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CIVIL DEFENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1950

CIVIL DEFENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1950 - LONG TITLE

An Act to make further provision for civil defence.
[30th May 1950]
Suspension and revival of Civil Defence Acts.

CIVIL DEFENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1950 - SECT 1

1.(1) The operation of the Civil Defence Acts is hereby suspended:

Provided that the Ministry of Home Affairs (in this Act referred to
as "the Ministry") may by regulations bring again into operation any
provision of the Civil Defence Acts.

(2) Regulations made under this section may, as respects any
provisions of the Civil Defence Acts to which they relate, make
such modifications as appear to the Ministry to be necessary or
expedient, having regard to

(a)the passage of time;

(b)changes in the law; or

(c)changes in the relevant circumstances, including, in particular,
any actual or apprehended developments in the forms of warfare.

CIVIL DEFENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1950 - SECT 2
Civil defence functions of the Ministry.

2.(1) It shall be part of the functions of the Ministry to take
such steps as appear to it from time to time to be necessary or
expedient for civil defence purposes, and, in particular, and without
prejudice to the generality of the preceding words, such steps as
appear to the Ministry from time to time to be necessary or
expedient in connection with any of the following matters, that is
to say:

(a)the organisation, formation, maintenance, equipment and training of
civil defence forces and services;

(b)the organisation, equipment and training for civil defence purposes
of police forces and employees of public bodies (as defined in this
Act) employed primarily for purposes other than civil defence
purposes;

(c)the instruction of members of the public in civil defence and
their equipment for the purposes of civil defence;

(d)the provision, storage and maintenance of commodities and things
required for civil defence; and

(e)the provision, construction, maintenance or alteration of premises,
structures or excavations required for civil defence and the doing
of any other work required for civil defence.

Subs.(2) rep. by SI 1973/2163 art.14(2) sch.6

(3) If it appears to the Ministry to be necessary or expedient for
any of the purposes of this Act, the Ministry may

(a)by order establish a body or bodies consisting of such members
as may be designated by the order, who shall hold office on such
terms and subject to such conditions as shall be specified in the
order;

(b)delegate to any body so established such of the functions of the
Ministry under this Act as may be prescribed, or specified in the
relevant order.

CIVIL DEFENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1950 - SECT 3
Civil defence functions of public bodies.

3.(1) Public bodies shall, for civil defence purposes, and, in
particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the preceding
words, in connection with the matters specified in paragraphs (a) to
(e) of sub-section (1) of the last preceding section, have and
perform such functions as may be prescribed in relation to them by
regulations made by the Ministry.

(2) Regulations made under this section

(a) may require that, as respects the exercise of any functions
conferred on them under this section, any public body shall be
bound to comply with any directions given to them by the Ministry;

(b)may empower public bodies on whom functions are conferred under
this section to appoint committees (including joint committees)
constituted in accordance with the regulations, whether from among
their own members or not, may empower those public bodies to
authorise those or other committees, or other public bodies, to
exercise all or any of those functions on their behalf as their
agents, and may exclude any of those functions from the operation
of so much of any statutory provision as would otherwise require
that function, or any question connected therewith, to be delegated
to, or to stand referred to, or to be considered or otherwise
dealt with by, any particular committee or any other authority;

(c)may empower the Ministry, where it is satisfied that a public
body have failed or refused properly to discharge any functions
conferred on them under this section, either itself to discharge
those functions or to authorise or require some other public body
or person to exercise those functions;

(d)may, on such conditions, if any, as may be prescribed by the
regulations, authorise or require things to be done in contravention
of, or without compliance with, any statutory provision regulating or
restricting the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or
other operations in, on, over or under land, or the making of any
material change in the use of any buildings or other land; and

(e)may authorise the employment of personnel, and the provision,
construction or maintenance of premises and equipment, in excess of
any limits imposed by any enactment.

CIVIL DEFENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1950 - SECT 4
Powers as to land.

4.(1) Where it appears to the Ministry to be necessary or expedient
for the purpose of giving effect to any of the provisions of this
Act that any land should be acquired, the Ministry may acquire,
whether by agreement or compulsorily in accordance with the
provisions of the next succeeding sub-section, that land and any
easements or rights in or over any land adjacent thereto.

(2) The Ministry shall, where it desires to acquire otherwise than
by agreement any such land, easement, or right as aforesaid, have
power to make an order (in this Act referred to as a "vesting
order") vesting such land, easement or right (as the case may be)
in it and the provisions of [paragraphs (3) and (4) or Article 10
of, and Schedule 3 to, the Drainage (Northern Ireland) Order 1973],
shall, with the modifications thereof specified in the next
succeeding sub-section, apply for the purpose of the making of
vesting orders under this section, and shall have effect in relation
to every vesting order so made, as if the said provisions as so
modified were incorporated in this Act and in terms made applicable
thereto.

(3) The said provisions as applied for the purpose aforesaid shall
have effect as if

(a)references therein to the Ministry of Agriculture were references
to the Ministry;

<[(b)references therein to the said Order were references to this Act; and

(c)references therein to Article 10 of that Order were references to
this section.]

(4) Any person duly authorised in that behalf by the Ministry shall
have a right to enter any land at all reasonable hours for the
purpose of inspecting that or any other land with a view to
ascertaining whether or not anything ought to be constructed or done
thereon or any use made thereof for civil defence purposes:

Provided that a person proposing to exercise a power of entry
conferred under this section

(a)shall, if so required, produce some duly authenticated document
showing his authority;

(b)shall not demand admission as of right to any land which is
occupied unless twenty-four hours' notice of the intended entry has
been given to the occupier.

(5) If

(a)any person who, in compliance with the provisions of this
section, is admitted into a factory or workplace, discloses,
otherwise than in the performance of his duty, to any person any
information obtained by him in the factory or workplace with regard
to any manufacturing process or trade secret; or

(b)any person to whom, by reason of his official position, any
information obtained as aforesaid is disclosed, discloses, otherwise
than in the performance of his duty, that information to any
person;

Civil defence obligations of certain persons.

CIVIL DEFENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1950 - SECT 5

5. It is hereby declared that if and so far as provision in that
behalf is made by regulations, employees of public bodies employed
primarily for purposes other than civil defence purposes, are, as
such, under a duty to comply with requirements as to training for
and taking part in any form of civil defence for the time being
recognised by the Ministry as appropriate to be undertaken by
employees of the class concerned having regard to the nature of the
work for which those persons are primarily employed.

CIVIL DEFENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1950 - SECT 6
Expenditure.

6.(1) Except as otherwise provided by or under regulations made
under section one of this Act with the approval of the Ministry of
Finance, no grants shall be payable under the Civil Defence Acts in
respect of expenditure incurred for civil defence purposes.

(2) Subject to ... any such regulations as are referred to in the
preceding sub-section, all expenditure incurred with the approval of
the Ministry of Finance by or under the diriction of the Ministry
in carrying into effect the provisions of this Act or any
provisions of the Civil Defence Acts shall be defrayed out of
moneys provided by [the Parliament of the United Kingdom].

Subs.(3)(5) rep. by SRO (NI) 1973/341; subs.(6) rep. by 1972 NI 16
art.63(3) sch.19

(7) No regulations shall be made under this section unless a draft
thereof has, after approval by the Ministry of Finance, been laid
before and approved by resolution of the Commons House of
Parliament.

CIVIL DEFENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1950 - SECT 7
Orders, regulations, etc.

7.(1) Any order made under this Act or under any provision of the
Civil Defence Acts which is again brought into operation under
section one of this Act

(a)may contain such consequential and incidental provisions as appear
to the Ministry to be necessary or expedient;

Para.(b) rep. by SLR 1980

(2) Any regulations

(a)may contain provisions having purposes similar to any provisions
of the Air-Raid Precautions Act (Northern Ireland), 1938, or the
Civil Defence Act (Northern Ireland), 1939;

(b)may make different provision for different cases or classes of
cases;

(c)may in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the
last preceding paragraph, make different provision in relation to
different public bodies or classes of public bodies;

(d)may contain such consequential, incidental and supplemental
provisions as appear to the Ministry to be necessary or expedient;
and

(e)may provide penalties in respect of contraventions of any such
regulations.

(3) No regulations shall be made under any provision (other than
section six) of this Act unless a draft thereof has been laid
before Parliament and approved by resolution of each House of
Parliament:

Proviso rep. by SI 1973/2163 art.14(2) sch.6

(4) Regulations made under any provision of the Civil Defence Acts
which is again brought into operation under section one of this Act
shall, as soon as may be after they are made, be laid before each
House of Parliament. If either such House within the statutory
period next after any such regulations have been so laid resolves
that the regulations shall be annulled, those regulations shall,
after the date of the resolution, be void, but without prejudice to
the validity of anything done thereunder or to the making of new
regulations.

CIVIL DEFENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1950 - SECT 8
Offences.

8.(1) Any person who, for civil defence purposes, for reward

(a)executes any works; or

(b)supplies any appliance, equipment, commodity or other thing;

(2) Where at the trial of a person charged with an offence under
the preceding sub-section it is proved

(a)that he did not know of the defect, inadequacy or unsuitability
in respect of which he stands charged; and

(b)that his ignorance thereof was due to his own neglect or
default;

Interpretation.

CIVIL DEFENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1950 - SECT 9

9.(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires,

"Civil Defence Acts" means the Air-Raid Precautions Act (Northern
Ireland), 1938, and the Civil Defence Act (Northern Ireland), 1939,
as amended by this Act;

"civil defence" does not include the provision or maintenance of a
shelter which is used or intended to be used wholly or mainly by
naval, military or air forces but, save as aforesaid, includes any
measures not amounting to actual combat for affording defence against
any form of hostile attack by a foreign power or for depriving any
form of hostile attack by a foreign power of the whole or part of
its effect, whether the measures are taken before, at or after the
time of the attack;

"civil defence forces" and "civil defence services" mean respectively
forces and services formed wholly or mainly to meet the needs of
civil defence;

"civil defence shelter" means any shelter other than a shelter which
is used or intended to be used wholly or mainly by naval, military
or air forces;

"enactment" includes any provision in any Act (whether public
general, local or private) of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
or the Parliament of Northern Ireland, and a provision in any Order
in Council, order, regulation, rule, byelaw, scheme or other
instrument made under any such Act;

"land", in any provision of this Act relating to the acquisition of
land, includes any interests in land or water and any easement or
right in, to or over land or water;

Definition rep. by SRO (NI) 1973/341

"modification", in relation to any enactment, includes amendment or
extension of, or addition to or other adaptation of, and repeal of,
that enactment;

"police forces" means the Royal Ulster Constabulary ...;

"public body" means a [district council] or public utility
undertaker, [the Fire Authority for Northern Ireland] or any body so
designated by an order of the Ministry;

"public utility undertaker" means any body or person authorised by
or under any enactment, whether public general, local or private, to
construct, work, maintain or carry on

(a)any undertaking for the supply of electricity, gas or water;

(b)any railway, light railway, tramway, road transport, water
transport, canal or inland navigation, or dock or harbour;

"regulations" means regulations made by the Ministry under this Act;

"a shelter" means any premises, structure or excavation used or
intended to be used to provide shelter from any form of hostile
attack by a foreign power;

"statutory period" means ...

definition in 1954 c.33 (NI) s.41(2) substituted by 1979 NI 12
art.10

"works" includes the provision, construction, maintenance or alteration
of premises, structures or excavations required for civil defence.

Subs.(2) rep. by 1954 c.33 (NI) s.48(1) sch.

CIVIL DEFENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1950 - SECT 10
Short title and citation.

10.(1) This Act may be cited as the Civil Defence Act (Northern
Ireland), 1950, and this Act and the Civil Defence Acts may be
cited together as the Civil Defence Acts (Northern Ireland), 1938 to
1950.

Subs.(2) rep. by SLR (NI) 1954