Referendum 2013
On
October the fourth you will be asked to vote on two referendums, one on whether
or not the Seanad should be abolished and the second on whether or not a new
Court of Appeal should be set up. Below we have some important information regarding the changes that might occur.
1. The Seanad
What will it mean if the bill is
passed?
- All articles relating exclusively to the Seanad will be removed from the Constitution. References to the “Houses of the Oireachtas” or “either House of the Oireachtas” will be replaced with Dáil Éireann.
- The current Seanad will continue to function until the next general election.
What will it mean if the bill is rejected?
There will be no change to the
Seanad.
What does the Seanad do at present?
The functions of the Seanad are set
out in the Constitution. The main role of the Seanad is as part of the law
making process.
A law begins as a Bill. A Bill must
be accepted by the Dáil and by the Seanad. It is then signed by the President. Once
this procedure is complete the bill (proposed law) becomes an Act.
This process of general law making
starts in either the Dáil or the Seanad where a Bill is presented. Members of
the houses may propose changes to the bill at this point. The Seanad does not
have the power to prevent a Bill becoming an Act or to make changes to it
without the agreement of the Dáil. It can however delay a Bill for up to 90
days.
If this referendum on the abolition
of the Seanad is passed how will the above change?
- The Oireachtas will consist of only the Dáil and the President
- Where a Bill is passed by the Dáil and then signed by the President it will become law.
Money Bills
The President can refer Bills to the
Supreme Court to determine whether or not they are constitutional. In the case
of a Money bill this is not the case.
Essentially Money bills deal only
with matters relating to public finances. Currently they start in the Dáil. The
Seanad must consider these Bills but does not have the power to make changes;
it can make recommendations which the Dáil may or may not accept. The Seanad does
not have the power to delay Money Bills as it can with other Bills. The Seanad
can question whether or not a Bill is a Money Bill.
If this referendum on the abolition
of the Seanad is passed how will the above change?
The Dáil will have the final
decision on whether or not a Bill is a Money Bill.
The
Referral of Bills to the People:
The Constitution allows for Bills to
be referred to the people for a referendum if a majority of the Seanad and not
less than one third of the Dáil request the President not to sign a Bill as it
contains a proposal of such national importance that the decision should be
made by the people.
If
this referendum on the abolition of the Seanad is passed how will it affect the
Referral of Bills to the People?
This possibility of the reference of
Bills to the people by the President will be removed from the Constitution.
Changes in the case of a National
Emergency:
Currently: The Oireachtas has the power to pass laws to secure public
safety or to preserve the State in the case of war or armed rebellion. These
laws are open to a challenge in the Courts for being unconstitutional.
In the case of a war in which the
State is not involved, laws may be passed provided the Dáil and the Seanad have
both decided that a national emergency exists which affects key interests of
the State.
If this referendum on the abolition
of the Seanad is passed how will it affect the law making process in the case
of a National Emergency?
In this case the Dáil will have the sole
power to decide whether such a national emergency exists and to pass national
emergency laws.
Approval
of certain European Union (EU) proposals
Currently Ireland can adopt certain
EU laws and only where advanced approval is given by both the Dáil and the
Seanad.
If this referendum on the abolition
of the Seanad is passed how will it affect the Approval of certain European
Union (EU) proposals?
Only Dáil approval will be needed to adopt such EU laws.
Nominations for President
Currently a presidential candidate may
be nominated by 20 members of the Dáil and Seanad.
If
this referendum on the abolition of the Seanad is passed how will it affect Nominations
for President?
Prospective presidential candidates will need nominations from only 14 members of the Dáil.
Removal
of the President from office
The President may be impeached for
stated misbehaviour. The process may start in either the Dáil or the Seanad.
Such a proposal must be signed by a minimum of 30 members of either the Dáil or
the Seanad. It can be adopted where it has the support of two-thirds of the
members of the proposing House. Where it is adopted by one House, the charges
are investigated by the other House. The
President is removed from office where two-thirds of the members of this other
House hold the charges to be valid.
If this referendum on the abolition
of the Seanad is passed how will it affect the Removal of the President from
office?
Impeachment of the President would
be a matter solely for the Dáil. A proposal for impeachment would need the
signatures of a minimum of 30 Dáil members and the adoption of such a proposal
would require agreement of four-fifths of members. The Dáil would investigate
the charges themselves and could decide to remove the President from office
where four-fifths of Dáil members agree.
Removal
of Judges from office
Currently Judges
of the Supreme Court and the High Court can be removed from office for stated
misbehaviour or incapacity where a majority of members present and voting in
each of the houses pass such a resolution.
If this referendum is passed:
Judges could be removed in the above
cases where two-thirds of the total membership of the Dáil votes in favor of
such a resolution. This change would also apply to the removal of the Comptroller
& Auditor General from office as the procedures are the same.
http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2013/6313/b63a13d.pdf
2. The Court of Appeal
- On whether to establish a Court of Appeal and
- On whether to change how the Supreme Court issues decisions for cases on whether or not a law is constitutional.
The Courts system
The present Courts system includes the Supreme Court, the High Court, the Circuit Court and the District Court (lowest level court) as well as the Court of Criminal Appeal. The roles of the High Court and the Supreme Court are set out in the Constitution.How will this change if the referendum on a new Court of Appeal is passed?
A new Court, the Court of Appeal, will be established
between the High Court and the Supreme Court.
Currently there are long delays for appeals to be heard by the Supreme Court.
The new Court of Appeal would reduce this delay and it would hear most of the appeals currently heard by the Supreme Court, almost all of the appeals from decisions of the High Court and appeals from other courts where laws are passed to allow this.
For the most part the decision made by the Court of Appeal would be final. In some cases however, there could be a further appeal to the Supreme Court and there may also be cases involving direct appeals from the High Court to the Supreme Court.The Supreme Court will hear appeals from the Court of Appeal where it considers that the decision involves a matter of public importance or the interests of justice require it.
The Supreme Court will hear appeals that come directly from
the High Court if it considers there to be exceptional circumstances which call
for such an appeal to it. In such a case the decision must involve a matter of
general public importance and/or the interests of justice require it.
The referendum on the Court of Appeal also proposes a change
to how the Supreme Court issues decisions in certain cases.
The
“one judgment” rule
At present there must be at least
five judges of the Supreme Court sitting when a decision is being made on
constitutionality of a law. The Constitution currently states that this
decision of must be given by one judge. As a result it is unknown whether any
of the other judges disagree with the decision and their reason for doing so.
If this referendum is passed:
- The one “judgment” will no longer operate. Each judge could give their opinion.
- In the case where the President refers a Bill which has been passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas to the Supreme Court for a decision on its constitutionality, the referendum proposal does not seek to make changes. A decision in such a case would still be given by one judge.
http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2013/7913/b79b13d.pdf
If you would like further information on either of these referendum then please visit http://referendum2013.ie/
