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POLICE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1970 - SECT 36

Section 1(3).

36.(1) This Act may be cited as the Police Act (Northern Ireland) 1970.

(2)(3) Commencement1. The Police Authority shall consist of a Chairman, a
Vice-Chairman and not less than fourteen nor more than twenty persons
appointed by the Governor to be members of the Authority.

2.(1) The powers of appointment under paragraph 1 shall be so exercised as to
secure that

(a)as far as practicable the membership of the Police Authority is
representative of the community in Northern Ireland; and

(b)as far as practicable the members appointed include persons representative
of the interests of

(i)local authorities and other public bodies (including universities and other
institutions of higher education);

(ii)the legal profession;

<(iii)trade unions;


<(iv)agriculture, industry and commerce;


(v)voluntary organisations having as their principal object, or one of their
principal objects, the welfare of children or young persons; and

(c)a person is appointed to represent the Ministry of Home Affairs.

(2) The Minister shall, in connection with the making of appointments under
sub-paragraph (1)(b), consult such organisations and persons as appear to him
to represent the respective interests mentioned in that sub-paragraph.

3. Subject to the following provisions of this Part, the term of office of the
Chairman, the Vice-Chairman and the other members of the Police Authority
shall be three years.

4. The Governor may appoint a person to fill a casual vacancy in the
membership of the Police Authority and a person so appointed shall hold office
for the residue of the term of the member in whose place he is so appointed.

5. A member of the Police Authority may resign his membership by letter or
other notice in writing addressed, sent or given to the Governor.

6. If a member of the Police Authority becomes, in the opinion of the
Governor, unfit to continue as a member or incapable of performing his duties,
the Governor may terminate his membership.

7. On a member of the Police Authority

(a)becoming bankrupt or making a composition with his creditors;

(b)being convicted of an indictable offence or any offence involving fraud or
dishonesty;

(c)being detained in any place for more than seven days under any enactment
relating to persons of unsound mind and in force in any part of the United
Kingdom;

8. A member of the Police Authority whose term expires by effluxion of time or
who has resigned shall be eligible for re-appointment.

9. There shall be paid by the Ministry to the Chairman of the Police Authority
such remuneration and other allowances (including allowances by way of
superannuation) and to the Vice-Chairman and other members of the Authority
such allowances as the Ministry with the approval of the Ministry of Finance
may determine.

10.(1) The quorum for a meeting of the Police Authority shall be eight.

(2) Every question at a meeting of the Authority shall be determined by a
majority of the votes of the members present and voting on the question, and
in the case of an equal division of the votes, the chairman of the meeting
shall have a second or casting vote.

(3) If both the Chairman and Vice-Chairman are absent from a meeting of the
Authority, the members present shall elect one of their number to preside at
the meeting.

11. The Police Authority shall have power to act notwithstanding any vacancy
in their numbers.

12. The common seal of the Police Authority shall, when applied to a document,
be attested by the signatures of two members of the Authority and of the
person for the time being acting as secretary to the Authority, or some person
authorised by the Authority to act in his stead in that behalf.

13.(1) Any contract or instrument which, if entered into or executed by an
individual, would not require to be under seal may be entered into or executed
on behalf of the Police Authority by any person generally or specially
authorised by the Authority to act for that purpose.

(2) Before entering into contracts for the supply of goods or the execution of
works the Police Authority shall comply with such requirements as the Ministry
with the approval of the Ministry of Finance may direct.

(3) Any instrument made or executed by or on behalf of the Police Authority in
respect of which the liability for payment of stamp duty would, but for this
sub-paragraph, attach to the Authority shall be exempt from stamp duty.

[14. Sections 28 to 33, 42, 46, 47 and 146 of the Local Government Act
(Northern Ireland) 1972, and section 148 of that Act so far as it applies for
the interpretation of those sections, shall apply to the Police Authority and
their members and officers as if

(a)in those sections any reference to a council were a reference to the
Police Authority, any reference to a councillor were a reference to a member
of the Police Authority, and any reference to the clerk of a council were a
reference to the officer for the time being acting as the secretary of the
Police Authority or such other officer (if any) of the Police Authority as the
Ministry may specify;

(b)in section 28(4) of that Act for the words from "y any local elector'
onwards there were substituted the words "y any person';

(c)in section 29 of that Act any reference to the Ministry were a reference to
the Ministry of Home Affairs.]

15.(1) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph the Police Authority may
constitute committees of such five or more of its members as the Authority may
appoint and may delegate to a committee so constituted any of the functions of
the Authority.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of sub-paragraph (1) the
Police Authority shall constitute a committee consisting of the Chairman of
the Authority, or in his absence the Vice-Chairman, and four other members
which the Minister shall, wherever practicable, consult in connection with the
making of orders under the Public Order Act (Northern Ireland) 1951
prohibiting the holding of public processions or meetings, but nothing in this
sub-paragraph shall affect the validity of any such order.

(3) The quorum for a meeting of the committee constituted under sub-paragraph
(2) shall be three.

(4) Where a member of the committee constituted under sub-paragraph (2) is
not, or is not likely to be, available during any period for consultation by
the Minister, the Chairman of the Police Authority or in his absence the
Vice-Chairman shall nominate another member of the Authority to act during
that period as a member of that committee in the place of the first-mentioned
member.

(5) The powers of any committee of the Police Authority shall be exercised,
and the proceedings of the committee shall be regulated, in accordance with
and subject to any directions given by the Authority.

16. No defect in the appointment of any person acting as a member of the
Police Authority or of any committee thereof, shall vitiate any proceedings of
the Authority or, as the case may be, of the committee in which he has taken
part.

Para.17 rep. by 1975 c.25 s.5(2) sch.3

1. References to a vesting order made under section 22 of the Local Government
Act (Northern Ireland) 1934 or to the powers conferred by that section shall
be construed as references, as the case may be, to a vesting order made under,
or the powers conferred by, section 4.

2. References to the local authority shall be construed as references to the
Police Authority.

3. References to the Ministry within the meaning of that Act shall be
construed as references to the Ministry within the meaning of this Act.

4. References to the compensation fund shall be construed as references to the
moneys out of which the expenditure of the Police Authority is to be defrayed
under this Act.

5. In article 27 of that Schedule, the reference to the area of the local
authority shall be construed as a reference to the locality where the land is
situated.

6. In article 28 of that Schedule, for the definition of "land" there shall be
substituted the definition contained in section 45(1)(a) of the Interpretation
Act (Northern Ireland) 1954.

7. In that Schedule, "estate" shall have the meaning assigned to it by
section 45(2) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954.

Schedule 3Amendments. Schedule 4Repeals



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