Damage To Property (Compensation) Act, 1923

Application for compensation may be lodged in certain cases.

15.—(1) Any person who claims to have suffered loss by a wrongful act to which this section applies may at any time within three months after the passing of this Act, lodge an application for compensation under the Criminal Injuries Acts in respect of such loss.

(2) The Judge shall hear and inquire into every application lodged under this section, and if he is not satisfied that the applicant has suffered loss by a wrongful act to which this section applies, he shall dismiss the application upon such terms as to costs as appear to him to be just.

(3) If the Judge, after hearing and inquiring into an application lodged under this section, is satisfied that the applicant has suffered loss by a wrongful act to which this section applies, he shall not make any decree on such application, but in lieu thereof he shall report in writing to the Minister for Finance—

(a) that the applicant has suffered loss by a wrongful act to which this section applies;

(b) the sum which would fairly compensate the applicant for such loss;

(c) whether the applicant was insured against such loss, and, if so, the particulars of such insurance;

(d) where the wrongful act consists of the destruction of bank or government notes or paper currency, the numbers, denominations, and all other particulars of such notes or currency so far as the same were proved to the satisfaction of the Judge, and also the nature of the evidence accepted by the Judge as proof of the destruction of such notes or currency.

(4) The Judge shall fix the sum mentioned in clause (b) of the preceding sub-section on the same principles as the compensation for an injury to which this Part of this Act applies is to be fixed under the Criminal Injuries Acts and this Act, and shall state in his report whether in his opinion any, and if so what, re-instatement condition should be attached to such sum.

(5) The Judge may, at the request of the applicant at any stage of the proceedings, treat an application lodged under this section as an application under the Criminal Injuries Acts for compensation for an injury to which this Part of this Act applies, and deal with it accordingly.

(6) The Judge may, at the request of the applicant at any stage of the proceedings, treat an application under the Criminal Injuries Acts for compensation for an injury to which this Part of this Act applies as an application lodged under this section, and deal with it accordingly.

(7) Nothing in this section shall confer on any person any right to compensation under the Criminal Injuries Acts or otherwise for any loss suffered by a wrongful act to which this section applies.

(8) No appeal shall lie either to the Judge of Assize or by way of case stated or otherwise howsoever from any dismiss of an application under this section or from any report made by the Judge on any such application.

(9) This section applies to any wrongful act which fulfils all the following conditions, viz.:—

(a) the wrongful act must consist either—

(i) of the destruction of bank or government notes or paper currency of any country, or

(ii) of the taking away of chattels without the consent of the owner;

(b) where the wrongful act consists of the taking away of chattels those chattels must not be—

(i) watches, jewellery or articles of personal ornament kept by the owner otherwise than as part of his stock-in-trade;

(ii) coins, bank or government notes or currency of any country other than any such coins, notes or currency taken away from the premises of a Bank;

(iii) postage or other adhesive stamps;

(iv) postal orders or post office money orders.

(c) the wrongful act must have occurred after the 11th day of July, 1921, and on or before the 20th day of March, 1923;

(d) the wrongful act if consisting of the taking away of chattels must have been committed by a person or persons—

(i) engaged in or purporting to act or who might reasonably be presumed to have been acting in the name or on behalf of any combination or conspiracy for the overthrow of the late Provisional Government of Ireland or of the Government of Saorstát Eireann, or

(ii) belonging to or acting or purporting to act on behalf of any unlawful or seditious association, or

(iii) requisitioning or purporting to requisition the chattels for the use of or for consumption by any organisation engaged in armed resistance to the Provisional Government of Ireland or to the Government of Saorstát Eireann.

(10) This section shall also apply to the following act as fully as if the same had been a wrongful act, that is to say, an act consisting of the destruction of or damage to any property which occurred after the 11th day of July, 1921, and on or before the 20th day of March, 1923, in the course of or as an incident in a conflict between the armed forces of the Provisional Government of Ireland or the Government of Saorstát Eireann and any persons offering armed resistance to such forces.

(11) All the provisions of the Criminal Injuries Acts and of Parts II and III of this Act so far as the same are not inconsistent with the provisions of this section shall apply to any application lodged under this section as fully as if such application was an application for compensation under the Criminal Injuries Acts in respect of an injury to which this Part of this Act applies.