CO885-(2-3) — Page 462

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WEST INDIAN COLONIES.

No. 21.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

C.O.885

Reference :-

Enclosures

in No. 21.

3 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

WEST INDIAN COLONIES.

48

LAWS IN FORCE IN THE COLONIES AS TO TRESPASS,

trespass, or to dismiss such complaint, with or without costs: Provided always, That as a condition precedent to the conviction of any person as aforesaid, it shall be necessary for such Justices as aforesaid to require proof of a notice in letters, painted, printed, or written, of at least one inch in length, forbidding trespasses, which was visible on some conspicuous part of the plantation or lands, at the time of such trespass, or that the person complained against had received notice, either verbally or in writing, from the owner, possessor, or occupier of such plantation or lands, to desist or abstain from tres- passing on the same.

2. That this Act shall not interfere with, or be construed to affect, the right of any person or persons having good and sufficient cause or reason for doing so, to pass or repass, orderly and quietly, through and along the customary paths leading from the public highways to the several habitations to which such paths lead: Provided, never- theless, that nothing in this Act contained shall be deemed to affect the title or freehold of any proprietor or proprietors in any such paths.

3. That so much of an Act passed by the Legislature of this Island in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, intituled, “An Act to repeal an "Act, intituled, 'An Act how trespasses shall be inquired into and satisfied," and to "make provision for the better prevention and punishment of petty trespasses, and for "obtaining remuneration for damages occasioned thereby," as relates to trespasses by persons entering upon and passing over lands, in going to or from their usual places of abode, after notice to desist, shall be, and the same is hereby repealed.

AN ACT to repress Trespasses by Sheep.

(L.S.) JAS. W. SHERIFF, President.

1. Sheep found trespassing on cultivated land may be shot, &c. If identified, notice in writing to be given to owners, &c., in three hours. Penalty for want of notice not more than forty shillings, with costs. Animals not removed in three hours after notice, or if not identified, considered as abandoned.

2. Recovery of penalty, application, &c.

WHEREAS great damage is committed by sheep, whose owners are not, for the most part, proprietors or occupiers of land, and who permit and suffer them to stray abroad and to subsist by trespass upon lands of neighbouring proprietors; and whereas it is in the majority of cases impracticable, by reason of their wildness and swiftness, to impound such animals:

Be it enacted, by the President administering the Government, the Legislative Council, and the Assembly:

1. If any sheep shall be found trespassing at large and untethered upon any land which shall be in cultivation, whether for canes, cotton, provisions, or otherwise, it shall be lawful for the proprietor or occupier of such land, or his agent or servant, to shoot or otherwise destroy the same; and if upon such shooting or destroying, the sheep shot or destroyed shall be identified as particular property, notice in writing of such shooting or destroying shall be given by the proprietor or occupier of the land, or his agent, to the owner of such sheep, or to the agent of such owner, within three hours of such identifi- cation, and for the omission of such notice, such proprietor, occupier, or agent shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding forty shillings sterling, with costs; and if the owner of such sheep shall not remove the same within three hours after the receipt of such notice, or if the property cannot be identified, the same shall be considered as abandoned, and be deemed the property of the party aggrieved.

2. The penalty hereby imposed, with costs, shall be recoverable upon complaint before the Police Magistrate, or any two Justices of the Peace, in the same manner as any pecuniary penalty may be recovered under the provisions of an Act passed in the year One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, entitled "An Act to facilitate the per- "formance of duties of Justices of the Peace with respect to Summary Convictions and "Orders," and shall be payable, if the Police Magistrate or Justices aforesaid shall so order, to the owner of the sheep so shot or otherwise destroyed; and if no such order shall be made, to Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, to and for the use of the Colony.

Passed the House of Assembly, this twenty-ninth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.

AND ALSO AS TO PRESERVATION OF GAME.

Passed the Board of Council, this twenty-ninth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.

By command, B. C. CAINES (Pro Secretary). Published this fifth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.

B. C. CAINES, Provost-Marshal.

No. 21.

VIRGIN ISLANDS.

Corr of a DESPATCH from President Moin to Sir BENJAMIN C. C. PINE,

(No. 127.)

SIR,

In compliance with the request of the Secretary of State in the Circular Despatch, dated 2nd August, 1870, I have now the honour to transmit copies of those portions of the local Ordinances which refer to Trespass,

Virgin Islands, Tortola, 27th September, 1870.

2. In the absence of any local enactment bearing upon the particular nature of the offence, resort is had to the Imperial Statute 15th & 16th Victoria, cap. 76, or the Common Law Procedure Act, 1852.

3. There is no law in existence in this Colony for the Preservation of Game,

ALEXANDER MOIR.

(Signed)

His Excellency Sir Benjamin C. C. Pine,

&c.

&c.

&c.

Enclosures in No. 21.

1 have, &c.,

SUMMARY JURISDICTION ORDINANCE.

No. 3.-1863.

5. Any person who shall unlawfully and wilfully commit any damage to or injury upon any property, real or personal, such damage being under the value of five pounds, shall, upon conviction of the offence, be liable to a penalty not exceeding forty shil- lings, and shall also be liable to pay to the party aggrieved such sum not exceeding five pounds, as shall appear reasonable to the Justice.

23. Every person entering without permission or lawful cause into any house or inclosure or upon any land in the quiet possession of any person after warning given to such person entering, or after notice publicly given warning off trespassers generally, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty shillings; provided always, that where such trespass shall have arisen or occurred by reason of any question of title, and the quiet possession of the premises entered upon be disputed by the party entering, the Justice shall abstain from adjudicating upon it.

24. It shall be lawful for any Justice to hear and determine any information laid upon oath before him by the owner or agent of the owner of any land charging any person with having, without any probable claim or pretence of title thefeto, entered upon or taken possession of such land or any part thereof; and if such information be proved to the satisfaction of the Justice, he shall make an order directing such person to deliver to the owner of the land or his agent peaceable possession thereof, together with all the immovable property thereon; and if the person against whom such order shall be made shall not within fourteen days after such order shall have been served upon him deliver up possession of the land and premises therein named he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds: provided always, that no such order shall be made if it shall appear that the person against whom it is sought hath been by himself or by those under whom he claims title in quiet possession of the land in question for one year next before the date of the information, or that such person hath any probable claim or pretence of title to such lands, or to the lawful occu- pation thereof.

CHAS. C. CAINER,

Clerk of the House of Assembly.

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