our own
claimed authority to try our subjects by British tribunals and by British law and the authority has
by Treaty. an Order in Council of the 9th March 1865 made under
been conceded to us
By
the authority of the acts of Parliament
6 and 7 Viet. c. 80 and 6 and 7 Viet. c. 94 provision has been made for the establishment of Courts in China and Japan and it has been declared " amongst other things (Section 4) that all Her Majesty's jurisdiction exerciseable in China for the repression
of crimes or offences committed by British subjects should be exercised under and according to the provisions
373
of that Order and not otherwise.
The Supreme Court of China
and Japan and the Provincial Courts constituted under that order would now have the sole original jurisdiction over offences committed
by British subjects on land in Chinese territory with the exception of offences committed by British subjects within the peninsula of Macao, of which offences by section 159 the Supreme Court of Hong Kong
is specially authorized to take cognizance. The Supreme Court of Hongkong has by section 104 jurisdiction
over certain cases of offences committed on vessels at a distance of not more than
7