§ MR. TUITEI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention as been drawn to the proceeding at the Mullingar Courthouse, when the Sheriff of Westmeath, aided by a body of police, forcibly prevented the County Council from asserting their right to the control of that building, and by violence prevented for a considerable time public access thereto; and can he state the title of the Statute under which the sheriff acted on the occasion, and by what authority he obtained the assistance of the police.
§ MR. G. W. BALFOURAs disputes have arisen in Ireland in reference to this matter, I think it better to reply to the question at some length. The property and interest of the Grand Jury in the courthouse in each county was, by the Local Government Act of 1898, transferred to the county council of that county. The powers and duties of the latter body in reference to those buildings and the right to use them are, with one exception, identical with those of the former. The position of the Grand Jury as regards courthouses was described by Baron Hughes in a judgment in re the Mayo Court reported in the first Irish Law Times, page 177, in these words—
The Grand Jury themselves have merely a right to use the Grand Jury room while acting as Grand Jury, but no more. The custody of the courthouses is entirely vested in the High Sheriff of the county. The Sub-Sheriff has no power but that delegated to him by the High Sheriff, who is legally and morally responsible to the Government and the public.The exception referred to is created by the words of Section 72, Sub-section 3 of the Local Government Act, which provides that—Except so far as the sheriff or the justices may require for the administration of justice, or the discharge of his or their duties, the use of any courthouse, sessions house, or other county building under his or their custody or control, the county council may use the same for the purpose of the execution of their duties, and if any difference arises between the sheriff or justices and the county council as to such use, or as to the remuneration of any court keeper or other officer, such difference shall be determined by the Lord Lieutenant.246 The custody of the courthouses remains therefore, as hitherto, vested in the High Sheriff. He should give the use of it to the county council for the execution of their duties when the same can, in his judgment, be done without interference with the administration of justice. It is his duty to prevent the building from being intruded upon, or the possession taken of it by any person or body against his will or without his consent, and in the discharge of that duty he is entitled to call upon and to receive the assistance from the police which was given to him on this occasion.