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CONSTABULARY AND POLICE (IRELAND) ACT 1883

CONSTABULARY AND POLICE (IRELAND) ACT 1883 - LONG TITLE

An Act to amend the Laws relating to the Pay and Pensions of the
Royal Irish Constabulary and the Police Force of Dublin Metropolis;
and for other purposes.{1}
[18th June 1883]
Preliminary

CONSTABULARY AND POLICE (IRELAND) ACT 1883 - SECT 1

1. This Act may be cited for all purposes as the Constabulary and
Police (Ireland) Act, 1883.

S.2 rep. by SLR 1898; 1914 c.54 s.7 sch.4; SLR 1976

CONSTABULARY AND POLICE (IRELAND) ACT 1883 - SECT 3
Right of constables to pensions.

3.(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, every constable of the
Royal Irish Constabulary... who shall become a member of the force
after the passing of this Act

Paras.(a)(b) rep. by SLR 1976

(c)if he is incapacitated for the performance of his duty by
infirmity of mind or body occasioned in the execution of his duty
without his own default, shall be entitled to retire and to receive
a pension for life;....

Para.(d) rep. by SLR 1976

(2) Provided that

Para.(a) rep. by SLR 1976

(b)where a constable receives a pension under this section, before
he has completed fifteen years service, the pension shall be subject
to such reduction by the Inspector General as is provided by this
Act.

(3) The said pensions... shall be in accordance with the pension
scale under this Act, and, subject to the limits in that scale,
shall be such as the Inspector General, with the approval of the
Treasury, may determine.

(4) Provided that where a pension is granted to a constable on
account of infirmity of mind or body, and such infirmity is
certified by some legally qualified medical practitioner to have been
brought about or been contributed to by his own default or by his
vicious habits, and such constable is entitled under this Act to a
pension of a fixed amount or to a pension not less than a fixed
amount, the Inspector General may, subject to the limit in the
pension scale, grant to him a less amount of pension than the said
fixed amount of pension to which he would otherwise have been
entitled.

The pension scale under this Act shall be the scale set out in
the Second Schedule to this Act.

Subs.(5)(6) rep. by SLR 1976

CONSTABULARY AND POLICE (IRELAND) ACT 1883 - SECT 4
Pension allowances and gratuities to widows and children.

4.(1) Where a constable dies from some cause which, if it had only
incapacitated him from the performance of his duty, would have
entitled him to a pension for life, the Inspector General shall
grant a pension to his widow and children.

Subs.(2)(3) rep. by SLR 1976

(4) The said pension allowances and gratuities shall be in
accordance with the pension scale under this Act, and subject to
the limits in that scale, shall be such as the Inspector General,
with the consent of the Treasury, may determine.

Subs.(5) rep. by SLR 1976

(6) This section shall not apply to the widow... of any constable
who marries after the passing of this Act, unless the marriage of
such constable is in accordance with the regulations of the force.

CONSTABULARY AND POLICE (IRELAND) ACT 1883 - SECT 5
Reckoning of service in other police forces for pension.

5.(1) In reckoning the service of a constable for the purposes of
this Act, approved service in any other police force, or if he has
served in more than one, then in each police force in which he
served for not less than three years approved service, and from
which with the written sanction of the chief officer of that force
he removed to another force, or to the Royal Irish Constabulary,
shall be reckoned as service in the Royal Irish Constabulary; and
the length of service which a constable is entitled to reckon in
the police force from which he removes shall be stated in the said
written sanction, or shall otherwise be sent in writing by the
chief officer of that force to the Inspector General of the Royal
Irish Constabulary on the removal of the constable into the Royal
Irish Constabulary. For the purposes of this Act, approved service
shall mean such continuous service as may, after deduction, if any,
for sickness, misconduct, or other cause, be established to the
satisfaction of the police authority having the control of such
police force, to have been diligent and faithful service.

(2) Where a constable with the knowledge of the Inspector General
belongs to the army reserve, his absence when called out for
training or for permanent service shall not prevent his service in
the constabulary being deemed to be continuous service for the
purposes of this Act, and he shall be entitled on returning to the
Constabulary after the end of such absence, to reckon any service
which he was entitled to reckon at the commencement thereof.

CONSTABULARY AND POLICE (IRELAND) ACT 1883 - SECT 6
Reduction of pension granted on ground of incapacity.

6.Subs.(1)(3) rep. by SLR 1976

(4) Where a pension is granted to a constable who has served for
less than fifteen years on the ground of his being incapacitated by
infirmity of mind or body for the discharge of his duty, and the
Inspector General is, before the expiration of such time as would
together with the period of his service prior to the grant of the
pension make up a period of twenty-five years, satisfied, by the
evidence of some legally qualified medical practitioner or
practitioners employed or approved by him, or otherwise, that such
incapacity has partly ceased, the Inspector General may, subject to
the limits in the pension scale, reduce permanently or temporarily
the pension granted to such constable.

(5) If a constable fails or refuses, when so required by the
Inspector General, to be examined by some legally qualified medical
practitioner or practitioners employed or approved by such Inspector
General, the Inspector General shall have the same power of...
reducing the pension of such constable as he would have under this
section if satisfied by the evidence of any such practitioner that
the incapacity of such constable had wholly or partly ceased.

CONSTABULARY AND POLICE (IRELAND) ACT 1883 - SECT 7
Forfeiture of pension or allowance.

7. A pension or allowance under this Act is granted only upon
condition that it becomes forfeited, and may be withdrawn by the
Inspector General, in any of the following cases:

(a)If the grantee is convicted of any indictable offence; or

(b)If the grantee knowingly associates with thieves or suspected
persons; or

(c)If the grantee refuses to give to the police all information and
assistance in his power for the detection of crime, for the
apprehension of criminals, and for the suppression of any disturbance
of the public peace; or

(d)If the grantee is guilty of any conduct which is illegal or in
the opinion of the Inspector General disgraceful, or enters into or
continues to carry on any business, occupation, or employment, in
which (if he was a constable) he has made use of the fact of his
former employment in the police in a manner which the Inspector
General considers to be discreditable and improper.

S.8 rep. by SLR 1976

CONSTABULARY AND POLICE (IRELAND) ACT 1883 - SECT 9
Punishment for obtaining pension, &c. by fraud.

9. Where a person obtains any pension, gratuity, or allowance under
this Act [by any false representation or false evidence, or by
personation, or by malingering or feigning disease or infirmity, or]
by maiming or injuring himself, or causing himself to be maimed or
injured, or otherwise producing disease or infirmity, [or by any
other fraudulent conduct,] such person shall be liable to a fine
not exceeding twenty pounds, or to imprisonment,... for a period not
exceeding three months, and also to forfeit the pension, gratuity,
or allowance obtained.

Offences against this section may be prosecuted, and penalties
recovered, in a summary manner.

Ss.10, 11 by SLR 1976. S.12 rep. by SRO (NI) 1970/111

Schedule I rep. by 1914 c.54 s.7 sch.4Para.(1) rep. by SLR 1976

(2) The pension to a constable on retirement who is partially
incapacitated by infirmity of mind or body occasioned in the
execution of his duty without his own default shall, in the case
of accidental injury, be according to the following scale, that is
to say,

(a)if he has completed not more than five years service, an annual
sum not more than ten fiftieths of his annual pay; and

(b)if he has completed more than five and not more than ten years
service, an annual sum not more than twelve fiftieths of his annual
pay; and

(c)if he has completed more than ten years and not more than
fifteen years service an annual sum not more than fifteen fiftieths
of his annual pay;....

Sub-para.(d) rep. by SLR 1976

Proviso rep. by SLR 1976

(3) The pension to a constable on retirement who is wholly
incapacitated by infirmity of mind or body occasioned in the
execution of his duty without his own default shall, in the case
of accidental injury, be according to the following scale, that is
to say,

(a)if he has completed not more than ten years service, an annual
sum not more than fifteen fiftieths of his annual pay; and

(b)if he has completed more than ten and not more than fifteen
years service, an annual sum not more than twenty fiftieths of his
annual pay;....

Sub-para.(c) rep. by SLR 1976

Proviso rep. by SLR 1976

(4) The pension to a constable on retirement who is partially
incapacitated by infirmity of mind or body occasioned in the
execution of his duty without his own default in a case other than
a case of accidental injury, shall be according to the following
scale; that is to say,

(a)if he has completed not more than ten years service, an annual
sum not more than twenty fiftieths of his annual pay; and

(b)if he has completed more than ten but not more than fifteen
years service, an annual sum not more than one half of his annual
pay;....

Sub-para.(c) rep. by SLR 1976

Proviso rep. by SLR 1976

(5) The pension to a constable on retirement who is wholly
incapacitated by infirmity of mind or body occasioned in the
execution of his duty without his own default, in a case other
than a case of accidental injury, shall be an annual sum not more
than his annual pay.....

Para.(6) rep. by SLR 1976

(7) Where, on account of the infirmity of mind or body of a
constable having been brought about or been contributed to by his
own default or by his vicious habits, the pension granted to such
constable is of less amount than that to which he would otherwise
be entitled, the diminution of such pension shall not exceed five
fiftieths of the annual pay of such constable.

(8) A pension granted to a constable who has completed less than
the fifteen years service shall not, if reduced on account of
partial recovery from his incapacity, be less than one fiftieth of
his annual pay for every completed year of service of such
constable.

(9) Where a constable has died from some cause which, if it had
only incapacitated him for the performance of his duty, would have
entitled him to a pension for life, the pension to his widow...
shall be according to the following scale:

(a)the pension to the widow shall be an annual sum equal to one
tenth of the constable's pay or the sum of [twenty-six pounds],
whichever is the larger;....

Sub-para.(b) rep. by SLR 1976

Paras.(10)(11) rep. by SLR 1976

(12) The pension to a widow shall continue only while she...
continues to be of good character.

Para.(13) rep. by SLR 1976

(14) For the purpose of estimating any pension,... under this
schedule

(a)a pension... to a constable shall be calculated according to the
amount of his annual pay at the date of his retirement, or of the
injury or cause occasioning the incapacity which compels his
retirement, whichever is the larger;

(b)a pension... to the widow... of a constable shall be calculated
according to the amount of the constable's annual pay at the date
of his death or of the injury or cause occasioning his death, or
where he had a pension of his retirement;

(c)but where a constable who becomes a member of the force after
the passing of this Act has, in the course of the three years
next before the date of his retirement, or death, or such injury,
or cause, been in receipt of a different annual pay from that
which he is receiving at that date, his annual pay at the date of
the retirement, death, injury, or cause shall be deemed to be the
average annual amount of pay received by him for the said three
years, instead of the annual amount actually received by him at
that date.

Sub-para.(d) rep. by SLR 1976

The annual pay with reference to which pensions... under this Act
shall be calculated is the pay set out in the First and Third
Schedules to this Act. In converting weekly pay into annual pay the
year shall be taken to be fifty-two weeks.