4129.
No. 15.
(MALTA.)
PUBLIC RECORD
OFFICE
།༴། ་། ། ་།
وا
C.O.
Reference:
885
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
10PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
MY LORD DUKE,
LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.
Lincoln's Inn, April 24, 1860.
We were honoured with your Grace's commands, signified in Mr. Elliot's letter of the 3rd instant, stating that he was directed by your Grace to transmit to us a copy of a Despatch from the Governor of Malta, enclosing a memorandum prepared by the Crown Advocate of the Island, relative to the necessity of remodelling the electoral system for. Members of Council, with a volume containing the Letters Patent and other documents having reference to the constitution of the council.
Mr. Elliot was pleased to add that we would observe that the election of members to serve in the Council of Government was regulated and appointed by a proclamation issued in pursuance of the Letters Patent, which gave the Council the power by any law or ordinance to repeal the provisions of the proclamation, provided that any such law should not be repugnant to the Letters Patent.
And that the Letters Patent conferred the franchise on all persons who were then qualified to serve as common jurors, and that qualification was to be competently versed in the English or the Italian language.
And that, by the then present mode of proceeding in regard to the voting tickets, the voter was not in the habit of writing with his own hand the names of the persons for whom he proposed to vote, an omission which was represented to have lod to great inconvenience.
Mr. Elliot added that your Grace requested to he favoured with our opinion whether the Council has the power, under the Letters Patent, to pass a law to amend the provisions of the proclamation regulating the election of members by making it compulsory on the voter to write with his own hand the names of the persons for whom he intends to vote.
In obedience to your Grace's commands we have carefully considered the above question, together with the papers relating thereto, and have the honour to
Report
J
That we are of opinion that the Council has not the power, under the Letters Patent of the 11th May 1849, to alter the provisions of the proclamation regulating the election of Members of Council, by requiring the electors to write with their own hands the names of the candidates for whom they intend to vote.
It is true that the Letters Patent expressly empower the Council of Government "by any law or ordinance duly enacted to repeal the provisions of the proclamation" of the 23rd June 1849 for regulating the conduct of elections (page 5, "constitution"), so that the Council might repeal the 13th and 15th enactments of the proclamation, which sanction the present method of dealing with voting tickets. Any new or substituted regulation, however, must of necessity be confined within the limits which are, by the Letters Patent, carefully defined as the scope of the original proclamation; those limits being the "effective, orderly, and proper conduct" of the election, and not extending to the qualification of electors or other matters of like importance (pages 4 and 5, " constitution").
But a new regulation, such as is suggested, would in effect change the qualification of the elector, by requiring that he shall be able to write his own name. No such ability has in practice been deemed necessary as proof of a person being "competently versed" in either language, whether for jury or electoral purposes; the petice in this respect has, in our opinion, been perfectly correct, and at all events it is far too late now, for the first time, to assume that the old jury qualification involved the ability of the juror to write his name. If it did not then, of course the present electoral qualification embraces no such requirement.
We are further of opinion that it is not competent to the Governor in Council under the general powers of the legislation contained in the Letters Patent (page 7, "con- stitution") to require, as a new electoral qualification, the ability of the elector to write his name.
10278.-746.
25.-9/86.