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9th August, 1934.
PRESENT:―
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR (SIR WILLIAM PEEL, K.C.M.G., K.B.E.).
HIS EXCELLENCY THE OFFICER COMMANDING THE TROOPS (MAJOR-GENERAL O. C. BORRETT, C.B., C.M.G., C.B.E., D.S.O.).
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY (HON. SIR THOMAS SOUTHORN, K.B.E., C.M.G.). THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (HON. MR. R. E. LINDSELL).
THE SECRETARY FOR CHINESE AFFAIRS (HON. MR. N. L. SMITH).
THE COLONIAL TREASURER (HON. MR. E. TAYLOR).
HON. MR. E. D. C. WOLFE, C.M.G., (Inspector General of Police).
HON. COMMANDER G. F. HOLE, R.N., (Retired) (Harbour Master).
HON. DR. A. R. WELLINGTON, C.M.G., (Director of Medical and Sanitary Services). HON. MR. R. M. HENDERSON, (Director of Public Works).
HON. SIR WILLIAM SHENTON, KT.
HON. MR. C. G. S. MACKIE.
HON. MR. R. H. KOTEWALL, C.M.G., LL.D.
HON. MR. J. P. BRAGA.
HON. MR. S. W. TS'O, O.B.E., LL.D.
HON. MR. T. N. CHAU.
HON. MR. W. H. BELL.
HON. MR. J. OWEN HUGHES.
MR. R. A. C. NORTH, (Deputy Clerk of Councils).
MINUTES.
The Minutes of the previous meeting of the Council were confirmed.
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PAPERS.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, by command of H. E. the Governor, laid upon the table the following papers:―
Regulations under section 6 (1) of the Places of Public Entertainment Regulation Ordinance, 1919.
Regulation under section 210 of the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, 1903,― blasting operations in the vicinity south of Wong Ma Kok at Stanley Peninsula.
Report of the Harbour Master and Director of Air Services for the year 1933. FINANCE COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, by command of H.E. the Governor, laid upon the table the report of the Finance Committee, No. 10 of 26th July, 1934, and moved that it be adopted.
MOTIONS.
THE COLONIAL TREASURER.―The total amount expended on the Vehicular Ferry to the end of 1933 was $1,741,650.70. Of this sum $325,231.14 was spent during 1933. Hon. Members will recollect that resolutions for $170,000 and $139,000, totalling $309,000, were taken on October 6, 1932, and December 14, 1933, respectively, for the estimated expenditure during 1933. As $325,-231.14 was spent during the year, it is necessary to take a resolution for the balance, viz., $16,232.00
I would add that the total approved estimate for the Ferry at present is $1,864,000, but it is posssible that further funds may be required before finality is reached.
I therefore move "that this Council approves the further expenditure of $16,232 on the Vehicular Ferry during the financial year 1933, which sum shall be met from Loan funds and shall meanwhile be charged as an advance from the Surplus Balances of the Colony."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and this was agreed to.
CORONER'S ABOLITION AMENDMENT ORDINANCE, 1934.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill intituled "An Ordinance to amend the Coroner's Abolition Ordinance, 1888." He said: The scope and purpose of this Bill are sufficiently shewn in the Objects and Reasons. The only material alterations of the existing law are as follows:―
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(a) By Clause 2 the Governor in Council is empowered to make rules in connection with inquests and post-mortems.
(b) In respect of deaths of prisoners under sentence, the old provision requiring an inquest to be held in every case within 24 hours (or 48 hours if a "dies non" intervenes) has been relaxed, and is now to apply only to the case of executed prisoners. (Clause 5).
(c) Clause 8 abolishes the discretion of a magistrate acting as coroner to commit direct for trial a person against whom at an inquest evidence of the commission of a crime has been disclosed, and requires the institution of ordinary proceedings before a magistrate as the initial step in every such case.
(d) Clauses 9 and 10 give to the Attorney General similar powers, in particular the power of requiring a magistrate to hold an inquest, to those conferred on the High Court by section 6 of the Coroners Act, 1887.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a first time. Objects and Reasons.
The "Objects and Reasons" for the Bill were stated as follows:
1. Section 2 of this Ordinance inserts a new section 2 in the principal Ordinance empowering the Governor in Council to make rules, similar to the power exercised in England by the Lord Chancellor with the concurrence of the Secretary of State under section 26 of the Coroners (Amendment) Act, 1926 (16 and 17 Geo. 5, c. 30), on which the section is based.
2. Section 3 of this Ordinance makes a verbal amendment in section 4 of the principal Ordinance, rendered necessary by the appointment of more than two magistrates.
3. Section 5 of this Ordinance substitutes for section 8 of the principal Ordinance a new section, of which sub-section (1), based on section 5 of the Capital Punishment Amendment Act, 1868 (31 & 32 Vict., c. 24), relates to inquiries on the bodies of prisoners who have suffered capital punishment, and sub-section (2), founded on section 3 of the Coroners Act, 1887 (50 & 51 Vict., c. 71), to deaths in prison. Old section 8, which applied to both classes of inquiry, required an inquiry to be held within 24 hours of the death (or 48 hours if a Sunday intervened), but as it has been found impracticable to summon a jury within this period for all inquiries into deaths in prison, the provision has, as in England, been restricted in new section 8 to inquiries on the bodies of executed offenders.
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Sub-section (3) of new section 8 removes a doubt as to whether a "view" is required in inquiries under sub-sections (1) and (2) of that section.
In ordinary death inquiries under section 7 of the principal Ordinance it is left to the discretion of the magistrate whether or not there shall be a view of the body.
Old section 8 originally required a view of the body in the cases to which it applied; but section 30 of the Schedule to the Law Revision Ordinance, No. 5 of 1924, authorised the deletion of the words "view the body and".
It is open to question whether this alteration by a Revision Ordinance had the effect of abolishing the view in cases under old section 8; especially as section 4 imposes on magistrates the duties which a Coroner had by law at the commencement of the Ordinance, one of those duties being a view of the body (Rex v. Haslewood 1926 II K.B. 468).
In the Straits Settlements by section 326 (2) of Ordinance No. 121 provision is made for a view of the body where it appears to the greater number of the jury to be expedient. In England by section 14 of the Coroners (Amendment) Act, 1926, a view by the Coroner is still necessary and by the jury also if a majority so desires.
In the circumstances it is considered desirable to add, in sub-section (3) of new section 8, words which will make it clear that at inquiries under the section the magistrate shall view the body but that a view by the jury shall not be necessary unless it appears to the magistrate or to the greater number of the jurors expedient for the jury to do so.
4. Section 6 of this Ordinance adds a new sub-section (3) to section 12 of the principal Ordinance requiring a magistrate who holds an inquiry without a jury to record his finding in the same way as he records the finding of the jury under sub-section (1) of that section.
5. Section 7 of this Ordinance adds to section 13 of the principal Ordinance three new sub-sections of which sub-sections (2) and (3), based on section 20 (1) and (3) of the Coroners (Amendment) Act, 1926, provide for the adjournment of an inquiry in cases where a person has been charged before a magistrate with causing the death of the person whose death is the subject of the inquiry, and regulate the procedure in cases where such inquiry is re-opened after the jury has been discharged.
New sub-section (4) provides for the continuity of proceedings at an adjourned inquiry held by a magistrate alone or with the same jury as at the original inquiry.
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6. Under section 14 of the principal Ordinance any person against whom, at an inquiry, evidence of an offence has been disclosed may be prosecuted according to the ordinary procedure before magistrates or, at the discretion of the magistrate holding the inquiry, committed for trial at the Supreme Court. Section 8 of this Ordinance abolishes this discretion, and makes prosecution before a magistrate necessary in all cases before trial.
The object of sections 7 and 8 of this Ordinance is to ensure that every accused person shall be charged as soon as possible with the offence of which he is accused, and shall have an opportunity of replying to the charge and cross-examining the witnesses; and also to secure a uniform procedure in all cases. The amendment to section 14 of the principal Ordinance is based on section 355 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Ordinance No. 121) of the Straits Settlements. Provision is made for the obtaining, by an accused person, of copies of the depositions on which he has been charged, and for bail; and it is also provided, on the lines of section 20 (2) of the Coroners (Amendment) Act, 1926, that no person who has been charged on indictment may be charged with any offence of which he could have been convicted on the indictment.
7. Sections 16, 18 and 19 of the principal Ordinance, which deal with committal to the Supreme Court from a magistrate's inquiry, are repealed by sections 9, 10 and 11 of this Ordinance, and replaced by new sections 16 and 18, based on sections 320 and 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Straits Settlements, which provide that the Attorney General shall have powers in respect of inquiries similar to those vested in the High Court in England by section 6 of the Coroners Act, 1887 (50 and 51 Vict., c. 71).
8. Section 15 of the principal Ordinance is also repealed by section 11 of this Ordinance, the procedure relating to burials under a magistrate's order, with which it deals, being regulated by section 14 of the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance, No. 7 of 1896, and sections 90 and 91 of the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, No. 1 of 1903.
9. Section 12 of this Ordinance adds a new form (No. 5) to the Schedule to the principal Ordinance in pursuance of the amendments mentioned in paragraph 6.
JURY AMENDMENT ORDINANCE, 1934.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill intituled "An Ordinance to amend the Jury Ordinance, 1887". He said: This amending Ordinance introduces no radical changes in the law but regularises procedure in respect of passing over (when necessary) persons drawn for a Coroner's Jury panel, in
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respect of the method of summoning jurors and in respect of the recording of juries' verdicts which has long been followed in fact.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a first time. Objects and Reasons.
The "Objects and Reasons" for the Bill were stated as follows:
1. Section 2 of this Ordinance repeals sections 13 and 14 of the principal Ordinance and re-enacts them with modifications.
2. Section 13 permitted the Registrar of the Supreme Court, in forming any jury panel, to pass over the names of persons drawn who could not be served with summonses by reason of death or absence from the Colony. The substituted section 13 permits him in forming a panel under section 9 of the Coroner's Abolition Ordinance, 1888, to pass over also the names of persons drawn who in his opinion cannot conveniently be served in sufficient time to secure their attendance as jurors. Death inquiries under section 8 of the latter Ordinance have to be held at very short notice.
3. Section 14 of the Jury Ordinance, 1887, required that jurors' summonses should be either served personally or left at the usual place of abode of the persons drawn two clear days before the day appointed for the sitting of the court.
4. The provision requiring two clear days notice is impracticable in cases under section 8 of the Coroner's Abolition Ordinance, 1888, and unnecessary where personal service is effected. Moreover with the expansion of residential districts on both sides of the harbour it has become increasingly difficult to effect service at the residential addresses (cf. definition of "Abode" in Stroud's Judicial Dictionary Vol. 3 p. 1489) of the persons drawn. For many years it has been the practice to serve the summonses by leaving at the jurors' places of business instead of at their residences.
5. The substituted section 14 requires two days' notice only in those cases where personal service is not effected and regularises the practice of leaving the summonses at the places of business of the jurors concerned.
6. Section 3 amends section 23 of the Jury Ordinance, 1887, by allowing the clerk of the court to act as the officer of the court who takes and records verdicts. It is impracticable for the Registrar to be present in court on all occasions when verdicts are given, and the amendment regularises a practice which has prevailed for many years.
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OFFICIAL SIGNATURES FEES AMENDMENT
ORDINANCE, 1934.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill intituled "An Ordinance to amend the Official Signatures Fees Ordinance, 1888". He said: The purpose of this amending Ordinance is shewn in the Objects and Reasons.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a first time. Objects and Reasons.
The "Objects and Reasons" for the Bill were stated as follows:
The effect of the proposed amendment of the principal Ordinance is to add the Head of the Sanitary Department to the list of officials for whose signature a fee is charged.
Its purpose is not so much to obtain extra revenue as to discourage the frequent applications which are made to the Head of the Sanitary Department on no very adequate grounds for, e.g., the change of the name of a holder of a market lease or licence.
MERCHANT SHIPPING AMENDMENT ORDINANCE, 1934.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill intituled "An Ordinance to amend the law relating to Merchant Shipping". He said: The amendments to be effected by this Ordinance are necessitated by the intended extension to the Colony of the Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act of 1932.
Part II of that Act which deals with Load Line and Loading will be proclaimed by Order in Council of His Majesty as applying to the Colony with necessary modifications when this Ordinance has been passed.
A further amending Ordinance will be submitted to this Council in due course and after that is passed it is expected that Part I of the Act which deals generally with Safety at Sea will also be extended to the Colony by Order in Council.
The details of the legislation concerned appear in the Objects and Reasons. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a first time. Objects and Reasons.
The "Objects and Reasons" for the Bill were stated as follows:
1. By section 264 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, if the Legislature of a British possession, by any law, apply or adapt
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to any British ships registered at, trading with, or being at, any port in that possession, and to the owners, masters, and crews of those ships, any provisions of Part II of the Act which would not otherwise so apply, such law shall have effect throughout His Majesty's dominions, and in all places where His Majesty has jurisdiction in the same manner as if it were enacted in the Act.
2. By section 735 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, the Legislature of any British possession may by any Act or Ordinance, confirmed by His Majesty in Council, repeal, wholly or in part, any provisions of the Act (other than those in the Third Part thereof which relate to emigrant ships) relating to ships registered in that possession.
3. In exercise of these powers an Ordinance, now numbered as No. 10 of 1899, was passed by the Hong Kong Legislature and has been amended by Ordinances Nos. 5 and 11 of 1931 and by Ordinance No. 23 of 1932.
4. The principal Ordinance (as published in the Ordinances of Hong Kong 1844- 1923) comprises 46 sections and a Schedule of Tables. It cannot be compared with Ordinance No. 125 (Merchant Shipping) of the Straits Settlements which comprises 472 sections and several Schedules.
5. It deals, however, with certificates of registry, certificates of competency, the engagement and discharge of seamen, boarding houses for seamen, distressed seamen, health and accommodation, discipline, surveys, general equipment, life saving appliances, deck and load lines, dangerous goods and explosives, grain cargoes, unseaworthy and unsafe ships, marine courts, courts of survey, ports of the Colony, duties of masters, quarantine, fairways, safety of ships and prevention of accidents, removal of obstructions, moorings and buoys, fishing stations, police powers, light-houses, lights and beacons, launches, motor-boats, river steamers, junks and native craft, offences and prosecution thereof, regulations and fees.
6. By section 41 of the principal Ordinance such of the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts as apply to the Colony and are not inconsistent with the provisions of the Ordinance are repealed so far as they relate to ships registered in the Colony; but in all other respects the provisions of the said Acts are expressed to be in force in the Colony and extend to all ships registered in the Colony when such ships are within the waters of the Colony. By sub-section 2 (b) fines not exceeding one thousand dollars are substituted for fines punishable under the Acts not exceeding one hundred pounds.
7. Apparently the provisions of the Acts repealed by the section and the application to the Colony and ships registered therein of the remaining provisions relate only to the Acts which
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were in force on the 19th September, 1903, when the principal Ordinance came into operation.
8. On the 31st May, 1929, an International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea and, on the 5th July, 1930, an International Load Line Convention were signed in London. To give effect to them, the Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act, 1932, was passed on the 17th March, 1932, which was brought into full operation on the 1st January, 1933, by an Order of His Majesty in Council under sections 39 and 67 dated the 10th November, 1932, published in the London Gazette of the 15th November, 1932.
9. In 1931 the Governments of Ceylon, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, the Netherlands East Indies, and the Straits Settlements, being satisfied that it would be impracticable to enforce compliance with the requirements of Chapters II and III of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1929, in the case of passenger ships engaged in the carriage of large numbers of unberthed Mohammedan pilgrims and other unberthed passengers to or from their countries and desiring to formulate general rules concerning Construction, Life Saving Appliances, etc., applicable to the particular circumstances of these trades in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 6 (b), and Article 12, paragraph 5 (d), of the said Convention, appointed delegates, who formulated the Simla Rules, 1931.
10. The Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act, 1932, amends the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1928, and will be construed as one with them under the general title of the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1932.
11. Part I of the Act of 1932, deals with Safety at Sea and by section 36 His Majesty may by Order in Council direct that the provisions of Part I of the Act and (so far as may appear expedient for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of that Part) the provisions of any other Act relating to Merchant Shipping, shall extend (inter alia) to any Colony, with such exceptions, adaptations or modifications (if any) as may be specified in the Order. Orders in Council under this section may direct that any provision of Part I of the Act, which is expressed to apply only to British ships or passenger steamers registered in the United Kingdom, shall apply to British ships or passenger steamers, as the case may be, registered in any country or part of His Majesty's dominions to which the provisions of Part I can be extended. These Orders in Council may also direct that any reference in Part I of the Act to a port in the United Kingdom shall be construed as including a reference to a port in any such country or part of His Majesty's dominions.
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12. Part II of the Act of 1932, deals with Load Line and Loading and by section 64 His Majesty may by Order in Council direct that the provisions of Part II of the Act, including any enactments for the time being in force amending or substituted for the said provisions, shall extend (inter alia) to any Colony, with such exceptions, adaptations or modifications (if any) as may be specified in the Order. Orders in Council under this section may direct that any provision of Part II of the Act which is expressed to apply only to British ships registered in the United Kingdom shall apply to British ships registered in any country or part of His Majesty's dominions to which the provisions of Part II can be extended. These Orders in Council may also direct that any reference to Part II of the Act to a port in the United Kingdom shall be construed as including a reference to a port in any such country or part of His Majesty's dominions.
13. Part III of the Act of 1932 is general and complementary to the provisions of both Parts I and II. It will be extended therefore to the Colony by Order of His Majesty in Council.
14. The extension of the provision of the Act of 1932, to the Colony of Hong Kong by Order in Council will necessitate many of the exceptions, adaptations and modifications, referred to in sections 36 and 64 and possibly also the repeal or amendment of some of the provisions of the local Ordinances.
15. It is understood that Part II of the Act, dealing with Load Line and Loading, will be extended to the Colony before Part I, dealing with Safety of Life at Sea, is so extended. This Amending Bill has been prepared with a view to indicating the amendments in the principal Ordinance which are considered necessary when Part II of the Act is extended to the Colony by Order in Council under section 64.
16. When Part I of the Act is extended to the Colony by Order in Council under section 36 it will probably be necessary to repeal or amend other provisions in Parts III and IV of Ordinance No. 10 of 1899 as well as Table A in the Schedule to that Ordinance.
BETTING DUTY AMENDMENT ORDINANCE, 1934.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill intituled "An Ordinance to amend the Betting Duty Ordinance, 1931". He said: Since September of last year the duty payable on pari-mutuel tickets has been at the rate of 2½% of the face value of each ticket, and for the year ending 31st March last the Jockey Club paid over $100,000 duty in this respect.
It is considered fairer that the duty should be charged on a sliding scale which can be varied from time to time by resolution of this Council.
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A copy of the resolution intended to be submitted to this Council if the Bill is passed is in the hands of each member.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a first time. Objects and Reasons.
The "Objects and Reasons" for the Bill were stated as follows:―
1. The duty on pari-mutuel tickets was fixed by the Betting Duty Ordinance, 1931, at 3% of the face value of each such ticket sold. By the Betting Duty Amendment Ordinance, 1933, the duty was reduced to 2½% as from 1st September, 1933.
For the year ending March 31st, 1934, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's accounts showed a loss of over $30,000. Their gross receipts from the sale of pari-mutuel tickets were $4,341,930 and the duty paid thereon was $116,848.
It is thought possible that in the year ending 31st March next, the gross receipts from this source may fall below $4,000,000.
2. In these circumstances, at the request of the Jockey Club, it has been considered fair to introduce a sliding scale to govern the payment of this duty, but to introduce such a scale into the body of the principal Ordinance would be cumbersome, especially as it is not necessarily intended to be final. Hence the amendment proposed by this Bill leaves the scale to be fixed by resolution of the Legislature.
SUPREME COURT AMENDMENT ORDINANCE 1934.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL moved the first reading of a Bill intituled "An Ordinance to amend further the Supreme Court Ordinance, 1873." He said: The Supreme Court Ordinance, 1873, has been found defective in yet another direction in that it provides no machinery for instituting revenue claims by the Government against persons who are not in the Colony.
The amended proviso to be enacted by Clause 2 of the Bill cures this defect, and the new sub-section (2) to be added by clause 5 to section 13 of the principal Ordinance vests in the Registrar of the Supreme Court the powers and duties on the revenue side of the King's Remembrancer in England.
The other amendments are amendments of the wording of sections 9 and 11 of the principal Ordinance as enacted by the amending Ordinance of 1932 and are based on a request for such amendments by the Secretary of State.
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THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a first time. Objects and Reasons.
The "Objects and Reasons" for the Bill were stated as follows:
1. The Crown Remedies Ordinance, 1875, the Crown Suits Ordinance, 1910, and sections 10 and 15 of the Estate Duty Ordinance, 1932, provide certain means whereby in Hong Kong the Crown can enforce its civil claims, but nowhere is any procedure laid down whereby a claim can even be instituted, much less enforced, against a person who is resident outside the jurisdiction. Such procedure is provided in England by sections 37 and 38 of the Crown Suits, etc., Act, 1886, (28 and 29 Vict., c. 104) and by other enactments.
2. The necessity for giving the Crown the same powers in Hong Kong as it has in England has recently been made abundantly clear by the refusal of certain persons, resident outside the jurisdiction, to answer a claim for a large amount of estate duty. The amended proviso to section 6 of the Supreme Court Ordinance, 1873, by introducing in Hong Kong the same procedure on the revenue side as was in force in England in 1930 will make it possible for action to be taken against such persons.
3. Section 3 of this Ordinance substitutes for section 9 (2) of the principal Ordinance (as enacted by section 2 of Ordinance No. 12 of 1933) a revised sub-section in which the words "subject to any conditions contained in any regulation made by or under the authority of His Majesty for His Majesty's Colonial Service" are substituted for the words "subject to suspension by the Governor in like manner as other officers in the Colony."
4. Section 4 of this Ordinance substitutes for section 11 of the principal Ordinance (as enacted by section 2 of Ordinance No. 12 of 1933) a revised section forbidding Chief Justices or Puisne Judges to accept or perform any other office or place of profit or emolument not authorised by law. The section, by virtue of the proviso, does not apply in the case of a judge who is temporarily appointed under section 10 of the principal Ordinance.
5. The latter two amendments are made at the request of the Secretary of State in his despatch of the 22nd February, 1934.
6. The addition by Clause 5 of a new sub-section (2) to Section 13 of the principal Ordinance puts the Registrar of the Supreme Court in the position of the King's Remembrancer in England for the purposes of proceedings on the revenue side.
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BIRTHS AND DEATHS REGISTRATION ORDINANCE, 1934.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL moved the second reading of a Bill intituled "An Ordinance to consolidate and amend the law relating to the Registration of Births and Deaths."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a second time. Council then went into Committee to consider the Bill clause by clause. Clause 30.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.―There should be a marginal note to this clause which should read: "Amendment of the Vaccination Ordinance, 1923." I move that it be inserted.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and this was agreed to.
Second Schedule:
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.―I have to propose one or two minor amendments in the Second Schedule which have been found necessary since the first reading. In Form No. 4, on Page 12 in the 6th line of the English version insert the word "to" in place of the word "of" after the word "insusceptibility," and for the Chinese version at the bottom of the page I beg to propose the substitution of the revised translation which I will hand to the Clerk and copies of which have been circulated to the Chinese members of the Council.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and this was agreed to.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.―On Page 16, Form No. 15 I would refer to a clerical or typographical error in the 7th line thereof. Form No. 11 should read Form No. 14.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and this was agreed to.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.―Finally, on Page 18 in the Notice (to be endorsed on the back of the certificate) paragraph 4 of the details which the informant must be prepared to state accurately to the Registrar reads "The rank, profession or occupation of deceased." The words I propose to be inserted there are "and nationality so far as is known," after the word "occupation." These words were added to the form in Ordinance 26 of 1931. When this Ordinance was originally drafted this addition appears to have been overlooked. So the form will now read "rank, profession or occupation, and nationality as far as is known."
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and this was agreed to.
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Upon Council resuming,
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL reported that the Bill had passed through Committee with immaterial amendments and moved the third reading.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a third time and passed.
ADJOURNMENT.
H.E. THE GOVERNOR.―Council stands adjourned until Thursday, August 23rd.