HONGKONG.
ANNO DUODECIMO VICTORIÆ REGINÆ.
No. 3 of 1849.
BY His Excellency SAMUEL GEORGE BONHAM, Esquire, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hongkong and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same, Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary and Chief Superintendent of the Trade of British Subjects in China, with the Advice of the Legislative Council of Hongkong,
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE ORDINANCE No. 9 OF 1845, ENTITLED "AN ORDINANCE TO INVEST THE SUPREME COURT OF HONGKONG WITH A SUMMARY JURISDICTION IN CERTAIN CASES."
Title.
[19th April, 1849.]
WHEREAS it has been deemed advisable to afford further Facility for the Recovery of small Debts in the Supreme Court of Hongkong in a more expeditious and less expensive Manner than heretofore, by extending its Summary Jurisdiction from One Hundred to Five Hundred Dollars, and to repeal Section III of Ordinance No. 9 of 1845, in so far as it relates to the disputed Balance of an unsettled Account:
Section III of Ordinance No. 9 of 1845 repealed.
I. Be it therefore enacted and ordained by His Excellency the Governor of Hongkong, with the Advice of the Legislative Council thereof, That the said Third Section of Ordinance No. 9 of 1845, in so far as it relates to any disputed Balance of an unsettled Account, be, and the same is hereby repealed.
II. And be it further enacted and ordained, That in every Case over which the said Supreme Court has Summary Jurisdiction under and by virtue of the said Ordinance No. 9 of 1845, except as hereinafter mentioned, the said Court shall have similar Jurisdiction in every like Case or Cause of Action, notwithstanding that the Debt or Damages sought to be recovered shall amount to more than One Hundred Dollars; Provided always that such Debt or Damages or Cause of Action do not exceed Five Hundred Dollars; and that the said Court shall not have Cognizance under this Ordinance in any Case of Libel, or Slander, or Assault, or Assault and Battery.
III. Provided always, and be it further enacted and ordained, That whenever any Defendant shall be arrested and taken in Execution under the Process of the said Supreme Court sitting in its Summary Jurisdiction, and where the Debt or Damages decreed or ordered shall not exceed the Sum of One Hundred Dollars, then and in such Case the Party arrested and taken in Execution shall not be held entitled to the Benefit of the Fourteenth Section of the said Ordinance No. 9 of 1845, whereby it is provided that Imprisonment by Process of the Court shall not exceed Three Months.
IV. And be it further enacted and ordained, That in all Cases where the Sum sought to be recovered shall exceed One Hundred Dollars, the Fees set forth in the Schedule hereunto annexed shall be deemed and taken (unless and until otherwise ordered and directed), as lawful Fees and Emoluments of the said Court and of the Attorneys thereof; and that the said former Fees be enforced, received, and accounted for, according to the Provisions made in and by the Twentieth Section of the said Ordinance No. 9 of 1845, for the Allowance and Recovery of Fees.
V. And be it further enacted and ordained, That whenever any Plaint or Suit shall be instituted under or by virtue of this Ordinance for the Recovery of any Sum exceeding One Hundred Dollars, it shall and may be lawful to and for the Plaintiff, or Defendant, to employ any Friend, Agent, or an Attorney of the Supreme Court, to assist at the Trial or Hearing of the Suit; and that each Party shall respectively bear and defray the Expense incurred by the Employment of his own Attorney, save and except when the Chief Justice shall certify that the Case was such as to render it fit and advisable for the Party or Parties obtaining a Decree or Order of the Court to have professional Assistance, in which Case the Cost of the Employment of such Attorney or Attorneys shall be defrayed by that Party against whom the Decree or Order shall be pronounced: And it is hereby provided, that in such Costs, no other or further Fee or Charge shall be allowed, either between Attorney and Client, or Party and Party, than those specified in the aforesaid Schedule hereunto annexed.
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