Land Act, 1936

Procedure on compulsory acquisition of land.

25.—(1) Whenever the Land Commission after the passing of this Act proposes to acquire compulsorily any land for the relief of congestion or for the purpose of resale to the persons or bodies mentioned in section 31 of the Land Act, 1923 , as amended by section 33 of the Land Act, 1933 , the Land Commission shall publish in the Iris Oifigiúil

(a) a certificate by the Lay Commissioners that such land is required for (as the case may be) the relief of congestion or the purpose of resale to the persons or bodies aforesaid, and

(b) such provisional list as is mentioned in sub-section (2) of section 40 of the Land Act, 1923 , of such land.

(2) All objections to a provisional list published in the Iris Oifigiúil in pursuance of the foregoing sub-section of this section shall be listed for hearing before the Lay Commissioners (other than the members of the Appeal Tribunal) and the decision of such Lay Commissioners on any such objection shall be final subject only to such right of appeal as is given by this section.

(3) If the Lay Commissioners are not satisfied that the tenant or proprietor of any land included in a certificate published under sub-section (1) of this section would, on such land being compulsorily acquired, be entitled to require the Land Commission to include in such certificate and acquire the whole of his lands and provide him with a new holding, the question whether such tenant or proprietor would be or would not be entitled shall, if he so requires, be listed for hearing before the Lay Commissioners (other than the members of the Appeal Tribunal) and the decision of such Lay Commissioners on such question given after such hearing shall be final subject only to such right of appeal as is given by this section.

(4) An appeal shall lie from every decision under this section of the Lay Commissioners (other than the members of the Appeal Tribunal) to the Appeal Tribunal on questions of law or of value, and the decision of the Appeal Tribunal on any such appeal shall be final subject only to an appeal to the Supreme Court on questions of law.

(5) Sub-section (5) of section 29 of the Land Act, 1933 , is hereby repealed.

(6) Nothing in this section shall apply to the compulsory acquisition of land by the Land Commission for the relief of congestion or for the purpose of such resale as is mentioned in the first sub-section of this section where such compulsory acquisition was begun before and is pending at the passing of this Act but, subject to that limitation, the procedure laid down in this section shall apply to all compulsory acquisition of land by the Land Commission for the relief of congestion or the purpose of such resale as aforesaid and shall be deemed for all purposes to be substituted for and to supersede any procedure (in this sub-section referred to as a superseded procedure) for such compulsory acquisition set out in any enactment in force immediately before the passing of this Act, and accordingly—

(a) every reference in any enactment in force after the passing of this Act to any step in a superseded procedure shall be construed as referring to the corresponding step in the procedure laid down in this section, and

(b) every power conferred on the Land Commission by any such enactment in relation or ancillary to the compulsory acquisition of land under a superseded procedure shall be exercisable by the Land Commission in relation or as ancillary to the compulsory acquisition of land under the procedure laid down in this section.