Juries (Protection) Act, 1929

Penalties for intimidation of jurors.

11.—Any person who—

(a) prints, publishes, distributes, sells, or offers or exposes for sale, or posts up or otherwise exposes in any public place, or imports into Saorstát Eireann any statement, notice, article or other matter in writing or any book, newspaper, magazine, journal, or other document containing any statement, notice, article or other matter urging, encouraging or exhorting or calculated to induce or persuade persons summoned or engaged as jurors for or in the trial of criminal issues or of any particular class of criminal issues or any particular criminal issue to refrain from acting as such jurors or to act as such jurors otherwise than in accordance with their oath and duty as such jurors, or

(b) prints, publishes, distributes, sells, or offers or exposes for sale, or posts up or otherwise exposes in any public place, or imports into Saorstát Eireann any statement, notice, article or other matter in writing or any book, newspaper, magazine, journal or other document containing any statement, notice, article or other matter containing or implying or which may reasonably be construed as containing or implying threats of violence against persons summoned or engaged as jurors in the trial of criminal issues or any particular class of criminal issues or any particular criminal issue who act as such jurors or who in the execution of their duty as such jurors act in accordance with their oath and duty as such jurors, or

(c) addresses, delivers, or makes to any person who is or is likely to be or may be engaged as a juror in the trial of criminal issues or any class of criminal issues or any particular criminal issue any notice, warning, or other statement, whether verbal or in writing, urging, encouraging, or exhorting or calculated to induce or persuade such last-mentioned person to refrain from acting as such juror or to act as such juror otherwise than in accordance with his oath and duty as such juror, or expressing, containing, or implying or which may reasonably be construed as expressing, containing, or implying threats of violence against such last-mentioned person in the event of his acting as such juror or of his acting in the execution of his duty as such juror in accordance with his oath and duty as such juror,

shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment, and also in any case to forfeiture of every copy in his possession of the document (if any) in respect of which he is so convicted and also, in the case of a person found guilty of the offence of printing any such document, to forfeiture of all printing machinery in his possession.