4
Mr Duncan 3/6/38 per Cowell.
At the last meeting of the Advisory Medical
Committee the Director of Medical Services, S.S. and
F.M.S., stated that they were proposing to enact a
Leper Ordinance based on the recent Hong Kong one.
He mentioned that under it full power as to removal
of lepers to a Leper Asylum would be in the hands of
the Director of Medical Services. Some members
expressed surprised that it was not necessary to con-
sult a magistrate, and Lord Dufferin thought it would
be desirable to look into the matter.
The Hong Kong Leper Ordinance No.25 of 1935
superseded a 1910 Ordinance under which lepers were
rounded up by the police and removed for detention
by order of the Governor. The new Ordinance was
based on the report of a committee, which is enclosure
3 to No.1 on 53640/35 Hong Kong. The important
paragraph in the report is No.14.
While the
references in the 1910 Ordinance to the Governor and
to the Governor in Council may have been unnecessarily
cumbrous, it may be thought that the powers given to
the Director of Medical Services by sections 4 and 5
of the new Ordinance should have been qualified by
some requirement that a magistrate's committal order
should be obtained. Do you consider that we should
allow the Hong Kong Ordinance to be used as a model
for Malaya?
Calder
31.5.38.