History of Irish and French Terrorism

As the establishment of the Special Courts was the Parliament's responsibility, it therefore had two routes to justify these special courts: either it could enact acts of parliament from time to time, whenever the ordinary courts were ineffectual in ensuring effective administration of justice and preservation of public order and peace; in this case the government would have been obliged to decide that the conditions were such that there was a justification for the enactment of an act of parliament, after a parliamentary debate which would stipulate the limited duration of this act
             The Parliament could however choose a second option which consisted in adopting a single act providing that the part of the act which allowed the creation of special courts in criminal matter could be put in place at any time, according to a specific mechanism. .
             No details were set out in the 1937 Constitution regarding the mechanism to be put in place to create these courts, only stating that it was the Parliament's prerogative. The parliament had to choose between the two possibilities that were available to it. .
             It was the second option that was chosen in Ireland to create the legislation required to establish special courts. Thus, an act of Parliament passed in 1939, The Offenses Against The State Act part V, provided for the existence of Special Criminal Courts capable of trying offenses referred to in the act according to a mechanism to be determined by the Irish government. .
             Before entering into the details of this mechanism, it is necessary to say a few words about the Act that constitutes the legal basis of the Special Criminal Courts in Ireland. The 1939 Offenses Against The State Act did not come about by chance, but rather by necessity, in order, once again, to respond to exceptional circumstances brought about by Irish terrorism.