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46 1933

UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE ACT, 1933

PART V.

Miscellaneous.

Repayment of unemployment assistance improperly received.

28. —(1) Every payment of unemployment assistance received by any person while he was disqualified for receiving unemployment assistance or the statutory conditions were not complied with by him or which he was otherwise disentitled to receive shall be repayable by such person to the Minister on demand made in that behalf by an unemployment assistance officer, and, if not so repaid, may be recovered by the Minister as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction or by deduction from any payment or payments of unemployment assistance to which such person subsequently becomes entitled.

(2) Every sum repaid to or recovered by the Minister under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.

Penalty for false statements, etc.

29. —If, for the purpose of obtaining for himself or any other person a qualification certificate or any payment of unemployment assistance or of avoiding the making by himself or any other person of any repayment under this Act, any person makes any statement or representation (whether written or verbal) which is to his knowledge false or misleading in any material respect, he shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months.

Prosecutions.

30. —(1) Proceedings for an offence under any section of this Act shall not be instituted except by or with the consent of the Minister.

(2) A prosecution for an offence under any section of this Act may be brought at the suit of the Minister.

(3) A prosecution for an offence under any section of this Act may be brought at any time within whichever of the following periods latest expires, that is to say:—

(a) three months after the date on which it is certified in writing sealed with the official seal of the Minister that evidence sufficient to justify the institution of such prosecution came into the possession or procurement of the Minister, or

(b) six months after the commission of the offence.

Birth, marriage, and death certificates.

31. —Where, for the purpose of this Act, the age, marriage, or death of any person is required to be proved by the production of a certificate of birth, marriage, or death, any person shall, on presenting a written requisition in such form and containing such particulars as may be prescribed and, on payment of a fee in the case of a birth certificate of sixpence, and in the case of a marriage or death certificate, of one shilling, be entitled to obtain a certified copy of the entry of the birth, marriage, or death, as the case may be, of that person in the register of births, marriages, or deaths, as the case may be, under the hand of the registrar or superintendent registrar or other person having the custody thereof, and forms for such requisition shall on request be supplied without any charge by every registrar of births and deaths, and by every superintendent registrar or other person having the custody of the register.

Exemption from stamp duty.

32. —Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on any cheque, pay order, or other document by which a payment of unemployment assistance is made, nor on any receipt given for any such payment, nor on any statutory declaration made under and for the purposes of this Act.