ORDINANCES Nos. 1 AND 2 OF 1851.
Criminal Procedure-Evidence.
Civil Courts Jurisdiction.
No. 1 of 1851.
249
An Ordinance for the Improvement of the Law of Evidence at the Trial of Criminal Cases before the Supreme Court.
[3rd January, 1851.]
WHEREAS, after the committal for trial of prisoners in this Colony, and before the time of such trial being had, they have, as is generally apprehended, in many instances during such interval by force or bribery removed material Crown witnesses from out of the Colony to the mainland of China; and as it is expedient not only for the more effectual administration of justice but also for the protection of such witnesses, that provision should be made for the counteracting such practices:
1. Be it therefore enacted and ordained by His Excellency the Governor of Hongkong, with the advice of the Legislative Council thereof, that from and after the passing of this Ordinance, whenever it shall appear to the said Court, that the persons conducting any criminal prosecution on behalf of the Crown have been unable to summon any person to attend as a witness on any such trial by reason of such person having left or being absent from the Colony, or if it shall so appear that any such person, having been duly summoned as a witness, shall have departed from the Colony before the trial, it may be lawful for the said Court to direct, on being satisfied of such fact or facts (namely, absence and the consequent inability to effect the service of summons or subpœna on the witness, or to obtain his or her attendance at the trial after such service,) that the deposition of every such witness duly taken before or on the committal of any prisoner may be read as evidence against him, her, or them at such trial, as if the same were again given vivâ voce.
[Repealed by Ordinance No. 15 of 1856 (disallowed) and by Ordinance No. 7 of 1857.]
Title.
Preamble.
Crown witness absent from the Colony, Supreme Court may direct his deposition to be read as evidence at trial under certain circumstances.
No. 2 of 1851.
An Ordinance to regulate the Jurisdiction of the Civil Courts of the Colony of Hongkong in certain cases.
[5th April, 1851.]
WHEREAS from the vicinity of the Colony of Hongkong to the dominions of the Emperor of China, it is of frequent occurrence that Chinese subjects visiting the said Colony for a limited time and for the purposes of trade, emplead and cause each other to be arrested for causes of action arising within the said dominions; and whereas such proceedings are not only inconvenient from the difficulty of procuring
[See Ord. No. 10 of 1871.]
Preamble.