42
the Question the Report is of course final, though its
judicial effect is not so evident.
It may transpire that the Colonial Courts will
be in doubt as to whether, under the jurisdiction derived
from Section 2 of the Admiralty Offences (Colonial) Act
1849, the piracy there designated, is piracy jure gentium
as judicially defined up to 1849, or as more broadly con-
strued by the Judicial Committee in 1934.
The Report would still appear to leave open the
question of the jurisdiction of the municipal courts who
derive their authority from the 1849 Act.
If in practice it is found that this uncertainty
as to jurisdiction still exists, the Report does to some
extent seem to have made it easier, if thought desirable,
to take steps for removing such uncertainty by appropriate
legislation specifically conferring jurisdiction on the
Colonial Courts in all cases of piracy jure gentium.
1. Hare Court. Temple, E.C.4.
2.
Kenelm Preedy.
30th July, 1934.