28857.
No. 235.
(GOLD COAST.)
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
C.O.885
Reference :-
14 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
1
SIR,
LAW OFFICERS TO COLONIAL OFFICE.
Royal Courts of Justice, October 21, 1899.
WE were honoured with your commands signified in Mr. Bertram Cox's letter of the 30th ultimo, stating that he was directed by you to request our consideration of certain questions which had arisen with regard to certain Ordinances passed by the Legislature of the Gold Coast Colony to provide for the Government of the territories near or adjacent to the Colony over which Her Majesty exercises protectorate rights.
That Mr. Bertram Cox was to transmit to us a memorandum submitted by Sir W. Brandford Griffith, the Chief Justice of the Gold Coast Colony, in which a detailed account of the Ordinances which had from time to time been passed in the Colony in respect to these territories was given, together with copies of the Ordinances therein referred to.
powers
That by an Order in Council, dated 29th December, 1887, and made under the conferred by the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1843, the Legislative Council for the time being of the Gold Coast Colony was empowered by Ordinance to exercise, and provide for giving effect to, all such powers and jurisdiction as Her Majesty might at any time before or after the passing of that Order have acquired in the territories adjacent to the Gold Const Colony.
That it would be seen on reference to the memorandum of the Chief Justice above referred to, and to the Ordinances therein dealt with (copies of which were transmitted to us), that the Legislature of the Gold Coast Colony purported to pass Ordinances for the government of the territories of the Colony wherein Her Majesty had acquired, or might thereafter acquire, jurisdiction. That by the Interpretation Ordinance No. 3 of 1876 the Protected territories were defined, and by the Statute Law Revision Ordinance passed in 1895 (No. 3 of that year) the term "Colony" was (Section 3) made to include "the settlement on the Gold Coast, and the territories near or adjacent thereto wherein Her Majesty may at any time before or after the commencement of this Ordinance have acquired powers and jurisdiction," while (Section 4) every Ordinance then in force or thereafter coming into force was, subject to any express limitation or extension' contained in it, made to apply to the Colony as above defined. That those sections appeared in the revised edition of the Gold Coast Ordinances published in 1898 as Sections 7 and 8 of the Interpretation Ordinance, 1876, and would be found at pages 6 and 7 of the 1st volume
of that edition.
That it would be observed that the Chief Justice appeared to consider that the effect of Sections 2 and 4 of the Statute Law Revision Ordinance was to annex to the Colony every new territory over which Her Majesty might acquire powers and jurisdiction, and to make the inhabitants of any such territory British subjects, with all the rights and liabilities resulting therefrom. That it appeared to you that it was very doubtful whether the Ordinances passed by the Legislature of the Gold Const could be held to have produced this result, and that the mere fact that Her Majesty did not disallow those Ordinances could not have the effect of a Proclamation of Her Majesty anexing these territories to the Colony and altering the status of their inhabitants. That you also entertained considerable doubt whether the Order in Council of the 29th of December, 1887, empowered the Legislature of the Colony to legislate in anticipation for future Protectorates.
That Mr. Bertram Cox was to request that we would take these matters into our consideration and to advise-
1. Whether it was within the powers of the Legislature of the Colony to legislate in anticipation for future Protectorates ?
•
2. Whether the view of the Chief Justice as to the effect of Sections 2 and 4 of the Statute Law Revision Ordinance of 1895 was correct ?
3. What was the proper construction and effect of those sections?
4. Generally.
3932–25-10/849 W↑ 139 DAS
A