CO129-549-17 Harbour ferry- increase in estimate for improvements 20-8-1934 - 20-8-1934 — Page 16

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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the Bill was read a first time.

Objects and Reasons.

The "Objects and Reasons" for the Bill were stated as follows:

1. The Crown Remedies Ordinance, 1875, the Crown Suits Ordinance, 1910, and sections 10 and 15 of the Estate Duty Ordinance, 1932, provide certain means whereby in Hong Kong the Crown can enforce its civil claims, but nowhere is any procedure laid down whereby a claim can even be instituted, much less enforced, against a person who is resident outside the jurisdiction. Such procedure is provided in England by sections 37 and 38 of the Crown Suits, etc., Act, 1886, (28 and 29 Vict., c. 104) and by other enactments.

2. The necessity for giving the Crown the same powers in Hong Kong as it has in England has recently been made abundantly clear by the refusal of certain persons, resident outside the jurisdiction, to answer a claim for a large amount of estate duty. The amended proviso to section 6 of the Supreme Court Ordinance, 1873, by introduc- ing in Hong Kong the same procedure on the revenue side as was in force in England in 1930 will make it possible for action to be taken against such persons.

3. Section 3 of this Ordinance substitutes for section 9 (2) of the principal Ordinance (as enacted by section 2 of Ordinance No. 12 of 1933) a revised sub-section in which the words "subject to any conditions contained in any regulation made by or under the authority of His Majesty for His Majesty's Colonial Service" are substituted for the words "subject to suspension by the Governor in like manner as other officers in the Colony."

4. Section 4 of this Ordinance substitutes for section 11 of the principal Ordinance (as enacted by section 2 of Ordinance No. 12 of 1933) a revised section forbidding Chief Justices or Puisne Judges to accept or perform any other office or place of profit or emolument not authorised by law. The section, by virtue of the proviso, does not apply in the case of a judge who is temporarily appointed under section 10 of the principal Ordinance.

5. The latter two amendments are made at the request of the Secretary of State in his despatch of the 22nd February, 1934.

6. The addition by Clause 5 of a new sub-section (2) to Section 13 of the principal Ordinance puts the Registrar of the Supreme Court in the position of the King's Remembrancer in England for the purposes of proceedings on the revenus side.

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