Emergency Powers Act 1939

Front cover of Emergency Powers Order, 1939, under the legislation

The Emergency Powers Act 1939[1] (EPA) was an Act of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) enacted on 3 September 1939, after an official state of emergency had been declared on 2 September 1939 in response to the outbreak of the Second World War.[2] The Act empowered the government to:[3]

make provisions for securing the public safety and the preservation of the state in time of war and, in particular, to make provision for the maintenance of public order and for the provision and control of supplies and services essential to the life of the community, and to provide for divers and other matters (including the charging of fees on certain licences and other documents) connected with the matters aforesaid.

The EPA lapsed on 2 September 1946. The state of emergency itself was not rescinded until 1 September 1976.

  1. ^ Book (eISB), electronic Irish Statute. "electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB)". www.irishstatutebook.ie. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Existence of National Emergency". Dáil debates. Oireachtas. 2 September 1939. p. 13. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  3. ^ EPA, preamble

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