Coercion Acts

Coercion Acts, general term for a series of measures commencing with the Suppression of Disturbances Act (1833). Like the earlier Insurrection Act, this empowered the lord lieutenant to proclaim a district as disturbed, permitting the imposition of a curfew and other restrictions, as well as detention without trial for up to three months. It differed from the Insurrection Act in providing for trial by military courts rather than magistrates in special session. The Crime and Outrage Act (1847) once again imposed curfew and other restrictions on proclaimed districts, as well as authorizing the dispatch to such districts of extra police, to be paid for by the inhabitants. The act, modified in 1856, was regularly renewed up to 1875. A different approach, targeting individuals rather than districts, appeared in the suspension, in 1871 and 1881, of habeas corpus. The Prevention of Crime Act, in force for three years from 1882, permitted trial for specific offences by a panel of three judges and created a legal offence of intimidation. Arthur Balfour's Criminal Law and Procedure Act (1887) once again defined intimidation and conspiracy, gave resident magistrates in districts proclaimed under the act powers of investigation and summary jurisdiction, and empowered the lord lieutenant to suppress subversive organizations. This was a permanent measure, still relied on in the early stages of the Anglo‐Irish War.

See Martial Law; Special Courts.