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Legislation (Draft)

Ēire
Ireland

 

> Legal Gazette

Thre are three publications which fulfil the role of a legal gazette in Ireland:

 

  • Iris Oifigiúil (State Gazette)
  • Acts of the Oireachtas (Primary Legislation)
  • Statutory Instruments (Secondary Legilsation)

Iris Oifigiúil ( State Gazette)

Published by:

Government Supplies Agency
Office of Public Works
51 St. Stephens Green
Dublin 2
Ireland

Telephone: +353 1 647 6838
Fax: +353 1 647 6842
E-mail: gsa@opw.ie
Website: www.opw.ie

Iris Oififiúil: www.irisoifigiuil.ie 

Telephone: +353 1 631 4000

Acts of the Oireachtas 1922—
(published as separate titles, not as part of a Legal Gazette)

Published by:

Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas
Leinster House
Kildare Street
Dublin 2
Ireland

Telephone: +353 1 618 3688
Fax: +353 1 618 4035
E-mail: info@oireachtas.ie
Website: www.oireachtas.ie 
Acts of the Oireachtas – www.oireachtas.ie 

Acts of the Oireachtas (Parliament) and  Statutory Instruments
(published as separate titles, not as part of a Legal Gazette)

Office of the Attorney General
Government Buildings
Merrion Street
Dublin 2
Ireland

Fax: +353 1 676 1806

E-mail: ???

Website: http://www.attorneygeneral.ie/

Statutory Instruments: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/

CONTENTS

Acts of the Oireachtas and statutory instruments are published as separate titles and not as part of a legal gazette.

For explanations on content of the Acts of the Oireachtas and that of the statutory instruments see pages 242 and 246.

PAPER VERSION

A “Legal Gazette” is not published in Ireland. The Iris Oififiúil or State Gazette is explained below.

Iris Oififiúil, Acts of the Oireachtas, and Statutory Instruments are available from the Government Supplies Agency.

Government Publication Sales Office
Molesworth Street
Dublin 2
Ireland

or by mail order from:

???

 ONLINE VERSION

Iris Oifigiúil ( State Gazette) www.irisoifigiuil.ie 

Acts of the Oireachtas (Parliament) www.oireachtas.ie 

Acts of the Oireachtas (Parliament) and Statutory Instruments www.irishstatutebook.ie

  • Availability of texts
    • Iris Oifigiúil – Government Supplies Agency
      • 2002— (PDF)
    • Acts of the Oireachtas (Parliament) – Houses of the Oireachtas
      • Biningual PDF (1997—)
      • Biningual HTML (1922 – 2002)
    • Acts of the Oireachtas (Parliament) – Office of the Attorney General
      • 1922-2008 (HTML)
    • Statutory Instruments – Office of the Attorney General
      • 1922 – 2005 (HTML)
      • 2007 – 2008 (PDF)
  • Access and Price
    • free
  • Legally binding
    • PDF versions are presumed to be legally binding.
      • Access and price
        free
  • Legally binding
    PDF versions may be legally binding, HTML may not be legally binding
CD/DVD VERSION

CD-ROM eISB [electronic Irish Statute Book]

  • Availability of texts
    • 1922-2001
  • Frequency of publication
    • No longer published
  •  Price
    • €35
  • Legally binding
    • no
>Details on the Legal Gazette

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: ACTS OF THE OIREACHTAS AND STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

LAGAL BASIS

This section outlines the legal basis of the publication of legislation in Ireland.

  • Documentary Evidence Act 1925

    • A copy of an Act published by the Stationery Office is prima facie evidence that of that Act .

  • Constitution of Ireland 1937

    • A bill is promulgated as a law by the publication by the President of a notice in the Iris Oifigiúil stating that the Bill has become law.

  • Statutory Instruments Act 1947

    • A statutory instrument published by the Stationery Office is prima facie evidence of the statutory instrument.

  • Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000
    • Copyright in Bills, Acts and Statutory Instruments vests in the Houses of the Oireachtas

Documentary Evidence Act 1925

Proof of Acts of the Oireachtas

2. —

Prima facie evidence of this or any other Act of the Oireachtas whether public, or private, and whether passed before or after the passing of this Act, or of the Journal of the Proceedings of either House of the Oireachtas, may be given in all Courts of Justice and in all legal proceedings by the production of a copy of such Act or Journal printed under the superintendence or authority of and published by the Stationery Office.

Constitution of Ireland – Bunreacht na hÉireann 1937

Signing and Promulgation of Laws

Article 25 4

2° Every Bill signed by the President under this Constitution shall be promulgated by him as a law by the publication by his direction of a notice in the Iris Oifigiúil stating that the Bill has become law.

5° As soon as may be after the signature and promulgation of a Bill as a law, the text of such law which was signed by the President or, where the President has signed the text of such law in each of the official languages, both the signed texts shall be enrolled for record in the office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court, and the text, or both the texts, so enrolled shall be conclusive evidence of the provisions of such law.

The Statutory Instruments Act 1947

3.—

(1) The following provisions shall apply in respect of every statutory instrument to which this Act primarily applies

 (a ) within seven days after the making thereof, a copy thereof shall be sent to each of the following, namely, the National Library of Ireland, the Law Library, Four Courts, Dublin, the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the Cork Chamber of Commerce the Limerick Chamber of Commerce, the Waterford Chamber of Commerce and the Galway Chamber of Commerce,

( b ) as soon as may be after it is made, it shall, notwithstanding that it is liable to be annulled, be printed under the superintendence of the Stationery Office,

( c ) as soon as may be after it has been printed, notice of the making thereof and of the place where copies thereof may be obtained shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil,

( d ) as on and from the date of the issue of the Iris Oifigiúil containing the said notice, copies of the said statutory instrument shall be kept at the place specified in the said notice and may be obtained there.

(4) The production of a copy (purporting to be published by the Stationery Office or to be published by the authority of the Stationery Office) of a statutory instrument to which this Act primarily applies, having printed thereon a statement that notice of the making of the said statutory instrument was published in a particular issue of the Iris Oifigiúil, shall in any proceedings be prima facie evidence that such notice was published in that issue of the Iris Oifigiúil,

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000

Copyright in Acts, etc.

192.—

(1) The copyright in any Bill or enactment vests in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

(2) The copyright provided for in this section subsists from the date of the first lawful making available to the public of the work and shall expire 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was so made available.

LEGALLY BINDING

paper version:

The Iris Oifigiúil is legally binding.

The official version of the Acts of the Oireachtas (Documentary Evidence Act 1925) and statutory instruments (Statutory Instruments Act 1947) published by the Government Supplies Agency (formerly known as the Stationery Office) shall be prima facie evidence in in all legal proceedings.

The on-line version of the Iris Oifigiúiul is a copy of the printed version and is presumend to be lagally binding.

On-line PDF versions of the Acts and Statutory Instruments are identical to the paper versions, and are presumend to have the same legal standing.

The on-line HTML versions of Acts and Statutory Instruments are not exact copies, and are presumed not to be legally binding.

 

FIRST EDITION

The first issue of Iris Oifigiúil appeared on 31st January, 1922.

The source material for the Irish Statute Book is the bound volumes of the Acts of the Oireachtas and Statutory Instruments 1922 – 2005 as published by the Stationery Office.

FINANCING

The IFinanced by the State (Government Supplies Agency) offset by sales revenues

OFFICIAL GAZETTE

Iris Oifigiúil (Irish State Gazette) replaced the Dublin Gazette in 1922 and became the medium for publishing governmental, statutory and other notices formerly published in the Gazette.

Every bill signed by the President is promulgated by her as a low by the publication of a notice in Iris Oifigiúil stating that the bill has become law.

Iris Oifigiúil is also the official means used by the Government announcing appointments to public offices, statutory instruments and the appointment of receivers to companies. Prima facie evidence of any proclamation, order, rule, regulation, by-law, or other official document may be given in any legal proceedings by producing a copy of the Iris considered to contain such material (Documentary Evidence Act 1925 ss.3-4).

Notices in relation to company related matters must be published in the Iris Oifigiúil within six weeks of the delivery to the registrar of companies. (S I No 163 of 1973; Companies Amendment Act 1983 s.55).

In addition to the bi-weekly publication of Iris Oifigiúil, a number of supplements are published at varying times during the year.

> ONLINE VERSION: STATUTE BOOK

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/

For the exact content of the Statute Book see page 246.

DATE OF CREATION: 2002

FREQUENCY OF UPDATES:  ???

FUNCTIONALITIES

  • download
  • no hyperlinks or notification system
  • no document notification system available

 FORMAT DESCRIPTION HTML

AUTHENTICITY

Are there any measures used to guarantee the integrity of the workflow(s) and the authenticity of the (electronically) published text? (e.g.: “chain of confidence”, electronic signature, secure servers)

ARCHIVING

Who is in charge of archiving? The on-line publisher – within the framework of his service making available older texts – or an organisation with overall responsibility for archiving electronic official texts?)
Are there any legal provisions for archiving electronic versions of legislation / electronic official texts in general?

>DETAILS ON THE PUBLISHING ORGANISATION

AUTHORITY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THE LEGAL GAZETTE

ADDRESS AND CONTACT

Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas

Leinster House
Dublin 2
Ireland
Tel: +353 1 618 32 67
Fax: + 353 1 618 41 03
E-mail: info@oireachtas.ie
Website: www.oireachtas.ie

PUBLISHING BODY

Government Supplies Agency
Office of Public Works
51 St. Stephens Green
Dublin 2
Ireland 

FORMAT AND NATURE public

BASIC TASKS

Pre-press: yes/no ?
Printing: yes
On-line publishing: yes/no ?
Dissemination/distribution: yes/no ?
CD-ROM/DVD duplication: yes/no ?

OTHER SERVICES OFFERED BY THE PUBLISHING BODY

The Government Supplies Agency is divided into three
sections:

  • Procurement services manages the central procurement
    of a variety of goods, supplies and services on behalf of the
    Government, including clothing and footwear, uniforms,
    transport, fuels, office supplies and janitorial services.
  • Publications services sells Government publications directly
    to the public through the Government publications sale
    office and a mail order service.
  • Printing & election services is responsible for:
    the central procurement of printing and binding services for
    Government departments, offices and agencies,
  • the provision of a service to election returning officers in
    relation to the supply of election stationery and printing
    services
  • the publication of Iris Oifigiúil.

 

> DRAFTING AND PUBLISHING PROCEDURES

TEXT PROCESSING SYSTEM

Is there a special text processing system? If yes, does it use standard software packages or software specifically designed for the job of drafting and adopting legislation?

Specially designed text processing systems are used for:

  • drafting bills (Office of the Attorney General)
  • amending bills and publishing Acts of the Oireachtas (Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas
  • Processing statutory instruments (Government Supplies Agency)

Are different systems used for primary and secondary
(delegated) legislation?

Different but related systems are used for primary and secondary legislation.

Are XML editors or Word templates used and then converted to XML format?

Bills are drafted using Word templates, and converted to XML. XML editors are used for processing bills, Acts and statutory Instruments.

WORKFLOW

 Is there a single integrated electronic workflow system for drafting, adopting and publishing? If there is not, what is the transmission method between the drafting, adopting and publishing workflows? (transmission on paper or electronically?)

A seperate system is used for drafting legislation. A seperate system is used for adopting and publishing legislation.

The draft legislation is sent electronically and on paper, and converted into XML.

PUBLISHING

Who is in charge of proofreading and editing?

The Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas is in charge of proofreading and editing.

• What is the minimum period between reception of the draft by the publishing workflow and availability of the published text?

Two days.

• Are the paper and electronic versions derived from the same final text file?

Yes.

• Are the paper and electronic versions published at the same time?

Yes

> Official databases/websites containing legislation

Constitution of Ireland

Access: free

Status: informative value

Available Media: On-line database / Website

Organisation responsible: Department of the Taoiseach

Contents

The Constitution of Ireland – Bunreacht na hÉireann is available on-line on the Department of the Taoiseach’s (prime minister’s) Web site.

Irish Statute Book http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/

Access: free

Status: informative value

Available Media: On-line database / Website, CD-ROM

Organisation responsible: Office of the Attorney General

Contents

Acts of the Oireachtas are published by the Stationery Office, Government Supplies Agency, part of the Office of Public Works, and available for sale through the Government Publications Sale Office, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2, by mail order, or through any bookseller.

The Irish Statute Book Web site www.irishstatutebook.ie, published by the Office of the Attorney General,  contains the following legal texts in HTML:

  • Primary Legislation
    • Acts of the Oireachtas1922 to 2008 (html)
      • Acts of the Oireachtas (Saorstát Éireann Statutes) 1922 – 1937
      • Acts of the Oireachtas 1937 – 2008
  • Secondary Legislation
    • Statutory Rules, Orders and Regulations 1922 – 1947 by series (html)
    • Statutory Instruments – 1948 – 2005 (no. 350 of 2005) (html)
    • Statutory Instruments 2007 – 2008 (PDF format)
  • Legislation Directory (Chronological Tables)
    • The Legislation Directory 1922-2005 indicates how the following are affected by Acts of the Oireachtas, Saorstát Éireann (Irish Free State) Statutes, or Statutory Instruments:
      • Pre-Union Irish Statutes (1236-1800)
      • English Statutes (1226-1707)
      • Pre-Union British Statutes (1707-1800)
      • United Kingdom Statutes (1801-1922)
      • Saorstát Éireann Statutes  (1922 – 1937)
    • The Legislation Directory also lists:
      • Orders made under section 6(1) of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1939
      • Commencement orders under the 1922-2005 legislation
      • Regulations made under section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972
Houses of the Oireachtas Web site http://www.oireachtas.ie/

Access: free

Status: PDF copies of Acts and Official translations – legally binding (prima facie evidence), html – informative value

Available Media: On-line database / Website, DVD (Debates)

Organisation responsible: Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas

Contents

Bills, Acts and Official Translations, and Parliamentary Debates

The Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas Web site contains the full text of Bills, Explanatory and Financial Memoranda, Amendments, Acts of the Oireachtas and Official Translations, and Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann.

Acts of the Oireachtas and Official Translations 1997 – 2008  – The full text of all Acts of the Oireachtas 1997 – 2008 and official translations is available on the Oireachtas site, as PDF versions of the documents as printed.
The following information is also available on the Houses of the Oireachtas Web site
  • Acts of the Oireachtas and available Official Translations 1922 – 2002 are available as html on the following Oireachtas Web sites:
  • Bills and explanatory Memoranda 1997 – 2008 - this includes the full text (in PDF) of all bills and explanatory memoranda since 1997, including links from the arrangement of sections to the sections of the bill. Amendment lists are included, and amendments in context are being developed at present. Links to debates on bills are also included.
  • Parliamentary Debates of both Houses since 1919 as available as html. Parliamentary committee debates will be added in 2008.
> Consolidated legislation

Official Collection

There is no official collection (collections that are legally binding by or on behalf of a State authority) of consolidated legislation in Ireland.

However, consolidation Acts are used on occasion to consolidate the law in certain areas.

Restatements are administrative consolidations of acts, which will be available in future.

The Legislation Directory (Chronoloical Tables) gives a view of an act or statutory instrument, as amendmented by later statutes or statutory instruments.

More details of each category are available below.

Irish Statute Book http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/

Access: free

Status: informative value

Available Media: On-line database / Website, CD-ROM

Deadline for Consolidation: There is no deadline for consolidation

Organisation responsible: Office of the Attorney General

Contents

Consolidation Acts

A consolidating Act consolidates existing statute law on a particular subject matter by repealing and re-enacting Acts and amendments to those Acts in a single legally binding Act.

Special procedures relating to Consolidation Bills are set out in Standing Orders of the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Examples of consolidation acts are:

Houses of the Oireachtas Web site http://www.oireachtas.ie/

Access: free

Status: PDF copies of Acts and Official translations legally binding (prima facie evidence), html copies – informative value

Available Media: On-line database / Website, DVD (Debates)

Deadline for Consolidation: There is no deadline for consolidation

Organisation responsible: Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas

Contents

Consolidation Acts

A consolidating Act consolidates existing statute law on a particular subject matter by repealing and re-enacting Acts and amendments to those Acts in a single legally binding Act.

Special procedures relating to Consolidation Bills are set out in Standing Orders of the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Examples of consolidation acts are:

  • Taxes Consolidation Act 1997
    • Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 – File 1
    • Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 – File 2
    • Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 – File 3
  • Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005

Law Reform Commission http://www.lawreform.ie/

Access: free

Status: work in progress, will be prima facie evidence in court

Available Media: On-line database / Website

Deadline for Consolidation: There is no deadline for consolidation

Organisation responsible:

Contents

Restatements

In accordance with the Statute Law Restatement Act 2002, the Law Reform Commission produces Statute Law Restatements.

A restatement is an administrative consolidation of an Act, as amended subsequently, which is made available in printed or electronic form in a single text and is certified by the Attorney General as an up-to date statement of the Act in question as amended. 

Irish Statute Book http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/

Access: free

Status: informative value

Available Media: On-line database / Website, CD-ROM

Deadline for Consolidation: There is no deadline for consolidation

Organisation responsible: Office of the Attorney General

Contents

Legislation Directory (Chronological Tables)

The purpose of the Legislative Directory is to enable users of the Irish Statute Book to identify whether a particular provision has been amended or otherwise affected since its enactment.

The Legislation Directory 1922-2005 indicates how the following statutes are affected by:

  • Acts of the Oireachtas,
  • Saorstát Éireann (Irish Free State) Statutes,
  • or Statutory Instruments:

The following statutes are affected:

  • Pre-Union Irish Statutes (1236-1800)
  • English Statutes (1226-1707)
  • Pre-Union British Statutes (1707-1800)
  • United Kingdom Statutes (1801-1922)
  • Saorstát Éireann Statutes  (1922-1937)
  • Acts of the Oireachtas (1937-2008)

The Legislation Directory also lists:

  • Orders made under section 6(1) of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1939
  • Commencement orders under the 1922-2005 legislation
  • Regulations made under section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972
> Commonly used legislative databases and websites

Britis h and Iris h Lega l Info rmatio n Instit ute
www.bailii.org
> Available media: website
> Organisation responsible: faculty of Law University College Cork
> Contents: all acts from 1922 to 2002
Iris h Lega l Info rmatio n Initiativ e
www.irlii.org
> Available media: website
> Organisation responsible: Faculty of Law University College Cork
> Contents: links to the statutory instruments which are available free of charge. It is intended to complement rather than compete with BAILI.
west law ie: The Iris h Online Lega l Research Service www.westlaw.ie
> Available media: website
> Organisation responsible: Faculty of Law University College Cork
> Contents: Collection of case law including renowned reporting series such as ILRM and ILTR providing full text law reports dating back to 1867; consolidated legislation; annotated legislation; unique collection of journals; relevant news and business information; current Awareness service (updated once a day)

> Commonly used private collections of consolidated legislation

westlaw.ie : The Irish Online Legal Research Service
www.westlaw.ie
> Organisation responsible: Thomson West
> Contents: consolidated superior court rules; consolidated circuit court rules; consolidated district court rules; Irish employment legislation; consolidated criminal legislation; consolidated road traffic legislation; family legislation service; consolidated company legislation; consolidated local government legislation; consolidated commercial legislation; consolidated insurance legislation
> Availability of texts: In which year did publication of this consolidated legislationbegin?
> Frequency of publication:

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