278
THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, JULY 11, 1913.
And whereas by the Act of 1912 it is enacted that the seas with respect to which an Order in Council may be made under the Act of 1895 shall include the seas within' such part of the Pacific Ocean as is north of the thirtieth parallel of north latitude, including the Seas of Behring, Kamchatka, Okhotsk, and Japan;
And whereas a convention has been concluded between His Majesty the King, the President of the United States of America, His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, and His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, whereby British subjects and British vessels engaged in pelagic sealing in the waters to which this Order applies may be seized and detained by the naval or other duly commissioued officers of any of the parties to the said convention and delivered as soon as practicable to an authorized official of their own nation ;
And whereas the provisions of the Rules Publication Act, 1893, have been complied with:
Now, therefore, His Majesty, in virtue of the above powers, and of all other powers enabling Him in that behalf, is hereby pleased, by and with the advice of His Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:
1. From and after the commencement of this Order the catching of scals and the kill- ing, taking, and hunting of sea otters by British ships is hereby prohibited within the waters to which this Order applies.
2. The powers under the Act of 1895 of a commissioned officer on full pay in the naval service of His Majesty may be exercised in relation to a British ship, and the equipment, crew, and certificate thereof, by a naval or other duly commissioned officer of the United States of America, or of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, or of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia (hereinafter referred to as an "authorized foreign officer "), but subject to the limitations, conditions, modifications, and exceptions following, that it to say :-
(1) The said powers shall not be exercised by an authorized foreign officer, except in relation to British ships engaged in hunting seals within the waters to which the Order ap- plies.
(2) A British ship shall not be liable to seizure or detention by an authorized foreign officer by reason of the contravention of any regulations made under section 2 of the Act of
1895.
(3) The powers under section 3 of the Act of 1895 of detaining any portion of the equipment or any of the crew, and the powers under section 4 of giving a provisional certi- ficate in lieu of a ship's certificate which is seized and retained, or of endorsing on a certificate the grounds on which it was seized, and of directing the ship to proceed forthwith to a specified port, shall not be exercised in relation to a British ship by an authorized foreign officer.
(4) Where an authorized foreign officer in exercise of the said powers stops and exam- ines and detains a British ship or her certificate of registry, he shall as soon as possible. hand over the ship or deliver or transmit the certificate, as the case may be, either to the commanding officer of a British cruiser or to the nearest British authority, as defined by this Order, and shall then, or within a reasonable time thereafter, satisfy such officer or authority that there were reasonable grounds for the detention or seizure, and that the case is proper to be adjudicated in a British court, and also furnish to such officer or authority the evidence sufficient, in the opinion of such officer or authority for such adjudication; and if the said foreign officer fails to satisfy such officer or authority, or to furnish to such officer or author-- ity such sufficient evidence as aforesaid, the said officer or authority may release the ship.
3-(1) Where the commanding officer of a British cruiser receives a British ship from an authorized foreign officer, and is satisfied that there were reasonable grounds for the de- tention or seizure, and that the case is proper to be a judicated in a British court, he may exercise the powers conferred by section 4 of the Act of 1895 as if he had himself stopped and examined and detained the ship, and that section shall apply accordingly.
(2) Where the commanding officer of a British cruiser, or a British authority, receives. a British ship from an authorized foreign officer, and sends the case for adjudication in a British court, he shall, for the purposes of section 76 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, be deemed to have himself seized or detained the said ship.
4. Nothing in this Order shall apply to Indians, Ainos, Alents, or other aborigines dwelling on the coasts of the wetons to wht d
;!, ; A..