THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 1ST AUGUST, 1891.
(f) Whenever a British ship has been lost, or is sup- posed to be lost, and any evidence can be obtained in the Colony as to the circumstances under which she proceeded to sea or was last heard of;
It shall be lawful for such Court to hear and inquire into any such charge of incompetency or misconduct, and to make inquiry respecting such loss, abandonment, stranding, damage, or casualty, and for such purposes, it shall have the powers given by the first part of "The Merchant Ship- ping Act, 1854," to Inspectors appointed by the Board of Trade, and the powers given by section 23 of "The Mer- chant Shipping Act Amendment Act, 1862," and the Court shall be governed by the rules of the said last mentioned section, subject to the further requirements of this Ordi- nance, or of any Imperial Act or local Ordinanco which may be from time to time, enacted.
(4.) Such Court may also exerciso the following fur- ther powers:-
(a.) It may, if unanimous that the safety of the ship or crew, or the interest of the owner, absolutely requires it, supersede the master of any British ships then being within the waters of the Colony, and may appoint another person to act in his stead; but no such appointment shall be made without the consent of the consignce of the ship if within the Colony;
(b.) It may discharge any mate, engineer, or seaman
from his ship;
(c.) It may order the wages of any mate or engineer so discharged, or any part of such wages to be forfeited, and may direct the same to be retain-. ed by way of compensation to the owner. (5.) Each member of the Court shall either sign the re- port made on any investigation under this section, or report to the Governor his reasons for dissent therefrom.
(6.) Every master or mate or engineer whose certificate is suspended or cancelled in pursuance of this Ordinance shall, upon demand of the Court, deliver bis certificate to the Court, or if it is not demanded by the Court, deliver it to the Governor or as he directs, and in default shall, for each offence, incur a peualty not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars.
(7.) Where an investigation into the conduct of a master, mate, engineer, or into a shipping casualty, bas been held under this Ordinance, or any Ordinance amending the same, the Governor may, in any case, and shall, if new and im- portant evidence which could not be produced at the inves- tigation has been, discovered, or if for any other reason there has in his opinion been ground for suspecting a mis- carriage of justice, order that the case be re-heard, either generally or as to any part thereof, and either by the Court by whom it was heard in the first instance, or by a Marine Court to be appointed under this section or by a Judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court of this Colony, and the case shall be so re-heard accordingly.
(8.) The Governor in Council may, from time to time, make and when made revoke, alter and add to general rules for carrying into effect the enactments relating to formal investigation into shipping casualties and in particular with respect to the procedure, the partics, the persons allowed to appear, the notice to such parties aud persous, or to persons affected, and the amount and application of fees: And all such rules while in force shall have effect as if enacted by this Ordinance.
Provided that unless and until such general rules are made rescinded or varied the general rules in table G of the schedule to this Ordinance shall apply.
(9.) Every formal investigation in a shipping casualty shall be conducted in such a manner that if a charge is made against any person that person shall have an oppor- tunity of making a defence.
(10.) The Court shall also be a Court of Survey, and when sitting as a Court of Survey the following provisions shall have effect:-
(a.) The case shall be heard in open Court.
(b.) Each member of the Court may survey the ship and shall have for the purposes of this section all the powers of an Inspector appointed by the Board of Trade under "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854.”
Powers of Court,
Further powers of Court, see M. S. A., 1854 Bec, 263
(M. S. A. 186Z, sce. 24.)
42 and 43 Viet.
e. 72, sec. 3, sub-s, 4.
S. 5 & 7, Vict. e. 76.
42 and 43 Vic.,
e. 72, sue. 11, sub-s. 1.
Rules us to procedure, fees, &c. [M.S. A., 1876, sew, 30.
Constitution power and procedure of Court of Survey. (M. S. A., 1876, NPC. 7 & 8.)
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