498
THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 18TH NOVEMBER, 1876.
excuse, pirates
taking ship, goods, &c., piratically
stolen with
Knowledge.
years and not less than three years, or to be imprisoned with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding two years.
Receiving, &c.
VII. Whosoever shall have knowingly received, entertained, without law ful or concealed any person guilty of an act of piracy, or taken into authority or his custody without lawful authority or excuse, the proof whereof after piracy, or shall lie on the party accused, any junk, vessel, boat, goods, or chattels, which shall have been by such pirate feloniously taken, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be kept in penal servi- tude for any term not exceeding ten years and not less than three (Ibid, sec. 6. years, or to be imprisoned with or without hard labour for any See also Ord. period not exceeding two years: Provided that the expression 6 of 1869.] "received or taken into his custody" shall be satisfied by proof that the goods and chattels alleged to have been received and taken into custody were found in any house or premises, or on board any junk, vessel, or boat within which the person charged shall be found and of which said goods and chattels he shall be unable to give a satisfactory account.
Being seen on board a pirati- cal junk, &c., and unable to satisfy the
Court as to
VIII. Whosoever shall be found within the Colony of Hongkong on board any junk, vessel, or boat, equipped for the purposes of piracy, and who shall be unable to satisfy the Court that he was not on board such junk, vessel, or boat with his own consent or with the knowledge that the same was equipped for the purposes of piracy, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, [See Ord. 1 of shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be imprisoned, 1868, sec. 9.] with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding three
years.
non-complici-
ty.
Juvenile offenders how to be dealt
with.
Commutation of capital
punishment.
If after the coming into operation of this Ordinance, any person shall be convicted of any offence punishable under this Ordi- nance whose age shall not in the opinion of the Court exceed the age of sixteen years, then and in every such case it shall be lawful for the Court, in addition to, or in lieu of the sentence passed or omitted to be passed for his offence, to direct such offender to be sent at the expiration of such sentence, or forth- with, as the case may be, to any Reformatory School established or to be established in this Colony (if the directors or managers thereof shall be willing to receive such offender) and to be there detained for a period not less than one year and not exceeding five years.
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It shall be lawful for the said Court, in addition to any punish- ment other than capital punishment hereby imposed for any offence against this Ordinance, to order any male person whose age in the opinion of the Court shall exceed sixteen years, con- victed under this Ordinance, to be once, twice, or thrice privately or publicly flogged in the manner and subject to the conditions and restrictions prescribed and imposed with respect to flogging under Ordinance No. 12 of 1865, and before being discharged from custody such person may be marked with some indelible mark in such manner and in such part of the body as the Governor in Council may from time to time direct.
IX. Whenever sentence of death shall have been pronounced under this Ordinance upon any prisoner, and such sentence shall Power to flog. be commuted by the Governor, it shall be lawful for the Go- vernor in Council to order that such prisoner be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately flogged in the manner and subject to the conditions and restrictions prescribed and imposed with res- pect to flogging under Ordinance No. 12 of 1865.
Repeal.
Inconsistent
laws, &c., of
no force in Hongkong.
Suspending clause.
X. Ordinances No. 1 of 1868 and No. 6 of 1869 are hereby re- pealed: but such repeal shall not revive any enactment repealed by any of the said Ordinances, and shall not affect anything duly done before the passing of this Ordinance.
XI. All local laws, statutes, Ordinances and usages inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, shall be and the same here- by are declared to be of no force and effect whatsoever within the Colony of Hongkong.
XII. This Ordinance shall take effect on a day to be hereafter proclaimed by the Governor.
Statement of Objects and Reasons.
This Ordinance by incorporating two sections of the Imperial Act 1 Vict. c. 88, which is already in force in this Colony, will render references to the law of piracy here more easy. Some twenty-five sections of Ordinance No. 1 of 1868, as well as an amending Ordinance No. 6 of 1869, are now repealed. The repealed sections referred to in the Ordinance of 1868 for consti- tuting a High Court of Piracy were never used, and are never likely to be used. Their omission now therefore tends to simpli- fication.
Section II. This is the 2nd section of the Imperial Act. Section III. This is the 3rd section of the Imperial Act amended by putting imprisonment not exceeding two years, instead of not exceeding three.
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