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FLAGS AND EMBLEMS (DISPLAY) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1954

FLAGS AND EMBLEMS (DISPLAY) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1954 - LONG TITLE

An Act to make provision with respect to the display of certain
flags and emblems.
[6th April 1954]
Display of Union flag.

FLAGS AND EMBLEMS (DISPLAY) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1954 - SECT 1

1. Any person who prevents or threatens to interfere by force with
the display of a Union flag (usually known as the Union Jack) by
another person on or in any lands or premises lawfully occupied by
that other person shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

FLAGS AND EMBLEMS (DISPLAY) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1954 - SECT 2
Removal of provocative emblems.

2.(1) Where any police officer, having regard to the time or place
at which and the circumstances in which any emblem is being
displayed, apprehends that the display of such emblem may occasion a
breach of the peace, he may require the person displaying or
responsible for the display of such emblem to discontinue such
display or cause it to be discontinued; and any person who refuses
or fails to comply with such a requirement shall be guilty of an
offence against this Act.

(2) Where

(a)a requirement under the preceding sub-section is not complied
with; or

(b)the person responsible for such display is not readily available;
or

(c)no person, or no person responsible for such display and capable
of complying with such a requirement, is present on or in any
lands or premises whereon or wherein such an emblem is being
displayed;

(3) It shall be a good defence to any proceedings (whether civil
or criminal) against a police officer or constable in respect of
anything done or omitted to be done for the purpose or in the
course of carrying into effect the provisions of this section, to
prove that anything in respect of which the proceedings have been
instituted was done, or as the case may be omitted, in good faith
for the purpose or in the course of carrying into effect any of
those provisions.

(4) In this section the expression "emblem" includes a flag of any
kind other than the Union flag, and the expression "police officer"
means an officer, head-constable or sergeant of the Royal Ulster
Constabulary.

FLAGS AND EMBLEMS (DISPLAY) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1954 - SECT 3
Penalties.

3.(1) Any person guilty of an offence against this Act shall be
liable

(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months;

(b)on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding five hundred
pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years;

(2) A court before which a person is convicted of an offence under
section two of this Act may order any emblem in respect of which
he is so convicted, and which has been seized and detained under
that section, to be destroyed or otherwise disposed of.

FLAGS AND EMBLEMS (DISPLAY) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1954 - SECT 4
Restriction on prosecutions.

4. Where any person is charged with any offence against this Act
... further proceedings on such a charge shall not be taken against
him without the consent of the Attorney-General for Northern Ireland.

FLAGS AND EMBLEMS (DISPLAY) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1954 - SECT 5
Short title.

5. This Act may be cited as the Flags and Emblems (Display) Act
(Northern Ireland), 1954.