Emergency Powers Act (Northern Ireland) 1926

The Emergency Powers Act (Northern Ireland) 1926 (16 & 17 Geo. 5. c. 8 (N.I.)) was an act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland that was passed for the purpose of making provision for the protection of the community in Northern Ireland in cases of emergency.

The act gave the Governor of Northern Ireland the authority to declare a state of emergency and issue proclamations if:

Proclamations of emergency would be in force until the Governor themselves revoked it. The Governor, by Order in the Privy Council of Northern Ireland, would also issue regulations to secure the 'essentials of life to the community' and give powers to the relevant Minister of the government of Northern Ireland to also secure essentials, as defined above.

Regulations had to be laid before Parliament as soon as they were issued and could not be used to 'make it an offence for any person or persons to take part in a strike, or peacefully to persuade any other person or persons to take part in a strike' or take away trials. The maximum punishment for breaking a regulation would be prison 'with or without hard labour, for a term of three months, or a fine of one hundred pounds, or both such imprisonment and fine, together with the forfeiture of any goods or money in respect of which the offence has been committed'. Regulations could also be revised or added to.

The act was amended by the Emergency Powers (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 1964 (c. 34 (N.I.)).

On 19 May 1974 Merlyn Rees, the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, signed a proclamation of a State of Emergency in the region under the amended Act, following the outbreak of the Ulster Workers' Council strike which eventually led to the collapse of the Sunningdale Agreement.

The Act was repealed by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.