The Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 ( 12 & 13 Geo. 5. c. 4) was an act of the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

passed on 31 March 1922. It gave the force of law to the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

, which was scheduled to the Act.

Main provisions

Section 1(1) of the act provides that: * the "Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland set forth in the Schedule to this Act shall have the force of law from the date of the passing of this Act". Section 1(2) provided that for the purposes of giving effect to Article 17 of the Treaty: * the British Government could by

Orders in Council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...

transfer powers to the

Provisional Government of Southern Ireland The Provisional Government of Ireland () was the provisional government for the administration of Southern Ireland from 16 January 1922 to 5 December 1922. It was a transitional administration for the period between the ratification of the Anglo ...

; * the

Parliament of Southern Ireland The Parliament of Southern Ireland was a Home Rule legislature established by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was designed to legislate for Southern Ireland,Order in Cou ...

would be dissolved within four months from the passing of the Act; and * elections would be held for "the House of the Parliament" to which the Provisional Government would be responsible. The Act did not give a name to that Parliament but said that in matters within the jurisdiction of the Provisional Government (i.e. only certain matters concerning Southern Ireland), it would have power to make laws in like manner as the Parliament of the Irish Free State when constituted. Sections 11 and 12 provided for the right of Northern Ireland to opt out of the new dominion and remain within the United Kingdom.

Effect and repeal

Notably, the act (under section 1(5) of the act) was stated explicitly not to be the act of Parliament for the ''ratification'' of the

. That function was to fall to the

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 enact in UK law the Constitution of the Irish Free State, and to ratify the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty formally. Provisio ...

. Instead, the Act was primarily intended to provide interim provisional arrangements necessary before the establishment of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

, which under the Treaty had to be established on or before 6 December 1922. By

Order in Council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...

under the act, the British Government formally transferred powers to the existing Provisional Government on 1 April 1922. That government had constituted itself on 14 January 1922 and had since chosen Michael Collins as its chairman. Their ministerial appointments now became official and were announced in ''

Iris Oifigiúil (; "''Official Journal''") is the official gazette of the government of Ireland. It replaced '' The Dublin Gazette'', the gazette of the Dublin Castle administration, on 31 January 1922. '' The Belfast Gazette'' was established for the same p ...

'' No.19 of 4 April 1922. The Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 and the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 were repealed by th
Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989
Schedule 1, Part III.

References

External links

(HistoricalDocuments.org.uk) {{UK legislation 1922 in British law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1922 British constitutional laws concerning Ireland Political history of Ireland Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations Irish Free State Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Ireland Constitutional laws of Northern Ireland 1922 in Irish law