The Irish Constitution Part 6

ARTICLE 51.

The Ministers who are required to be members of the Chamber/Dail Eireann shall include the President of the Executive Council/Uachtaran and the Vice-President of the Executive Council/Tanaist.

The President of the Executive Council shall be the chief of the Executive Council and shall be appointed on the nomination of the Chamber/Dail, and the Vice-President of the Executive Council and the other Ministers who are members of Parliament/Oireachtas shall be appointed on the nomination of the President of the Executive Council; and he and the Ministers nominated by him shall retire from office should he fail to be supported by a majority in the Chamber/Dail, but the President of the Executive Council and such Ministers shall continue to carry on their duties until their successors are appointed.

ARTICLE 52.

Ministers who are not members of the Parliament/Oireachtas shall be nominated by a Committee of members of the Chamber/Dail Eireann chosen by a method to be determined by the Chamber/Dail so as to be impartially representative of the Chamber/Dail. Such Ministers shall be chosen with due regard to their suitability for office and should as far as possible be generally representative of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann as a whole rather than of groups or of parties. Should a nomination not be acceptable to the Chamber/Dail, the Committee shall continue to propose names until one is found acceptable.

ARTICLE 53.

Each Minister not a member of the Parliament/Oireachtas shall be the responsible head of the Executive Department or Departments as head of which he has been appointed as aforesaid; Provided that should arrangements for Functional or Vocational Councils be made by the Parliament/Oireachtas these Ministers or any of them may, should the Parliament/Oireachtas so decide, be members of and be nominated on the advice of such Councils. The term of office of any such Minister shall be the term of the Chamber/Dail Eireann existing at the time of his appointment or such other period as may be fixed by law, but he shall continue in office until his successor shall have been appointed: and no such Minister shall be removed from Office during his term unless the proposal to remove him has been previously submitted to a Committee chosen by a method to be determined by the Chamber/Dail so as to be impartially representative of the Chamber/Dail and then only if the Committee shall have reported that such Minister has been guilty of malfeasance in office or has not been performing his duties in a competent and satisfactory manner, or has failed to carry out the lawfully-expressed will of Parliament/Oireachtas.

ARTICLE 54.

The Ministers who are members of the Parliament/Oireachtas shall alone be responsible for all matters relating to external affairs whether policy, negotiations, or executive acts. Subject to the foregoing provisions, the Executive Council shall meet and act as a collective authority: Provided, however, that each Minister shall be individually responsible to the Chamber/Dail Eireann for the administration of the Department or Departments of which he is head.

ARTICLE 55.

Ministers who are not members of the Chamber/Dail Eireann shall by virtue of their office possess all the rights and privileges of a member of the Chamber/Dail except the right to vote, and shall, if not members of the Parliament/Oireachtas, comply with the provisions of Article 17 as if they were members of the Chamber/Dail, and may be required by the Chamber/Dail to attend and answer questions.

ARTICLE 56.

Should the President of the Executive Council die, resign or be permanently incapacitated, the Vice-President of the Executive Council shall act in his place until a President of the Executive Council shall be elected. The Vice-President of the Executive Council shall also act in the place of the President of the Executive Council during his temporary absence.

ARTICLE 57.

The members of the Executive Council shall receive such remuneration as may from time to time be prescribed by law, but the remuneration of any Minister shall not be diminished during his term of office.

ARTICLE 58.

The Representative of the Crown, who shall be styled the Governor-General of the Irish Free State, shall be appointed in like manner as the Governor-General of Canada and in accordance with the practice observed in the making of such appointments. The salary of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State shall be of the like amount as that now payable to the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia and shall be charged on the public funds of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann and suitable provision shall be made out of those funds for the maintenance of his official residence and establishment.

ARTICLE 59.

The Executive Council shall prepare the Budget of receipts and expenditure of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann for each financial year and shall present it to the Chamber/Dail Eireann before the close of the previous financial year.

SECTION III.--THE EXECUTIVE.

B.--FINANCIAL CONTROL.

ARTICLE 60.

All revenues of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann from whatever source arising, shall, subject to such exception as may be provided by law, form one fund, and shall be appropriated for the purposes of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann in the manner and subject to the charges and liabilities imposed by law.

ARTICLE 61.

The Chamber/Dail Eireann shall appoint a Comptroller and Auditor-General to act on behalf of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann. He shall control all disburs.e.m.e.nts and shall audit all accounts of moneys administered by or under the authority of the Parliament/Oireachtas and shall report to the Chamber/Dail at stated periods to be determined by law.

ARTICLE 62.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall not be removed except for stated misbehaviour or incapacity on resolutions pa.s.sed by the Chamber/Dail Eireann and the Senate/Seanad Eireann. Subject to this provision the terms and conditions of his tenure of office shall be fixed by law. He shall not be a member of the Parliament/Oireachtas nor shall he hold any other office or position of emolument.

SECTION IV.--THE JUDICIARY.

ARTICLE 63.

The judicial power of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann shall be exercised and justice administered in the public Courts established by Parliament/Oireachtas by judges appointed in manner hereinafter provided.

These Courts shall comprise Courts of First Instance and a Court of Final Appeal to be called the Supreme Court (Cuirt Uachtarach). The Courts of First Instance shall include a High Court (Ard Chuirt), invested with full original jurisdiction in and power to determine all matters and questions whether of law or fact, civil or criminal, and also Courts of local and limited jurisdiction with a right of appeal as determined by law.

ARTICLE 64.

The judicial power of the High Court shall extend to the question of the validity of any law having regard to the provisions of the Const.i.tution.

In all cases in which such matters shall come into question, the High Court alone shall exercise original jurisdiction.

ARTICLE 65.

The Supreme Court of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann shall, with such exceptions (not including cases which involve questions as to the validity of any law) and subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by law, have appellate jurisdiction from all decisions of the High Court.

The decision of the Supreme Court shall in all cases be final and conclusive, and shall not be reviewed or capable of being reviewed by any other Court, Tribunal or Authority whatsoever.

Provided that nothing in this Const.i.tution shall impair the right of any person to pet.i.tion His Majesty for special leave to appeal from the Supreme Court to His Majesty in Council or the right of His Majesty to grant such leave.

ARTICLE 66.

The number of judges, the const.i.tution and organisation of, and distribution of business and jurisdiction among, the said Courts and judges, and all matters of procedure shall be as prescribed by the laws for the time being in force and the regulations made thereunder.

ARTICLE 67.

The judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Court and of all other Courts established in pursuance of this Const.i.tution shall be appointed by the Representative of the Crown on the advice of the Executive Council.

The Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Court shall not be removed except for stated misbehaviour or incapacity, and then only by resolutions pa.s.sed by both the Chamber/Dail Eireann and the Senate/Seanad Eireann. The age of retirement, the remuneration and the pension of such judges on retirement and the declarations to be taken by them on appointment shall be prescribed by law. Such remuneration may not be diminished during their continuance in office. The terms of appointment of the judges of such other courts as may be created shall be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE 68.

All judges shall be independent in the exercise of their functions, and subject only to the Const.i.tution and the law. A judge shall not be eligible to sit in Parliament/Oireachtas, and shall not hold any other office or position of emolument.

ARTICLE 69.

No one shall be tried save in due course of law and extraordinary courts shall not be established. The jurisdiction of Courts Martial shall not be extended to or exercised over the civil population save in time of war, and for acts committed in time of war, and in accordance with the regulations to be prescribed by law. Such jurisdiction shall not be exercised in any area in which the civil courts are open or capable of being held, and no person shall be removed from one area to another for the purpose of creating such jurisdiction.

ARTICLE 70.

A member of the armed forces of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann not on active service shall not be tried by any Court Martial for an offence cognisable by the Civil Courts.

ARTICLE 71.

No person shall, save in case of summary jurisdiction prescribed by law for minor offences, be tried without a jury on any criminal charge.