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Proceedings by action.
Summary trial of actions.
Sittings of Court.
Action to commence by summons.
Action Book.
Duration of original summons.
WEI-HAI-WEI ORDER IN COUNCIL.
after the inquest the Court does not see fit to cause any person to be charged, the Court shall send a copy of the depositions to the Commissioner, together with a report as to the cause of the death.
PART V.-CIVIL MATTERS.
48.-(1) Every civil proceeding in the Court shall be taken by action, and not otherwise, and shall be designated an action.
(2) For the purposes of any statutory enactment or other provision applicable under this Order to any civil proceeding in the Court, an action under this Order shall comprise and be equivalent to a suit, cause, or petition, or to any civil proceeding, howsoever required by any such enactment or provision to be instituted or carried on.
49.-(1) Every action shall be heard and determined in a summary way.
(2) Every application in the course of an action may be made to the Court orally, and without previous formality, unless in any case the Court otherwise directs, or the Rules of Court otherwise provide.
(3) No action or proceeding shall be treated by the Court as invalid on account of any technical error or mistake in form or in words.
(4) All errors and mistakes may be corrected, and times may be extended, by the Court in its discretion, and on such terms as the Court thinks just.
50.—(1) The sittings of the Court for the hearing of actions shall, where the amount of business so requires, be held on stated days.
(2) The sittings shall ordinarily be public, but the Court may, for reasons recorded in the Minutes, hear any particular case in the presence only of the parties and their legal advisers and the officers of the Court.
51. Every action shall commence by a summons, issued from the Court, on the application of the Plaintiff, and served on the Defendant (in this Order referred to as an original summons).
52. In each Court there shall be kept a book, called the Action Book, in which all actions brought in the Court shall be entered, numbered consecutively in each year, in the order in which they are commenced, with a short statement of the particulars of each action, and a note of the several proceedings therein.
53.-(1) An original summons shall not be in force for more than 12 months from the day of its date (including that day).
(2) If any Defendant named therein is not served therewith, the Plaintiff may, before the end of the 12 months, apply to the Court for renewal thereof.
(3) The Court, if satisfied that reasonable efforts have been made to serve the Defendant, or for other good reason, may order that the summons be renewed.