Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922

Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922

The Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 (Session 2) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed in 1922 to confirm the Constitution of the Irish Free State, and to ratify the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty.

As originally enacted, the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 consisted of a preamble, five sections (three of which were very brief), and a schedule. The bill for the Act was introduced by the Prime Minister David Lloyd George into the Parliament of the United Kingdom in November 1922. The bill's third reading in the House of Commons was on 30 November.

The Preamble, like the preamble to the Act passed by the Provisional Parliament of the Free State, bases the Constitution on the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 6 December 1921. It recites that the Constitution shall be construed in reference to the Treaty and:

"if any provision of the said Constitution or of any amendment thereof or of any law made there under is in any respect repugnant to any of the provisions of the Scheduled Treaty, it shall, to the extent only of such repugnancy be absolutely void and inoperative and the Parliament and the Executive Council of the Irish Free State shall respectively pass such further legislation and do such other things as may be necessary to implement the Scheduled Treaty."

The first section of the Act declares the Constitution adopted by the Provisional Parliament to be the Constitution of the Irish Free State. Its adoption is to be effective not later than 6 December 1922 by Royal Proclamation and the Constitution will come into operation on the issue of such Royal Proclamation. Section 2 makes provision for certain taxation related matters.

The Constitution of the Irish Free State in the form in which it was passed by the Provisional Parliament forms the First Schedule of the Act. The Articles of Agreement for a treaty between Great Britain and Ireland form the Second Schedule.