نسليسا
PUBLIC RECORD
Tv To Tz Tv
OFFICE
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Reference :-
C.O. 882
1
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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some of the provisions of the Indemnity Ordinance. These, however, are almost sufficiently explained by the declaration of the object for which the Ordinance was enacted. "The Governor and all persons acting under his authority or direction, or under the authority of any such proclamation of martial law, are to be severally and jointly indemnified and discharged from and against all actions, prosecutions, and penalties whatsoever on account of any acts or things done, ordered, or authorized by the said Governor or by any person acting under his order or authority, or under the authority of any such proclamation of martial law, provided only that such acts have been done or ordered, bona fide, in furtherance of the objects for which martial law was proclaimed.”
23. It is also provided that no such act done under the above authority, whether it relate to the seisure and cus- tody of persons or the sequestration or sale of property, shall be questioned in any of Her Majesty's courts of civil or criminal jurisdiction in this island.
84. For the avoidance of any doubt as to whether any act or thing alleged to have been done by such order was so done, it is enacted, that it shall be lawful for the Governor, or the officer commanding Her Majesty's forces in the Kandyan provinces, to declare such acts to have been done in conformity to such orders, such declaration being signified in writing.
25. The striking provision above recited has been bor- rowed from the statute passed in Ireland in the year 1798, for the enactment of martial law and for the suppression of rebellion in that part of the kingdom.
26. The only Colonial Act of Indemnity to which I have had an opportunity of referring, is the ordinance passed at the Cape of Good Hope, being No. 10 of 1836, to indemnify the Governor of that colony, and bearing precisely the same title as the ordinance which I now tranamit. The object of that ordinance was similar, and the rcumstances under which it was enacted were very much of the mame description as those which have induced the Council to give their assent to the present ordinance.
The ordinance passed at the Cape of Good Hope was con-
firmed by His Majesty the King.
27. It is true that the territory of the Cape of Good
Hope had been invaded by foreign and hostile tribes, and thus far the circumstances of this colony are not precisely similar, for in this instance they were not foreign tribes, but our own fellow-subjects who took up arme against the constituted authorities. But when it is considered that the Kandyan country was the last portion of this island which was subjected to our authority, that on a former ocession it required a military force of 10,000 men and martial law for a spase of nearly three years to put down a rebellion in that part of our territory, and that seversi
Papers, March 4, 1850.
Appendix, pp. 404, 405.
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subsequent attempts were made to raise the people in open insurrection against British authority, "I would venture to hope that your Lordship will feel no hesitation in recom- mending the confirmation of a Bill of Indemnity for acts done in the rappression of an insurrection which was vigorously put an end to in little more than two months. The operation of martial law was only continued until the pretended'King was captured, and it materially contributed to that essential object.
Lord Grey's reply was as follows,--the last para- graph of which is important:
My Lord,
Downing Street, January 16, 1849. I have received and laid before the Queen your Lord- ship's despatch of the 6th of November last, No. 195, inclosing an ordinance, No. 11 of 1848, passed by your- self, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council of Ceylon, entitled "An Ordinance to indemnify the Governor, and all persons acting under his authority, for certain, sots done during the existence of martial law in certain parts of this island."
I have received the Queen's commands to acquaint you that Her Majesty has been pleased to confirm and allow this ordinance, and your Lordship will communicate Her Majesty's decision to the inhabitants of Ceylon by a pro- clamation, to be issued in the qual and most apthentic
manner.
At the same time, I must direct your notice, to some provisions of this ordinance which cannot pass without remark, although, under the peculiar circumstances of your government, I have not thought fit toadyiss Her Majesty to delay confirmation of the ordinance on secoupt of them. With regard to the clause empowering the Governor to declare what acta bays been done, in opqfar- mity with his orders, and thereby to bring them within the purview of the indemnity, it follows, as you state, the precedent of the Act, for suppressing the Rebellion of 1798 in Ireland, and under all the circumstances of the cape, I am not prepared to question, its propriety. But I have felt more serious, difficulty with respect to the espot- in the same section, that “no aot done in pursuance
ment
of any order," &c., "for the sisure, sequestration, or sale of the property of any such persons as last aforesaid,” that is, of "parsons engaged in such insurrection, or rus- pected thereof," shall be questioned in any of Her Ma jesty's civil courts. On reference to your despatob, the object of this provision becomes apparent. It seems that you found it advisable to direct the sequestration, of the property of persons suspected of being conearmed in the insurrection, most of whom had filed; that it because necessary that sales of perishable artioles of such property R