Minister makes special orders. The court will sit in Dublin and will not be bound by tiie laws of evidence or legal procedure as is known in other courts. I All orders will be subject to review only by the Government.