CO885-5 — Page 6

Persons found

on proclaine

hension and penalty.

10

apprehended as in this section aforesaid shall be taken as soon as reasonably may be before some Justice of the Peace, to be dealt with according to law.

15. Any person found within any of the State Forests under this Act, or on any road in its vicinity, and having in his possession any tree or part of a tree, who on being land in posses- sion of timber. thereunto required by any Conservator of Forests or other officer under this Act, or by not accounting for possession, any person having a right of property, or the right to cut wood on any such land or part liable to appre- thereof, whether leased or not, or by any one acting on behalf of such person, refuses to give a satisfactory account of the manner in which he became possessed of any such tree or part of a tree, may be carried by the party interrogating him before any Justice of the Peace, and if such person does not satisfy the Justice that he came lawfully by the said tree or part of a tree, he shall on conviction by such Justice forfeit and pay, over and above the value of such tree or part of a tree so found, any sum not exceeding five pounds. 16. All penalties imposed by this Act, or any regulation or byelaw made hereunder, shall be recoverable only on summary conviction before any Justice or Justices of the Peace, and two-thirds of all such penalties shall be payable to the State Forests Account.

Recovery of proulties, and

part payable to State Forests Account.

[1

s. All decisions arrived at by the said Board shall be reduced to writing, and signed Decisions to be by the Chairman and Clerk of the Council, and the certified copy of the same signed by reduced to the Clerk of the Council shall be conclusive evidence before all the courts of this Colony

writing.

of the decision itself and of the regularity of the proceedings carried on and of all anterior proceedings.

A certified copy of all decisions or awards, in full, and the reasons therefor if given, may be claimed from the Chairman of the Committee, by parties to the cause, and shall be delivered on payment of a fee according to Schedule C.

9. The said Board shall be known as the Woods and Forests Board, shall receive no Board to be

fee or reward, nor be liable to any suit, action, or proceeding of any kind on account of named Wooda the discharge of their duties under this Ordinance.

Three members shall form a quorum. Provided that if four members attend and no majority; be obtained, the decision shall stand adjourned until the fifth member can attend, or, if he cannot attend, until another member be appointed by the Governor to replace him pro hac vice.

The Governor shall appoint one of the members of the Board to be chairman thereof.

The secretary of the Council of Government shall act as secretary to the Board.

and Forests

Board,

10. The said Board shall have power to refer to the Supreme Court for adjudication lower to refer thereon any question of law that may arise, and to stay their award until the final questions of decision of the Supreme Court on the point referred.

law to supremo court.

Provided that every question of law so referred to the Supreme Court shall be so referred, as far as practicable, in the form of a case stated.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

Government

to purchase

woods and forests when expedient to preserve the

same.

Such acquisi-

tions to be bet for public pur.

poses,

Curator of

Vacant estates

- not to sell,

except as pro-

vided for by Ordinance 13

of 1857.

Or when there

is litigation

pending.

I

Compensation

to be settler

as berein-after

provided.

Appointment and composi- tion of Board,

Board to re- ceive evidence, &c.

EXTRACTS, MAURITIUS ORDINANCE, No. 12 of 1872.

CHAPTER I.

Woods and Forests.

1. It shall be lawful for the Governor in Executive Council to purchase on behalf of the Crown any woods or forests that such Governor in Executive Council may deem it expedient to acquire for the purpose of preserving the same; and also to purchase any land or lands which such Governor in Executive Council may deem it expedient to replant with trees for the purpose of better securing a proper supply of water, or of better protecting the springs, streams, rivers, and watercourses of this Colony.

2. Such acquisitions shall be held to be acquisitions for public purposes and for the public benefit, and shall be promoted and executed according to the provisions of Ordinance No. 57 of 1860, save and except such of the provisions of the said Ordinance as relate to the mode of fixing the value of the real property thus acquired, and of settling the compensation to be given to the owners or occupiers of the said real property.

3. Provided that under this Ordinance the Curator of Intestate Estates shall not have the power to sell any land of which he may be in possession, except in the cases provided for by Ordinance No. 13 of 1857.

4. Provided also that the said Curator shall have no power to sell, if a claim to the real property intended to be sold have been set forth, and no final judgment have adju- dicated upon the merits of such claim.

5. The value of, or compensation for, real property sold and conveyed to the Crown under this Ordinance, and also the amount of damage caused by severance or separation of land or any other cause, shall, if the parties to the intended contract do not agree, fixed and determined as hercin-after provided.

be

In all cases where severance is created under this Ordinance right of way shall be preserved or reserved to the landowner to his adjoining land, and to the nearest highway or railway.

6. There shall be appointed by the Governor a Board composed of five members of the Legislative Council, two of the said members being official, and three unofficial members of Council, and the said Board shall finally fix and determine the value of the said property to be sold or conveyed to the Crown under this Ordinance, and also fix and determine the compensation, if any, to be given to the owners or occupiers of the said real property, subject to such appeal as is herein-after provided.

7. The said Board shall have power to take evidence upon oath, to compel the attendance of witnesses, and the answering of lawful questions, and to enforce the pro- duction of documentary evidence in the same manner as a court of law, and the process to carry out these provisions shall be the same as that in force in the Supreme Court, and all writs and warrants necessary to give effect to these provisions shall be issued, as of course upon a Judge's order, without fees, out of and return to the Registry of the Supreme Court, at the instance and in the name of the Chairman of the said Board.

Provided that it shall be lawful for the Chairman of the Board to cause such processes to be served by the district court ushers.

any

final.

11. The decision or award of the Woods and Forests Board as to the value of real Decision to be property to be sold and conveyed under this Ordinance, or as to the amount of compensation to be given under this Ordinance to any owner, tenant, or occupier of land, or on any subject or matter submitted to the said Board under this Ordinance, shall be final, and not liable either directly or indirectly to be challenged by way of appeal, or certiorari, or otherwise, or by suit or action for compensation or damages, or in any other way whatsoever.

Provided that whenever the sum claimed either as purchase money or as compensation on any account soever shall be of the amount of 1,000l. or upwards, the decision of the Woods and Forests Board shall be liable to be revised by way of appeal to a Board composed of ten members of the Council of Government named by the Governor, four of whom shall be official and six unofficial members.

The appeal from the Woods and Forests Board to such Board of Appeal shall be declared to the Clerk of the Council within eight days of the award complained against,

and it shall be sufficient for the Clerk of the Council to give three clear days' notice of the hearing to the Government and to the several claimants respectively.

The same rules and forms of proceedings in force before the Woods and Forests Board shall be used before such Board of Appeal.

12. From and after the date of the coming in force of this Ordinance, there shall be Woods and created a fund called the "Woods and Forests Fund," to be specially applied to the Forests Fund. carrying into effect the provisions of this Ordinance, and more especially to meet the expenditure of purchasing the real property that the Governor in Executive Council shall deem it right and expedient to purchase.

every 100 lbs.

13. To meet the expenditure of planting or re-planting the Crown and Reserve Lands Tax of 14d. on there shall be taken out of the general revenue of the Colony a sum to be voted every nett of sugar. year by the Council of Government, but the amount of which shall in no single year be under 1,000l. or above 5,000/.; and to meet the expenditure of purchasing real property, or to provide for interest and sinking fund on account of money borrowed under this Ordinance for the special object aforesaid, there shall be charged, levied, and collected an export duty of customs of one penny and a half for every hundred pounds nett French weight of sugar, and the amount thus collected shall be paid by the Collector of Customs into the Colonial Treasury for account of the Woods and Forests Fund, and it shall not be lawful to apply the said tax to any other purpose than those contemplated in this Ordinance.

Provided that this special tax shall not be subject to the surcharge of the Poor Law or to any other surcharge.

14. It shall be lawful for the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Council of Power to issue Government, in order to carry into effect the purposes contemplated by this Ordinance, debentures.

to borrow money on the credit of the Woods and Forests Fund, and for the repayment

of the said loan or loans to issue debentures pledged for such repayment, such debentures to bear interest at a rate not exceeding six per cent. per annum.

B 2