Enclosure 5.
341
14803
REGE 4 APR 07/
Opinion of the Attorney-General.
Proceedings before Executive Council are not governed by the rules of evidence which obtain at a Criminal trial.
The enquiry is like that held by an employer who suspects a servant of making underhand profits.
Such an employer is bound by certain rules -
(a) He must act on evidence as apart from mere matter of suspicion.
(b) He must act reasonably, and his conclusion must be such as a reasonable man might come to on the evidence.
Otherwise, if an action of wrongful dismissal is brought by the servant, the Court will give him damages against the master.
In such a case, any evidence admitted in a Civil Trial would be admissible, e.g., entries in account books kept in the course of business with reasonable regularity are admissible in corroboration of other evidence, Ordinance 3 of 1899, sec. 26 (1).
If there has been (a) evidence on which a civil court might act, (b) the employer has considered that evidence reasonably and has not dismissed his servant arbitrarily and capriciously, then the Court will certainly not interfere.
S. A. J. Gompertz,
Attorney-General.
15th February, 1907.