PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
CO.
885
12 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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be pursued by thein. Although the British officials who practically delivered up the prisoners to the Spanish authorities were primarily to blame, yet their action was manifestly induced by the letter of the Spanish consul requesting the expulsion of the escaped prisoners. The treaty between Great Britain and Spain points out the mode in which the surrender of criminals escaping into British territory is to be obtained. And that treaty expressly excludes those whose offences are political. This being the case, it may well be urged on the Spanish Government that the Spanish consul ought not to have requested the expulsion of the escaped convicts, suppressing the fact that the offence of which they were convicted was political; and that this mistake of his having led to the error of the British officials, the proper course would be that advantage should not be taken of the mistake arising through the Spanish consul's action.
We have, &c.,
The Right Hon. the Earl Granville, K.G.,
&c.
&c.
&c.
(Signed)
HENRY JAMES. FARRER HERSCHELL. J. PARKER DEANE.
10765/1885.
No. 282A.
(STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.)
(ADEN.)
LAW OFFICERS to FOREIGN OFFICE.
MY LORD,
We are honoured with your Lordship's commands, signified in Sir Julian
Temple, December 8, 1882. Pauncefote's letter of the 27th ultimo, stating that with reference to our reports of the 21st September last, and of the 11th instant, relating to the case of the Spanish mail- steamer" Leon XIII.," he was to inform us that a question had been put in the House of Commons as to whether Her Majesty's Government would demand compensation from the Spanish Government on behalf of the three British engineers of the "Leon XIII.," on the ground that they were from Singapore pending the return to the writ of habeas corpus served on the master of "forcibly carried off" in that steamer that vessel, ordering him to produce the men before the Supreme Court of the Colony, for the purpose of inquiring into the legality of their imprisonment on board the steamer in the harbour of Singapore. That in our Report of the 11th ultimo, on the proposed instruction to Her Majesty's Minister at Madrid, in reply to the views put forward by the Spanish Government in the case, we advised the addition in the draft of the following paragraphs:-
"If the master of the "Leon XIII." had produced the prisoners in obedience to the writ of habeas corpus, and had shown the Court that he was detaining them in custody upon the charge of an offence committed on board his vessel whilst on the high seas, with a view to their being tried by the Spanish authorities at the port to which he was proceeding, the Court at Singapore would no doubt have remitted them to his custody, in order that they might so be dealt with according to the law, the only question raised upon the writ of habeas corpus being whether they were lawfully in custody."
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That the offences with which the three engineers were charged were insubordina- tion and violence towards the officers of the ship, and were committed in the harbour of Aden. That in our Report of the 21st September last on the question raised by the Government of India as to whether the resident at Aden had failed in his duty by reason of his having taken no measures to investigate the ground on which the engineers were placed in confinement on board the "Leon XIII.," we advised that According to international law the British engineers, who had voluntarily become part of the crew of the Spanish ship, were subject to the law of Spain whilst on board "that vessel, and in respect of acts done by them there," that "they were not amenable, nor were the master or other members of the crew, to the jurisdiction of "the local authorities at Aden," and that "therefore the Resident was under no legal obligation to inquire into the circumstances in which they were placed under arrest, or into any cause of complaint they may have had." That it would seem to follow, therefore, that the custody or imprisonment of the engineers on board the that the fact of their having been "forcibly carried off" to the port of destination, Leon XIII." during her stay at Singapore was lawful, and with a view to their being tried there by the Spanish authorities, did not entitle them to compensation, however unlawful and reprehensible might have been the conduct of the captain in refusing to obey the writ of habeas corpus, and the conduct of the Spanish Consul in giving him aid and advice to resist and defeat the action of the Supreme Court.
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$6
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That, moreover, the act complained of was that of the officer in command of the Leon XIII.," who was not an officer of the Spanish Government, and even if a clain. for damages could be supported against him, it would seem difficult to charge the Spanish Government with responsibility on account of the bad advice given to the captain of the ship by the Spanish Consul.
That Sir Julian Pauncefote requested our opinion as to whether, under all the circumstances of the case, Her Majesty's Government would be justified in pre- ferring a claim for compensation against the Spanish Government on behalf of the engineers.
16278. 581. 25.-8/85.
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In obedience to your Lordship's commands we have the honour to
Report
That, under all the circumstances of the case, Her Majesty's Government would not, in our opinion, be justified in preferring a claim against the Spanish Government on behalf of the engineers.
We have, &c. (Signed)
HENRY JAMES.
FARRER HERSCHELL. J. PARKER DEANE.