و
182
on
the Fable the Letter addreça (25.0.788) * to him by Governa de Souza (16 March) Cogether with Itis Excellency's Minute thereon
of
same date, referring. it to the Honorable the Attorney General; aber, also,
the Report of that officer
on
the subject; and it is Resolved that application for Special leave to appeal
in Regina & Saint be made, through the Right Stonorable the Secretary of State, to the Indicial Committee of the Privy Council.
are
The Papers referred
as
follows:
to above,
No. 6 of 1915.
No. 2 of 1816.
5th April, 1833,
No. 6 of 1843, § 8.
No. of 1867.
8 of 1845, Sec. J.
SIR,
(Confidentially printed.)
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Hongkong, 14th January, 1869.
I have the honor to address you on the subject of certain ex officio informa- tions for libel filed in the Supreme Court of this Colony against Mr. CHARLES ABRAHAM SAINT, the Editor of the Newspaper called the China Mail, by the Honorable H. J. BALL (while Acting Attorney General) at the instance of the Authorities of Macao, but without the sanction of this Government. I wish to receive the instructions of His Excellency the Governor as to the course which I should pursue with respect to these proceedings, for the responsibility of con- ducting them has devolved upon me on my return to the Colony, and from peculiar circumstances which I will presently detail, I find myself placed in a position of considerable difficulty.
In order to facilitate the explanation of the case, I will first endeavor to point out what the state of the Law is at the present moment in this Colony with respect to criminal proceedings.
upon
The Ordinance by which our Supreme Court is established confers it. the same jurisdiction in Hongkong as the Courts of Queen's Bench, Common Pleas and Exchequer have in England, and by another Ordinance it is enacted that such of the Laws of England and such portion of the practice of the English Courts as existed when the Colony obtained a local Legislature and are not inapplicable to the local circumstances of the Colony, shall be in force therein.
The Governor has power from time to time to nominate such officers of the Supreme Court (in addition to those appointed by the Ordinance) as shall appear necessary for the execution of its powers and authorities and the administration of justice.
By the Criminal Law Procedure Ordinance 1865," which is a consolidation See No. 8 of 1845, Sec. 1 Ordinance and repeals, among others, Ordinance No. 8 of 1845, it is enacted that for the purpose of bringing “a criminal case" under the cognizance of the Supreme Court, an inforination (in the special forin provided) shall be signed by the See rupealed Ordce. No. Attorney General who discharges here the functions appertaining to the Grand Jury in England. This Ordinance regulates the practice in cases where the prosecution is at the instance of "a private person," and in those cases the Legis- lature did not apparently intend that the Attorney General should appear at all, though the practice has been otherwise, and he usually conducts all prosecutions. The language of Section 4 of this Ordinance certainly differs from that of Section 1 of the repealed Ordinance No. 8 of 1845, but it applies only, in my See Chalmers's opinion; opinion, to the ordinary course of criminal prosecution, and does not take away or Chitty on the Pier, of affect the "extraordinary" remedy by information "ex officio" which I will proceed
of Eminent Lawyers, and
the Crown, 291,-(the
rule there cited.)
Stephen's Commentaries,
VP. 408-409, Rv c. 18,
to explain.
There are two kinds of "informations ez-officio."
The Honorable
J. GARDINER AUSTIN,
Colonial Secretary.
EX
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