CO129-379 - Governor Sir Lugard - 1911 [8-9] — Page 180

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Enclosure 2.

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REC Rest 22 SEP

ATTO

TTORNEY GENERAL'S CHAMBERS,

Hongkong..28th.. August,

19D..

Report on Ordinance No.: 30... of 191/ .

I have examined the accompanyiny Ordinance, entitled

"An Ordinance to abolish Minimum Penalties, and to bring the law of the Colony as to Penalties into uniformity rith the Lar of England, and for other PUITOBOS.*

and I am of opinion that the Ordinance is one which is not contrary to the Governor's Instructions.

This is one of the Special Amending Ordinances re- ferred to in Ordinance No.19 of 1911 and its object is to bring the lar of the Colony on the subject of punishments into line with the law of England. It accomplishes this first, by abolishing minimum penalties, and thus gives the Judge the power of dealing leniently with cases which deserve to be so treated.

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The Ordinance also does away with the confusion and redundancy of lanuage which now exist in the penalty clauses of the Criminal Laws of the Colony. In the English Acts, from which our laws have been copied, there were alternative penalties provided of penal servitude for a maximum and minimum term ( which was ene usually three years ), and imprisonment with or without hard labour for not more than two years. The Criminal Law Ordinances, as

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