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LEGITIMACY DECLARATION ACT (IRELAND) 1868

LEGITIMACY DECLARATION ACT (IRELAND) 1868 - LONG TITLE

An Act to enable Persons in Ireland to establish Legitimacy and the
Validity of Marriages, and the Right to be deemed Natural-born
Subjects.{1}
[29th May 1868]
Preamble rep. by SLR 1893

LEGITIMACY DECLARATION ACT (IRELAND) 1868 - SECT 1
Power to apply for declaration of legitimacy.

1. Any... subject of the Queen, or any person whose right to be
deemed a... subject depends wholly or in part on his legitimacy,
being domiciled in England or Ireland, or claiming any real or
personal estate situate in Ireland, may apply by petition to the
[High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland], praying for a decree
that the petitioner is the legitimate child of his parents, [or
that] the marriage of his father and mother, or of his grandfather
and grandmother, was a valid marriage, or for a decree declaring
[any of] the matters aforesaid; and any such subject or person
being so domiciled or claiming as aforesaid may in like manner
apply to such Court for a decree declaring that his marriage was
or is a valid marriage; and such Court shall have jurisdiction to
hear and determine such application, and to make such decree
declaratory of the legitimacy or illegitimacy of such person, or of
the validity or invalidity of such marriage, as to the Court may
seem just; and such decree, except as herein-after mentioned, shall
be binding to all intents and purposes on Her Majesty and on all
persons whomsoever.

LEGITIMACY DECLARATION ACT (IRELAND) 1868 - SECT 2
Power to apply for declaration of right to be deemed a subject.

2. Any person being so domiciled or claiming as aforesaid may apply
by petition to the said Court for a decree declaratory of his
right to be deemed a ... subject of Her Majesty; and the said
Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine such application,
and to make such decree thereon as to the Court may seem just;
and where such application as last aforesaid is made by the person
making such application as herein mentioned for a decree declaring
his legitimacy or the validity of a marriage, both applications may
be included in the same petition; and every decree made by the
said Court shall, except as herein-after mentioned, be valid and
binding, to all intents and purposes, upon Her Majesty and all
persons whomsoever.

Ss.35 rep. by 1962 c.30 s.30 sch.4 Pt.IV; 1978 c.23 s.122(2) sch.7
Pt.I

LEGITIMACY DECLARATION ACT (IRELAND) 1868 - SECT 6
Service of petition on Attorney General.

6. A copy of every petition under this Act, and of the affidavit
accompanying the same, shall one month at least previously to the
presentation or filing of such petition be delivered to Her
Majesty's Attorney General for Ireland, who shall be a respondent
upon the hearing of such petition, and upon every subsequent
proceeding relating thereto.

S.7 rep. by 1978 c.23 s.122(2) sch.7 Pt.I

LEGITIMACY DECLARATION ACT (IRELAND) 1868 - SECT 8
Saving for rights of persons not cited affected, and as to decrees
obtained by fraud.

8. The decree of the said Court shall not in any case prejudice
any person, unless such person has been cited or made a party to
the proceedings, or is the heir-at-law or next of kin, or other
real or personal representative of, or derives title under or
through, a person so cited or made a party; nor shall such decree
of the Court prejudice any person, if the same be subsequently
proved to have been obtained by fraud or collusion.

LEGITIMACY DECLARATION ACT (IRELAND) 1868 - SECT 9
Saving as to judgments already pronounced.

9. No proceeding to be had under this Act shall affect any final
judgment or decree already pronounced or made by any Court of
competent jurisdiction.

LEGITIMACY DECLARATION ACT (IRELAND) 1868 - SECT 10
Interpretation.

10. In the construction of this Act the words "person" and
"subject" shall include parties cited as respondents as well as
petitioners, and shall comprise all of a class claiming or deriving
in the same right, who would as children or grandchildren, or in
their own persons be comprehended within the term "issue".

LEGITIMACY DECLARATION ACT (IRELAND) 1868 - SECT 11
Construction.

11. The said two Acts of one thousand eight hundred and
fifty-seven, and one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, so
regulating the Court of Probate in Ireland, and this Act, shall be
construed together as one Act; and this Act may be cited for all
purposes as "The Legitimacy Declaration Act (Ireland), 1868."