It may be sufficient for the purpose; and I feel sure that he has gone through the Code and is satisfied that it is. But it is quite impossible for me to test this unaided. If the bill is to be brought forward in its present form, it should be submitted to a small Committee who would test every section of the Code, in order to see whether the substitution is accurate. Unless this is done difficulties now unforeseen may arise at any moment which may necessitate further legislation. If it is decided to put the Bill forward in its present shape, I will of course assist in the essential process of verification.
5. The fundamental principle of the proposal is that while the new Appeal Court is to take over certain work from the existing 'Full Court', the Full Court, in its present form is to carry on its existing jurisdiction under the name of 'Divisional Court'. In the first place I am by no means clear that s. 8 effects this object so far as the Divisional Court is concerned. It is exceedingly dangerous to re-enact legislation referring to jurisdiction, which is apparently what is intended in s. 8. This section requires the most careful scrutiny; on the face of it it seems to me incomplete.
5. Every one of the substitution sections requires to be investigated by a Committee such as I had suggested above. In the absence of such an investigation it is quite impossible for me to report whether the bill is satisfactory or not.
On the assumption that it is possible to fix the dates on which the new Appeal Court is to sit, the dates given in s. 6, 4th January and 4th July, are open to objection. So far as 4th January is concerned it is open to the objection that if, as this year, Chinese New Year falls in January, the time of sitting would be much curtailed. Even when it falls in February there is always a considerable number of small matters to be attended to, both in Original and Summary Jurisdiction, as the Chinese custom is to settle up business before their New Year. The sittings might therefore be seriously curtailed.