HC Deb 02 April 1912 vol 36 cc1141-2W
Mr. NEWMAN

asked the Chief Secretary when Mr. J. K. O'Connor, of Castle-island, county Kerry, was appointed one of the justices of the peace for the county of Kerry; if he is aware that Mr. J. K. O'Connor has been reported by an Election Court for the corrupt practice of corruptly supplying drink to voters for the purpose of corruptly influencing such voters, and that he was refused a certificate of indemnity; will he state what proceedings have been taken against Mr. J. K. O'Connor, and will he also state the date when the Attorney-General for Ireland sent to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland the report of the Election Court and the evidence on which it was based, in accordance with the procedure prescribed by Statute; on what date the Lord Chancellor removed Mr. J. K. O'Connor's name from the Commission of the Peace for the County of Kerry, and on what date he communicated to Mr. J. K. O'Connor the fact that he had removed his name from the Commission of the Peace for the country of Kerry; and if Mr. J. K. O'Connor's name appears in a list of persons found guilty of corrupt and illegal practices at elections in the East Kerry Division of the c aunty of Kerry?

Mr. BIRRELL

The Lord Chancellor informs me that Mr. O'Connor was appointed to the Commission of the Peace for the county of Kerry in 1904. In 1908 he was reported by an Election Court as guilty of corrupt practices at a municipal election, and proceedings were taken at Petty Sessions to have him returned for trial, but the magistrates refused informations. The case does not appear to have been reported by the Attorney-General of the day to the late Lord Chancellor, but the latter, having regard to a subsequent decision of the High Court in a similar case, and deeming that the name of a person disqualified by law from acting as a magistrate should not be retained in the Commission of the Peace, directed the omission of Mr. O'Connor's name. As the returning officer's published list of persons found guilty of corrupt or illegal practices included Mr. O'Connor's name it was not deemed necessary to make any further communication to him on the subject of his disqualification.