The New Irish Constitution: An Exposition and Some Arguments
History
The New Irish Constitution: An Exposition and Some Arguments
Home rule -- Ireland; Ireland -- Politics and government
The justification of most of the exclusions just enumerated is
sufficiently obvious and their enforcement in most of the Dominion
Constitutions show that by common consent they have been accepted as
reasonable, as for instance those dealing with national defence,
treaty-making, peace and war, and the rights and privileges of the Crown.
There remains, perhaps the most important point of all, namely the control
or power of restriction to be exercised by the Imperial Parliament over
the legislation of the new Irish Legislature by means of a veto. The
Canadian Constitution confers upon the Dominion Government the same powers
of disallowance of Acts of the provincial legislatures as belonged to the
Imperial Government prior to 1867. According to Sir John Bourinot
(“Parliamentary Procedure”), the Minister of Justice in 1868, laid down
certain principles of procedure which have been generally followed up to
the present time. On receipt of the Acts passed in any province they are
immediately referred to the Minister of Justice who reports upon them. If
the Minister considers an Act free from objection and his report is
approved by the Governor-General in Council, such approval is forthwith
communicated to the Provincial Government. The Minister of Justice makes
separate reports on those Acts which he may consider: (1) as being
altogether illegal or unconstitutional; (2) as illegal or unconstitutional
in part; (3) as, in case of concurrent legislation, clashing with the
legislation of the general Parliament; (4) as affecting the interests of
the Dominion generally. It has also been the practice (adds Sir John
Bourinot) in the case of measures only partially defective, not to
disallow the Act in the first instance, but, if the general interest
permits such a course, to give the local government an opportunity of
considering the objections to such legislation and of remedying the
defects thereof. In his book “How Canada is Governed,” Sir John Bourinot
makes some pertinent remarks upon the method of dealing with such cases:
“The Governor in Council can within one year from its receipt
disallow an Act of a provincial legislature, and consequently
prevent it becoming law.... As a rule it is the wiser policy to
obtain an opinion from the Courts in all cases of doubt ... rather
than use a political power which is regarded with suspicion by the
provinces. The law allows such reference to the Supreme Court in
Canada.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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