Defence Regulations were emergency regulations passed between the lead-up and end of WW2, providing
emergency powers to prosecute the war. Two
Acts of Parliament were passed as
enabling legislation to allow the Defence Regulations to be promulgated. 1) The
Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 was passed immediately before war was declared. 2) The
Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940 was passed in the aftermath of the German attack on
France in 1940. The 1940 Act allowed Defence Regulations to be made on matters such as
industrial conscription.
The main Defence Regulations were the
Defence (General) Regulations 1939, which were amended at various points throughout the war. Other Defence Regulations covered narrower fields of life. These included
Defence Regulation 18B, which provided a framework for
internment. 18B allowed the
internment of people
suspected of being
Nazi sympathisers. The effect of 18B was to
suspend the right of affected individuals to
habeas corpus.
The Defence Regulations were
Orders in Council and could amend any primary or secondary legislation within the limits of the enabling Acts to allow the effective prosecution of the war.
Originally the regulations did not create any
capital offences, since the law of
treason was thought to be sufficient. Defence Regulation 2A provided that "If, with intent to assist the enemy, any person does any act which is likely to assist the enemy or to prejudice the public safety, the defence of the realm or the efficient prosecution of the war, he shall be liable to penal servitude for life."
However, in
1940 amendments to the regulations created
two capital offences:
"forcing safeguards" (breaking through roadblocks etc.) under regulation
1B, and
looting under regulation 38A. A
third new capital offence, called treachery, was created soon afterwards by the
Treachery Act 1940.
Since the emergency conditions created by the war persisted after the conflict was over,
the last of the Defence Regulations, mainly those on
food rationing, were
not abolished until the early 1950s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_Regulations .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_Regulation_18B .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_Kingdom .
