CO885-(13-15) — Page 89

17,810.

:

MY LORD,

No. 129.

(MALTA.)

LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.

Law Officers' Department, WE were honoured with your Lordship's commands signified in Mr. Bramston's

Royal Courts of Justice, September 3, 1888. letter of the 15th ultimo, stating that he was directed by your Lordship to lay before us the enclosed copy of a despatch from the Governor of Malta requesting instructions in view of a conflict of opinion between the present Crown Advocate of Malta and his predecessor, now Chief Justice of the Island, as to the state of the law of Malta on the subject of military clearance rights.

That Mr. Bramston was to enclose copies of the Memorandum of the Crown Advocate and of the Proclamation of Governor Sir Manley Power dated the 3rd of November 1825, and an extract from the Memorandum of the late Crown Advocate, which were referred to in Sir Lintorn Simmons' despatch.

That your Lordship desired to be favoured with our opinion whether the Proclama- tion of the 3rd November 1825, (which appeared to be the only statute now in force in Malta on the subject), applied only to buildings and walls prejudicial to any of the forts, fortifications, or military defences which existed in Malta and its dependencies at the date of the Proclamation; or, whether it extended to buildings and walls pre- judicial to forta, fortifications, and military defences constructed after that date, and in the latter case, whether the Government was entitled to require the demolition of buildings erected after that date, without its previous consent, which in the opinion of the Commanding Officer of the Royal Engineers were prejudicial to works of defence constructed after the erection of the buildings.

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

Report

That in our opinion the Proclamation of November 3rd 1825 applies to all the forts, fortifications, and military defences in the Islands whether constructed before or after that date, but the fortification or defence to which the building or wall is prejudicial must exist at the time of the building, or in other words buildings otherwise lawful cannot be demolished without compensation in consequence of their being prejudicial to a fortification erected after the building.

The Proclamation, therefore, does not entitle the Government to require the demoli- tion of buildings or walls erected, or added to, without permission since 1825, unless, at the time they were erected, or added to, they were prejudicial to then existing works of defence.

The Right Hon. Lord Knutsford,

&c.

&c.

&c.

We have, &c.,

(Signed)

RICHARD E. WEBSTER,

EDWARD CLARKE.

52950.--84. 25.-9/88.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TLC.O.885

13 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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