In the Irish Courts
| Published date | 01 July 1941 |
| Date | 01 July 1941 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002201834100500306 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
In the Irish Courts
HIGH
COURT
OF
EIRE
COMPULSORY
TILLAGE
Minister for Agriculture v. Donegan [1941],
l.R.,
215
THIS
was a case stated from
the
District
Court
to
the
High
Court
of Eire. As
Hanna
J. remarked (at p.
222),
it is
" a very interesting
case",
and, in view of the present-day
universal drive for more extensive schemes of food production,
its interest is
not
confined to the legal profession, even
though
the
topics over which (to
quote
the
same learned judge) it
"
wandered"
are purely legal.
But
it is chiefly noteworthy
for
the
fact
that
the
High
Court's
decision defeated
what
all
members
of
that
Court
who
heard
the appeal agreed to be
the
intention of
the
government in making
the
Order
under
which
the
defendant was prosecuted-s-and this in spite of the remark
of Black J. (at p.
222)
th
it
in his
opinion"
A
man
who fails
to carry
out
his obligations
under
such
an
Order
is a public
enemy
and
should be dealt
with
as
such
".
Art. 5, sub-clause Iof what is ordinarily known as
the
Compulsory Tillage
Order
1provides
that
"Every
person
who is an occupier of a holding to which this
Order
applies
shall in
the
year 1940 cultivate
and
maintain in cultivation a
(certain) portion of
such
holding".
A
summons
issued in
October, 1940, charged
the
defendant
with
failure to cultivate
the
required portion of his holding between
the
z
rst
June
and
the
4th
October
of
that
year.
The
facts
and
their
agri-
cultural significance were
not
in dispute
and
were
set
out
in
paragraph
7 of
the
case, stated by
the
District
Justice in
the
following
terms:
"The
said holdings are
not
cultivated
and
could
not
be cultivated so as to provide acrop on or before
1
Emergency
Powers
(No.
12)
Order,
1939
(S.R.
&
0.,
1939,
No.
299)·
236
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