The Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936 (No. 58 of 1936) was an Act of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament). The Act, which was signed into law on 12 December 1936, was one of two passed hurriedly in the aftermath of the Edward VIII abdication crisis to sharply reduce the role of the
Crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
. It is also sometimes referred to as the External Relations Act.
Background and provisions of the Act
Under the
Constitution of the Irish Free State
The Constitution of the Irish Free State ( ga, Bunreacht Shaorstát Eireann) was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution,Governor-General as representative of the Crown. But the
1932 Irish general election
The 1932 Irish general election to the 7th Dáil was held on Tuesday, 16 February, just over two weeks after the dissolution of the 6th Dáil on 29 January. The general election took place in 30 parliamentary constituencies throughout the Ir ...
was won by
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian ...
, led by Éamon de Valera and other republicans who had opposed the monarchial elements in the constitution, and part of their programme aimed to reduce the role and visibility of the monarch in Irish political life.
In the aftermath of King Edward VIII's signing of an Instrument of Abdication on 10 December 1936, the
Oireachtas of the Irish Free State
The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State ( ga, Oireachtas Shaorstát Éireann) was the legislature of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1937. It was established by the 1922 Constitution of Ireland which was based from the Anglo-Irish Treaty. ...
enacted the
Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936
The Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936 was an amendment to the Constitution of the Irish Free State that removed all reference to the King, to the office of Governor-General, and almost completely eliminated the King's constitutional role i ...
abolishing the office of the Governor-General so that thereafter the powers of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State, insofar as internal matters were concerned, ceased to be exercised in the name of the King. While the Crown was thus abolished for the purposes of internal government, article 51 of the amendment allowed the Executive Council to, for the purposes of foreign relations, make use of "any organ used as a constitutional organ for the like purposes by ther nations of the Commonwealth"
The Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936 was enacted the following day to implement that provision. It provided that the diplomatic and consular representatives of the Irish Free State in other countries should be appointed, and that the Irish Free State's international agreements should be concluded, by the King acting on the advice of the Executive Council (as. 1–2). Thus the Act preserved the Crown to a limited extent in the sphere of external relations.
More particularly, the Act stipulated (s. 3(1)) that:
It was in that manner specifically provided that so long as the Irish Free State was associated with the members of the British Commonwealth and so long as the members of the Commonwealth continue to recognise the King as the symbol of their special relationship and the King acts on their behalf in the sphere of external affairs, the King shall continue to act in the external relations of the Irish Free State. The meaning of this provision was a matter of considerable uncertainty.
The Act also brought Edward VIII's Instrument of Abdication into effect for the purposes of Irish law (s. 3(2)). Due to the Act's phrasing, Edward VIII's abdication was actually back-dated to the day before that on which it took effect in the United Kingdom and most of the other Dominions.
Unfortunately the speed with which the 1936 Act was passed also meant that some serious legal matters had been overlooked by the draughtsmen, touching on the top of the Irish legal hierarchy. In May 1937 these were covered by the
Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act 1937
The Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1937 was an Act of the Oireachtas which retrospectively completed the abolition of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State.
In December 1936, then President of the Executive Council of th ...
. As the Governor-Generalship had not been actually abolished by the 1936 Act, this Act was required to validate the otherwise-unlawful appointment of the
Chief Justice of Ireland
The Chief Justice of Ireland ( ga, Príomh-Bhreitheamh na hÉireann) is the president of the Supreme Court of Ireland. The chief justice is the highest judicial office and most senior judge in Ireland. The role includes constitutional and admini ...
Attorney General of Ireland
The Attorney General of Ireland ( ga, An tArd-Aighne) is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does pa ...
and even the pension of the outgoing Governor-General needed to be legalised.
Repeal
The Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936 was repealed by
The Republic of Ireland Act 1948
The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 (No. 22 of 1948) is an Act of the Oireachtas which declared that the description of Ireland was to be the Republic of Ireland, and vested in the president of Ireland the power to exercise the executive authority ...
, which came into force on 18 April 1949. The new Act vested the powers possessed by the King in the President of Ireland.