and the Secretary of State it appears to us that the Legislature intended that the Governor should hear the evidence and take that action himself which in the United Kingdom the Secretary of State would direct the police magistrate to take.
It is true that the exercise of such powers may be very inconvenient in the case of the Governor-General of Canada, but the inconvenience cannot, as the Canadian Minister appears to suggest, affect the question whether the power in question exists in the Governor.
Even assuming that proceedings might also be taken in accordance with the terms of s. 8, sub-sec. 2, as applied to a Colony, yet if the power of proceeding in extradition exists in the Governor-General, and the Belgian authorities call for its exercise, the pointing put an alternative procedure is not sufficient to justify a non-fulfilment of the Treaty obligation.
We therefore are of opinion that the Canadian Government are wrong in their contention that the proceedings for the arrest and committal of the fugitive should have been taken by those seeking his extradition; and we think it devolved upon the Colonial Government to take action upon the request of the Belgian Consul, and that the Governor-General should have entertained the requisition for surrender, and should, assuming the evidence to have been sufficient, have issued a warrant of arrest.
We have, &c., (Signed)
The Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley,
&c.
&c.
&c.
HENRY JAMES. FARRER HERSCHELL.
8888.
No. 253.
(CYPRUS.)
LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.
MY LORD,
We were honoured with your Lordship's commands, signified in Mr. Herbert's
Temple, 18th May 1881. letter of the 30th ultimo, stating that he was directed by your Lordship to submit to us the draft of an Order of the Queen in Council which your Lordship, with the concurrence of the Lord President, had caused to be prepared, providing for an appeal to Her Majesty in Council from decisions of certain courts in Cyprus.
2. That by an Order in Council of the 14th of September 1878, and a proclamation issued in pursuance of that Order by the High Commissioner, the exercise of English Consular jurisdiction in Cyprus had been determined, and by an Ordinance passed by the High Commissioner and Legislative Council of Cyprus, a copy of which was enclosed for reference, a Court had been temporarily established under the name of the Queen's High Court of Justice for Cyprus, with jurisdiction in all cases other than those which would have been under the sole jurisdiction and authority of the Ottoman Courts if the Convention under which Cyprus was occupied and administered by the Queen had not been made. That that Ordinance had been, by subsequent Ordinances, continued in force until the 2nd of December 1881.
3. That the jurisdiction over Ottoman subjects in Cyprus was still vested in the Ottoman Courts of the island, which consisted of certain Courts of first instance called Daavi Courts, a Commercial Court, and a Court of Appeal called the Temyiz Court, to which appeals lied from the Daavi Courts and the Commercial Court. That before the British occupation there was an appeal from the Temyiz Court in Cyprus to a superior court at Rhodes, with a further appeal from that tribunal to a court at Constantinople, but that the High Commissioner, acting under instructions from Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, had prohibited appeals to Rhodes.
4. That a scheme for the re-organization of the judicial system of Cyprus was under consideration, and that it was proposed, on the final adoption of that scheme, to provide an appeal to the Privy Council from the highest of the new courts, but as it might be some time before such new courts could be constituted, your Lordship thought that the inhabitants of Cyprus ought not to be left during the interval without the meaus of redress afforded by an appeal to the Queen in Council, both from the newly established High Court of Justice and from the Ottoman Court of Temyiz.
That Mr. Herbert was to request that we would favour your Lordship with our opinion whether the draft Order would meet the case, and might properly be submitted to Her Majesty in Council.
In obedience to your Lordship's commands we have the honour to
Report
That in our opinion the draft Order will meet the case, and may property be submitted to Her Majesty in Council.
We have, &c., (Signed) HENRY JAMES.
The Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley,
&c.
&c.
&c.
▲ 12916.-986. 25.-19/84.
FARRER HERSCHELL.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
CO.
Reference :-
885
12 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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