Thus the Constitution Special Power Tribunal made up of military officers of the Irish State was empowered to try certain offenses and the members of this tribunal had the power to increase sentences if it was considered to be necessary. Furthermore, this amendment gave exorbitant powers to police forces, and prohibited certain associations. The powers of this tribunal were wide-ranging, as it could try certain specially targeted offenses, but also all offenses which, on the recommendation of a Minister, were aimed at preventing the operation of the government or the administration of justice. .
This court was severely criticized on the grounds that it gave the executive power arbitrary powers so extensive that they ran counter to the natural rights of man. A famous decision of the Supreme Court in 1934 The State (Ryan and others) v. Lennon and others 6 challenged the legitimacy of this court. Although the Supreme Court accepted the its constitutionality, the decision is better known for the dissenting opinion expressed by Judge Kennedy C. who underlined the fact that natural law prohibited any sovereign parliament from legislating against itself.
The 1937 Constitution added a constitutional safeguard to the existence of special courts in the criminal domain, and the Irish State inherited a controversial past with respect to the existence of special courts to try acts against the State. .
While the Irish Constitution provides for the existence of Special Courts, it says nothing about their implementation and their operation. It is the prerogative of the Irish parliament or "Oireachtas" to lay down the organization of these special courts when it considers that the ordinary courts are inadequate to allow "effective administration of justice and the preservation of the public order and peace". .