The Special Constables Act 1914 ( 4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 61; ''An Act to enable His Majesty, by Order in Council, to make regulations with respect to Special Constables appointed during the present war.'') was a British act of parliament, given royal assent on 28 August 1914, weeks after the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It enabled the monarch to make regulations by

Orders in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' Ki ...

regarding special constables for the duration of that conflict under the Special Constables Act 1831 or a section of the

Municipal Corporations Act 1882 The Municipal Corporations Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c.50) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaced existing legislation governing municipal boroughs in England and Wales, and gave the corporations powers to make byelaws and ...

or under similar legislation in Scotland and Ireland. The Act waived the 1831 Act's requirement for a "tumult, riot, or felony" to have occurred or be imminent before special constables could be appointed, made any regulation made by those Orders in Council binding on those appointed as special constables and extended to special constables the gratuities and allowances for constables injured in the line of duty or dependents of constables killed in the line of duty from the Police Acts between 1839 and 1910.{{cite web, url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1914/61/pdfs/ukpga_19140061_en.pdf, title=PDF copy of the Act The Act was later made permanent by the

Special Constables Act 1923 The Special Constables Act 1923 (13 and 14 Geo. V, c. 11; full title - ''An Act to make perpetual, subject to an amendment, the Special Constables Act, 1914; to provide for the employment of special constables in connection with Naval, Military an ...

References

Police legislation in the United Kingdom 1914 in British law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1914 United Kingdom home front during World War I Act 1914