Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act

An 1887 Act, commonly called the Coercion Act, introduced by Lord Salisbury’s Conservative government to suppress agrarian and nationalist agitation in Ireland. It strengthened powers to prosecute certain offences summarily, restrict public meetings, and suppress organisations deemed dangerous. Bitterly opposed by Irish Nationalists and Gladstonian Liberals, it became a major political controversy during the Home Rule struggle.