It was on Monday that the House of Lords decided
that it had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal of the Home Secretary against the decision of the Court of Appeal, which made absolute an order for a habeas corpus writ for Mr. Art O'Brien, who was one of those deported. Thus in the whole question of the legality of the Government's action in deporting to the Free State one hundied and twelve men and women, judgment went against the Government. On Wednesday the Home Secretary obeyed the order " to produce the body " of Mr. Art O'Brien in the Court of Appeal, and the nation gazed with admiring wonder on the impartiality and majesty of the Law. Mr. Art O'Brien was allowed costs against the Crown and was liberated. Within two minutes, however, he was re-arrested on a charge of sedition. The other persons who were deported, and have been brought back to England, probably contemplate action against the Government. It is necessary, therefore, to indemnify the Home Secretary, and a Bill is being introduced when we go to press.
