In England, every person convicted of a misdemeanor, for which no special punishment is provided by law, is liable to fine and imprisonment without hard labour (both or either) and to be put under recognizances to keep the peace and be of good behaviour, at the discretion of the Court. The statutes 3 Geo. 4 c. 114 and 14 and 15 Vict. e. 100 s. 29 have, however, added power to inflict hard labour in addition, in a numbor of cases, and the local Ordinance, No. 2 of 1869, section 7, conferred a like power upon the Court here, in the cases mentioned in 14 and 15 Viet. c. 100 s. 29. In the more modern codes, approved by the Secretary of State and in force in some of the Colonies, the law authorises imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding a year in all cases of mis- demeanor where no special punishment is provided, and it is thought that a similar punishment, with or without the addition of a fine, should be provided in this Colony.
Section 7 of Ordinance No. 2 of 1869, which omitted some misdemeanors which might fitly have been included, in the circumstances of this Colony, is, accordingly repealed.
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Indeed, Section 7 was rather out of place in
Ordinance No. 2 of 1869, which dealt mainly with procedure.
(So.)W. Meigh Goodman,
Attorney General.