K
23836/23
{
difficult to defend the deportation of British
subjects without a trial. Moreover, their
position under the 1917 and 1921 Ordinances seemed
6
to be rather worse in some respects than that of
aliens, since they were not dealt with under the
provisions of section 4 of Ordinance 25 of 1917
unless in the Government's opinion they had been
guilty of an offence specified in subsection 14
of that section. Their case was therefore
prejudged from the start and the enquiry which
was provided for in the earlier part of section
4 could not in their case serve a very useful
purpose. The Governor was accordingly instructed
(by the despatch of 18th June, 1923) to put forward
proposals for amending the Ordinance in such a
way that, while he was left in possession of
powers absolutely necessary for safeguarding the
Colony, the principles of judicial procedure
might be preserved as far as possible and the
defect referred to above be remedied.
suggested that there should be an entirely new
Ordinance divided into two parts; the one dealing
with aliens and the other with British Subjects.
In the case of British Subjects provision should
be made for a full enquiry before a Judge in
Chamber or some similar tribunal. "If" the
despatch continued, "you feel some hesitation in
the peculiar circumstances of the case in
delegating to the judiciary the power of
determining whether the accused should be deported
or not, it might be sufficient to provide that the
Judge should report to you upon the allegations
It was
made