The First Amendment of the Constitution Act 1939 amended the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the fundamental law of Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democracy, is broadly within the traditi ...

to extend the constitutional definition of "time of war" to include a period during which a war occurs without the state itself being a direct participant. It was introduced and signed into law on 2 September 1939, the day after the

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by Germany and allowed the government to exercise emergency powers during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

(known in Ireland as The Emergency) although the state was

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Background

Article 28.3.3° of the Constitution grants the state sweeping powers during a state of emergency, but in the form in which the article was adopted in 1937, they could be invoked only during a "time of war or armed rebellion". The First Amendment specified that "time of war" could include an armed conflict in which the state was not actually taking part. The amendment was introduced by the

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

government of

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

on 2 September 1939, and passed swiftly through both houses of the Oireachtas. Unlike later amendments, the First and Second Amendments were not submitted to a referendum because under the terms of Article 51, one of the Transitory Provisions of the Constitution, the Constitution could be amended by a vote of the Oireachtas alone from 1938 to 1941.

Changes to the text

Addition of the text in bold to Article 28.3.3º:

Irish text

The First Amendment was passed only in

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. That created a constitutional difficulty, as the

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text of the Constitution has legal precedence. The error was rectified by the

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, passed in 1941, which included in its provisions, at Reference No. 21, the Irish text of the First Amendment.Gerard Hogan and Gerry Whyte, ''J. M. Kelly: The Irish Constitution'', 4th ed., Tottel Publishing, 2003, p. 396.

Legislation

The Emergency Powers Act 1939 was passed and signed on the same day as the First Amendment. Further Acts were passed over the course of World War II. The Emergency Powers Act 1976 was passed in response to

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

Later amendments

Article 28.3.3º was amended on two further occasions. The

, passed in 1941, also under Article 51, clarified that emergency provisions must be within the time of war or armed rebellion itself and added a clause at the end of the last sentence, which specified that a "time of war" could extend beyond the termination of hostilities. The Twenty-first Amendment, passed in 2001, prohibited the use of the death penalty in a new subsection in Article 15.5.2º, and provided that the emergency provisions of the Constitution could not be used to allow the death penalty. Those later changes are highlighted in bold:

References

Oireachtas debates

First Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1939 on the Oireachtas Beta website

Legislation

Emergency Powers Act 1939Emergency Powers (Amendment) Act 1940
{{Amendments of the Constitution of Ireland 1939 in Irish law 1939 in Irish politics 01 Independent Ireland in World War II September 1939 events

Background

Changes to the text

Irish text

Legislation

Later amendments

See also

References

Oireachtas debates

Legislation