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Special jury.
Qualification of special jurors.
Sheriff to make out jury lists and transmit same to Registrar,
Penalty on sheriff for neglect of duty.
ORDINANCE No. 15 OF 1844.
Supreme Court.
No person holding any office, or receiving any salary, or emolument under the Government of Hongkong, nor any barrister, physician, attorney, or surgeon actually practising as such within the said Colony, nor any clergyman, or dissenting minister, nor any officer employed in the military or naval service of Her Majesty, or the East India Company, shall be, or be deemed liable to serve as a juror in any case.
74. And be it further enacted and ordained, that if either the plaintiff or the defendant in any suit or action, or the prosecutor or defendant in any indictment, or information, other than for treason, or felony, shall be desirous of having such suit or action, indictment or information, tried by a special jury, (such special jury to consist of six men qualified as hereinafter mentioned) it shall be lawful for the Court, upon motion for that purpose, to order and appoint a special jury to be struck before the Registrar, or other officer of the Court, for the trial of any issue joined in any of the said cases, and triable by a jury, in such manner as is usual in England, or as the Court shall direct: Provided that the party applying for such special jury, and who shall have obtained a rule or order of the Court for that purpose, shall on entering the cause for trial, deposit with the Registrar, or other officer of the Court, a sum sufficient to cover the expenses of the special jury, otherwise the said rule or order of the Court to be of no effect.
75. And be it further enacted and ordained, that every male person between the ages of twenty-one years and sixty years, being of sound mind, and not afflicted with deafness, blindness, or other infirmity who shall be an esquire or person of higher degree, or who shall carry on the trade or business of a banker or merchant within the said Colony of Hongkong, and who shall reside within the same, shall be qualified and liable to serve as a special jury therein: Provided, that no person who is hereinbefore exempted from serving as a common juror shall be liable to serve on any special jury.
76. And be it further enacted and ordained, that from and immediately after the publication of this Ordinance, the sheriff of the said Colony of Hongkong shall make or cause to be made out, two separate and distinct lists, in alphabetical order, of all men who shall be qualified and liable to serve as common or special jurors as aforesaid, setting forth the christian and surnames of each at full length, together with his place of abode, and shall sign and transmit copies of such lists to the Registrar of the said Supreme Court, which lists when so transmitted shall be called respectively the "Common Jurors List," and the "Special Jurors List," and shall be in use until the 1st day of March, 1845.
77. And be it further enacted and ordained, that if any sheriff, or other minister, or officer, shall wilfully insert, or omit, in the lists of jurors the name of any man which ought not to be so inserted, or omitted, according to the lists of jurors so to be made out as aforesaid, or shall fail to sign and transmit correct copies of such lists to the said Registrar as hereinbefore directed, or shall otherwise fail well and truly to do and perform all and every the acts, matters, and things, hereby required to be by him performed, such sheriff, or other minister, or officer, shall be fined at the discretion of the said Court.
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