Hongkong Confidential
2nd November, 1880.
Governor For John Hope Hennessy, K.C.
to
The Right Honourable
The Earl of Kimberley
Transmitting an opinion of the Attorney General regarding Mr Justice Snowden's decision on the right of the Judges, to sit in Chambers in Probate and Bankruptcy cases.
(Copy)
rrot d 10. 2996
Opinion of the Attorney General on Mr. Justice Snowden's decision
The paper referred to is a statement of the strict legal grounds upon which Mr. Justice Snowden's decision or judgment is based. It is as much a reference to a case before the Court as it is to the nature of a public statement from the bench of the grounds upon which Judges considered that they were warranted in taking certain Probate and Bankruptcy business at Chambers instead of in open Court.
As regards Probate jurisdiction, the question of the right of the Court to sit at Chambers is free...
One Enclosure
C.