Defence Forces (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923

Impressment of carriages, etc., in cases of emergency.

180.—(1) The Executive Council may at any time or times by order under their hand declare that a state of emergency exists in Saorstát Eireann, or in any part or parts (to be specified in such order) thereof, and may by the same order authorise any officer not below the rank of Commandant (to be named in such order) commanding any part of the Forces in any part of Saorstát Eireann in which a state of emergency is by such order declared to exist to issue a requisition under this Section (hereinafter referred to as a requisition of emergency).

(2) Any officer so authorised may issue a requisition of emergency under his hand reciting the said order, and requiring District Justices or Peace Commissioners to issue their warrants for the provision, for the purpose mentioned in the requisition, of such carriages and animals as may be provided under the foregoing provisions, and also of carriages of every description, including motor cars or other locomotives whether for the purpose of carriage or haulage, and of horses of every description, whether kept for saddle or draft, and also of vessels (whether boats, barges, or other) used for the transport of any commodities whatsoever upon any canal or navigable river, and also of aircraft of every description, and also of food, forage, and stores of every description.

(3) A District Justice or Peace Commissioner on demand by an officer of the portion of the Forces mentioned in a requisition of emergency, or by an officer authorised by the Minister in this behalf, and on production of the requisition, shall issue his warrant for the provision of such carriages, animals, vessels, aircraft, food, forage and stores as are stated by the officer producing the requisition of emergency to be required for the purpose mentioned in the requisition, and such warrant shall be executed in like manner, and all the provisions of this Act as to the provision or furnishing of carriages and animals, including those respecting fines on officers, non-commissioned officers, District Justices or Peace Commissioners, constables, or owners of motor-vehicles, carriages or animals, shall apply in like manner as in the case where a District Justice or Peace Commissioner issues, in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this Act, a warrant for the provision of carriages and animals, and shall apply to vessels, aircraft, food, forage and stores, in like manner in all respects as they apply to carriages.

(4) A requisition of emergency may authorise any officer mentioned therein to require any motor vehicles, carriages and horses furnished in pursuance of this Section to be delivered at such place (not being more than one hundred miles in the case of a motor car or other locomotive, and not being more than ten miles in the case of any other carriage or horse, from the premises of the owner) and at such time as may be specified by any officer mentioned in the requisition; and in such case it shall be the duty of a constable executing a warrant issued by a District Justice or Peace Commissioner under this Section upon the demand of any officer producing the requisition of emergency to insert in his order such time and place for delivery of any vehicle or horse to which the order relates as may be specified by such officer, and the obligation of the owners to furnish carriages and horses shall include an obligation to deliver the carriages and horses at such place and time as may be specified in such order; and the provisions of this Act shall have effect as if references therein to the furnishing of carriages and horses included, as respects any such carriage or horse as aforesaid, delivery at such time and place as aforesaid.

(5) The Minister shall cause due payment to be made for articles furnished in pursuance of this Section, and if any difference arises respecting the amount of payment for any article, the amount shall be such as may be fixed by a certificate of a County Court Judge having jurisdiction in any place in which such article was furnished or through which it travelled or was carried in pursuance of the requisition; and for the purpose of fixing such amount the provisions set out in the Eighth Schedule to this Act shall have effect.

Where a sum has been paid or tendered by or on behalf of the Minister under this sub-section, that sum shall be deemed to be the amount due, unless within three weeks from the date of payment or tender an application is made to a County Court Judge for his certificate.

(6) Canal, river, or lock tolls are hereby declared not to be demandable for vessels while employed in any service in pursuance of this Section or returning therefrom; and any toll collector who demands or receives toll in contravention of this exemption shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds nor less than ten shillings.

(7) A requisition of emergency, purported to be issued in pursuance of this Section and to be signed by an officer therein stated to be authorised in accordance with this Section, shall be evidence, until the contrary is proved, of its being duly issued and signed in pursuance of this Act, and if delivered to an officer of the Forces, shall be a sufficient authority to such officer to demand carriages, animals, vessels, food, forage, and stores in pursuance of this Section, and when produced by such officer shall be conclusive evidence to a District Justice, Peace Commissioner and constable of the authority of such officer to make such demand in accordance with such requisition; and it shall be lawful to convey on such carriages, animals and vessels, not only the baggage, provisions and military stores of the troops mentioned in the requisition of emergency, but also the officers, soldiers, servants, women, children and other persons of and belonging to the same.

(8). Whenever a proclamation ordering the Reserve to be called out on permanent service is in force, the order of the Executive Council authorising an officer to issue a requisition of emergency may authorise him to extend such requisition to the provision of carriages, animals, vessels, aircraft, food, forage, and stores for the purpose of being purchased, as well as of being hired, on behalf of Saorstát Eireann.

(9). Where a District Justice of Peace Commissioner on demand by an officer and on production of a requisition of emergency, has issued his warrant for the provision of any articles, and any person ordered in pursuance of such warrant to furnish any such article refuses or neglects to furnish the same according to the orders; then if a proclamation ordering the Reserve to be called out on permanent service is in force, the said officer may seize (and if need be by force) the article requisitioned, and may use the same in like manner as if it had been furnished in pursuance of the order, but the said person shall be entitled to payment for the same in like manner as if he had duly furnished the same according to the order.

(10) A requisition of emergency issued under this Section may prohibit, during such period as may be specified in the requisition, the sale and purchase of horses to or by any person other than a person appointed by the Minister to purchase horses; and if any person sells or purchases or is concerned in the sale or purchase of a horse in contravention of such prohibition, he shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding three months, or to both such imprisonment and fine.

Offences in Relation to the Impressment of Carriages, &c.