The granting, reserving or withholding of the Royal Assent was one of the key roles, and potentially one of the key powers, possessed by the Governor-General of the Irish Free State. Until it was granted, no bill passed by the Oireachtas could complete its passage of enactment and become law.
All legislation enacted by the Oireachtas of Saorstát Éireann required the Royal Assent to become law for three reasons.
Article 12 stated that the Oireachtas consisted "of the King and two Houses, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate ". As a result the King through his representative, the Governor-General, was a full participant in law making.
In the event of a dispute the signature of the Governor-General on the Act was evidence that it had been fully and validly enacted. This could prove important were in the future a dispute to arise over whether a particular Act had properly been enacted. An example would be where the Dáil was dissolved the same day as the Bill completed its passage. If it had not already received the Royal Assent prior to the dissolution the Bill would fall. The existence of the Governor-General's signature would act as proof that the Bill had received its Royal Assent before the dissolution, even if only by one minute.
All Acts of the Oireachtas in the Free State were translated into the two state languages, Irish and English. Whichever the Governor-General signed into law would receive primacy in the event of a clash in the texts.
Granting, reserving or withholding Royal Assent
As with the King and other governors-general in the dominions, the Governor-General of the Irish Free State had three options:
The granting of the Royal Assent, meaning that a Bill became an Act;
The reserve of the Royal Assent "for His Majesty's Pleasure" meaning that the Bill was put into abeyance pending approval of the Bill by the King-in-Council within one year of the Bill having been presented to the Governor-General. If approval was not given within one year the Bill was deemed vetoed;
The withholding of the Royal Assent, which meant that the Bill was being vetoed.
Between 1922 and 1928 the Governor-General acted as the agent of both the King and the British Government. As a result, he could act on the advice of either, or on his own initiative withholding or refusing Assent. Following the implementation of a decision of a Commonwealth Conference, the British Government's relationship with all dominion governors-general was terminated, leaving each governor-general to be the exclusive representative of the King He was instructed by the British Secretary of State for the Dominions to reserve or withhold consent for certain categories of Bills if attempts were made to enact them. No attempt was made. Unknown to the Executive Council the first Governor-General, Timothy Michael Healy, was given instructions to exercise the withholding and refusal powers by the United Kingdom Secretary of State for the Dominions, in a number of specific areas:
The passage of a Bill that conflicted with the Anglo-Irish Treaty;
The passage of a constitutional amendment to abolish the Oath of Allegiance to the Irish Free State.
Neither of these scenarios occurred during the term of office of Governor-General Healy. By the time his successor, James McNeill took office in 1928 the British Government's power to instruct the Governor-General had been abolished. Though theoretically he could have done so, the third Governor-General, Domhnall Ua Buachalla, chose not to veto the Constitution Act, 1933 enacted in 1933.
Method of Royal Assent
A Bill, having duly passed or having been deemed to pass, in the Dáil and the Seanad, would be presented to the Governor-General, by the President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State. Unlike in the United Kingdom, no parliamentary ceremony was invoked to confirm that the Royal Assent had been given. Its details would instead be published in Iris Oifigiúil.
Abolition of withhold and reserve powers
In late 1933, the Oireachtas passed the Constitution Act, 1933 to abolish the power of the Governor-General to reserve or withhold Royal Assent from Bills. The original Article 41 is shown below, with the section deleted indicated.
The effect of the change was both to dramatically limit the Governor-General's powers and to prevent any role for the King-in-Council in lawmaking in the Irish Free State. The right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council was also abolished in 1933 in the Constitution Act, 1933 while the Constitution Act, 1933 abolished the Governor-General's role in formally recommending the appropriation of funds to the Dáil by message. That role was instead given directly to the Executive Council. The series of three constitutional amendments in 1933 severely curtailed the role of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State.
The procedure of Royal Assent was abolished by the Constitution Act 1936, which Act was itself the last to receive the Royal Assent. The new Act amended the Constitution so that the Ceann Comhairle would sign bills into once passed by the House. Under the new 1937 Constitution of Ireland, which came into force almost exactly one year later, the role of signing bills into law was given to the President of Ireland.
