Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991

69 Commencement, duration, expiry and revival of provisions of this Act

(1) This Act except Part VII shall come into force at the end of the period of two months beginning with the day on which it is passed and that Part shall come into force on such date as the Secretary of State may by order appoint.

(2) The temporary provisions of this Act, that is to say, Parts I to VIII except—

(a) section 7, Part III of Schedule 1 and, so far as they relate to offences which are scheduled offences by virtue of that Part, sections 3, 9 and 10;

(b) sections 63 and 64; and

(c) paragraph 20 of Schedule 4,

shall expire with 15th June 1992 unless continued in force by an order under subsection (3) below.

(3) The Secretary of State may by order provide—

(a) that all or any of the temporary provisions of this Act which are for the time being in force (including any in force by virtue of an order under this section) shall continue in force for a period not exceeding twelve months from the coming into operation of the order;

(b) that all or any of those provisions which are for the time being in force shall cease to be in force; or

(c) that all or any of those provisions which are not for the time being in force shall come into force again and remain in force for a period not exceeding twelve months from the coming into operation of the order.

(4) The Secretary of State shall be deemed to have made an order under subsection (3)(b) above in respect of the provisions of section 34 and Schedule 3 with effect immediately after the coming into force of those provisions.

(5) The coming into force of any provision of sections 9 to 12 above by virtue of an order made under subsection (3)(c) above shall not affect any trial on indictment where the indictment has been presented, or any summary trial which has started, before the coming into force of that provision, and any such trial shall be conducted as if the provision had not come into force.

(6) Where before the coming into force of subsection (1) of section 9 above by virtue of such an order a person has been committed for trial for a scheduled offence and the indictment has not been presented, then, on the coming into force of that subsection, he shall, if he was committed to the Crown Court sitting elsewhere than in Belfast, be treated as having been committed to the Crown Court sitting in Belfast or (where the Lord Chancellor gives a direction under that subsection with respect to the trial) to the Crown Court sitting at the place specified in the direction.

(7) The expiry or cesser of any provision mentioned in subsection (5) above shall not affect the application of that provision to any trial on indictment where the indictment has been presented, or any summary trial which has started, before the expiry or cesser; and the expiry or cesser of section 14 or 15 above shall not affect the operation of that section in relation to an offence committed while it was in force.

(8) It is hereby declared that the expiry or cesser of any provision of section 9 above shall not affect—

(a) any committal of a person for trial in accordance with that provision to the Crown Court sitting either in Belfast or elsewhere, or

(b) any committal of a person for trial which, in accordance with that provision, has taken effect as a committal for trial to the Crown Court sitting elsewhere than in Belfast,

in a case where the indictment has not been presented.

(9) This Act shall, by virtue of this subsection, be repealed as from the end of the period of five years beginning with the date on which it came into force.