Statute Law Repeals - Law Commission - Ministry of Justice

GROUP 3 - DUBLIN POLICE AND JUSTICE
Police
4.30 In 1808 the metropolitan district of Dublin was the basis for administering a police
force whose principal purpose was to prevent the commission of crime in the city.
The force was administered through the office of a justice of the peace. The
district comprised six divisions, each having a local public office. 38
4.31 The Dublin Justices Act 1824 39 amended the previous (1808) Act by reducing the
divisions to four and making various administrative changes. The 1824 Act
empowered the lord lieutenant of Ireland to reorder the divisions and their
supervision (now with three divisional justices), to extend the jurisdiction of the
justices across four adjoining counties, to simplify the enforcement procedure for
fines and enhance the licensing regimes (for liquor sales, gaming and carriage
hire), to rearrange the nightly watch, and to authorise the appointment of unpaid
special constables.
4.32 By 1836 a more organised policing system was required for the city. The Dublin
Police Act 1836 40 created the Dublin Metropolitan Police comprising a new police
office, administered by two salaried justices (who later became police
commissioners) working under the direction of the chief secretary to the lord
lieutenant. The justices’ jurisdiction was to extend across Dublin (metropolis and
county) and beyond to Wicklow, Kildare and Meath. The police force was to
recruit “fit and able men” in sufficient number to preserve the peace, prevent
crime and apprehend offenders. The constables were to be given powers of
arrest and bail, subject to a code of conduct regulating their behaviour in office.
4.33 The 1836 Act also put in place arrangements for raising moneys by local taxation
and handling those moneys, for maintaining the police force (constables and
night watchmen), and for providing the necessary infrastructure (watch houses
and arms). These arrangements were varied a year later so that a police tax
could be levied as part of the local rate. 41
4.34 Further improvements to the tax collection arrangements were made by the
Dublin Police Act 1839 42 which authorised tax collectors to enter rated properties
by warrant and distrain on goods to discharge unpaid tax, and also enhanced the
mechanisms for ascertaining the rateable value of properties. 43
37 60 & 61 Vict. c.cvi (1897).
38 See 48 Geo.3 c.140 (1808), now repealed.
39 5 Geo.4 c.102 (1824) (“The 1824 Act”).
40 6 & 7 Will.4 c.29 (1836) (“The 1836 Act”).
41 7 Will.4 & 1 Vict. c.25 (1837). The 1837 Act has been repealed.
42 2 & 3 Vict c.78 (1839).
43 Two other provisions in the 1839 Act extended the jurisdiction of the divisional justices to
hackney carriage licensing and enforcement, and made provision for the control of rabid
dogs and other animals. The Act also addressed various ancillary matters, such as the use
of fines to defray police establishment expenses, and the ability to adjust the metropolitan
police district boundaries (a power vested in the lord lieutenant).
144