CO885-(13-15) — Page 586

21965.

No. 192.

(MALTA.)

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

THE

C.O. 8

885

14 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

SIR,

LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.

Royal Courts of Justice,

September 29, 1898.

We were honoured with your commands signified in Mr. F. Graham's letter of the 14th instant, stating that he was directed by you to lay before us an extract from a letter from the War Office on the subject of what are known as "encroachments " Crown lands in Malta, held by the War Departinent for purposes of military defence.

on

That those encroachments had been heretofore made with the permission of the Secretary of State for War, on the condition of immediate removal without compensation whenever required by the Secretary of State for War; and that the encroacher paid to the War Department a rent or acknowledgment.

That the Order in Council of the 26th October, 1896, referred to in the War Office letter, dealt with the question of Military Clearance Rights, and contained the following clause defining the terms upon which lands and buildings in Malta were to be held by the War Department :-

“25. Lands and buildings in the Island of Malta and its dependencies, including all the fortifications and works of defence which, on the publication of this Order in the said Island, will be in the occupation of the War Department, except such as have been purchased or built with, or at the expense of, Imperial funds or taken in exchange for lands or buildings so purchased, and except such lands or buildings as are leased to the War Department by the Civil Government, shall continue to be held by the War Department for the purpose of military defence exclusively, so that such property shall in no case be transferred to any party not being the Civil Government of Malta, nor leased, and it shall always revert to the Civil Government of Malta for the benefit of the local revenue whenever it is declared by the Secretary of State for War to be no longer required for the purposes of military defence."

That you agreed with the Secretary of State for War that it was desirable that permissions for “ encroachments on land held by the War Department should continue to be given by, and remain under the control of, the War Department, subject to the conditions stated in paragraph G of the War Office letter, but that a question had been raised by the Chief Secretary to the Government and the Crown Advocate of Malta whether the War Department was precluded from granting permission for such encroachments by the 25th clause of the Order in Council on the ground that such permission was a transfer or lease within the meaning of that clause.

That Mr. Graham was to request us to favour you with our opinion as to whether clause 25 of the Order in Council precluded the Secretary of State for War from permitting encroachments on land held by him for military purposes in the manner heretofore practised and on the conditions stated in paragraple 6 of the War Office letter; and, if our answer to that question was in the affirmative, Mr. Graham was to request us to be good enough to suggest a form of amendment of the clause which would remove the difficulty.

We have taken the matter into our consideration, and, in obedience to your commands, have the honour to

Report-

THAT in our opinion there is nothing in clause 25 of the Order in Council to prevent the continuance of the practice which has hitherto prevailed. These permissions are neither transfers nor leases. The conditions proposed by the War Office seem to us very reasonable.

The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain, M.P.,

We have, &c.,

RICHARD E. WEBSTER. ROBERT B. FINLAY.

&c.,

&c..

674-95-9/98 Wt 21618 D&S

5

&c.