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Restrictions on taking proceedings against certain persons.
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1.—(1) No action or other legal proceeding whatsoever, whether civil or criminal, shall be instituted in any court of law or equity in Saorstát Eireann for or on account of or in respect of any act, matter, or thing done, whether within or outside Saorstát Eireann, after the 21st day of January, 1919, and before the 28th day of June, 1922, provided such act, matter, or thing—
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(a) was done by a person then holding office under the First Dáil Eireann or the Second Dáil Eireann or employed in any capacity whatsoever in any service, military or civil, established or maintained by or under the authority of the First Dáil Eireann or the Second Dáil Eireann, or was done by any other person acting under the authority of a person so holding office or so employed; and
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(b) was done or purported to be done for the purpose or in the course of the struggle to bring about the establishment and maintenance of the First Dáil Eireann and the Second Dáil Eireann respectively as the lawful government of Saorstát Eireann, or (if done on or after the 11th day of July, 1921) was done or purported to be done in connection with the struggle aforesaid or in continuance of a course of conduct begun before the date aforesaid for the purpose or in the course of the said struggle; and
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(c) was done in good faith; and
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(d) was done or in good faith purported to be done in the execution of the duty of the person doing the same, or in exercise or execution of any authority conferred on such person, or the person under whose authority he was acting, by the First Dáil Eireann or the Second Dáil Eireann, or for the public safety, or for the enforcement of discipline, or otherwise in the public interest.
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(2) No action or other legal proceedings whatsoever, whether civil or criminal, shall be instituted in any court of law or equity in Saorstát Eireann for or on account of or in respect of the retention during any period previous to the passing of this Act, of any weapon, ammunition, bicycle, motor car, or other article which was taken from the owner or his servant or agent in such circumstances that the institution of an action or other proceeding after the passing of this Act in respect of such taking would be prohibited by the foregoing sub-section of this section.
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(3) If any such action or other proceeding as is mentioned in this section was instituted before the passing of this Act and is now pending the same shall be discharged and made void, subject to such order as to costs as the court in which such action or proceeding is pending or a judge thereof or any court to which the jurisdiction of that court has been transferred or a judge thereof shall think fit to make.
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(4) Where any such action or other proceeding as is mentioned in this section was instituted before the passing of this Act, and final judgment was given in such action or proceeding after the 11th day of June, 1924, and before the passing of this Act, such judgment and any appeal therefrom, and any order or judgment made on such appeal before the passing of this Act shall be and is hereby made void, and such action or proceeding shall be discharged and made void, subject to such order as to costs as the court by which such judgment was given or a judge thereof or any court to which jurisdiction of that court has been transferred or a judge thereof shall think fit to make.
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(5) This section shall not prevent the institution or prosecution of—
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(a) any proceedings by or on behalf of the Government of Saorstát Eireann or any Minister or Department of that Government; or
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(b) any proceedings in respect of any alleged rights under, or breaches of, any contract; or
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(c) any civil proceedings founded on negligence in respect of damage to person or property; or
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(d) any proceedings respecting the validity or infringement of a patent; or
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(e) any proceedings for enforcing or otherwise giving effect to any final judgment by any court in Saorstát Eireann on or before the 11th day of June, 1924, and from which no appeal lies by law or is pending at the passing of this Act.
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