Directory_and_Chronicle_1907 — Page 384

H.B.M. SUBJECTS IN SIAM

(e.) Of any informality in the swearing of any witness; or

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(f.) Of any error or informality which, in the opinion of the Court, did not affect the substance of the case or subject the convicted person to any

undue prejudice.

73.-There shall be no appeal in a criminal case to His Majesty the King in Council from a decision of the Full Court, except by special leave of His Majesty in Council.

Fugitive Offenders.

74.—The Fugitive Offenders Act, 1881, and the Colonial Prisoners Removal Act, 1884, shall apply to Siam, as if Siam were a British possession and part of His Majesty's dominions.

Subject as follows :—

(a.) The Minister is hereby substituted for the Governor or Government of

a British possession; and

(b.) The Court for Siam is hereby substituted for a Superior Court of a

British possession.

(c.) The Court for Siam and each District Court in substituted for a

Magistrate of any part of His Majesty's dominions.

(d.) For the purposes of Part II. of the said Act of 1881, and of this Article in relation thereto, Siam and its dependencies and the Straits Settle- ments shall be deemed to be one group of British possessions.

PART IV-CIVIL MATTERS.

75.-Subject to the provisions of this Order, the civil jurisdiction of every Court acting under this Order shall, as far as circumstances admit, be exercised on the principles of, and in conformity with, English law for the time being.

Procedure.

76.—(1.) Every civil proceeding in the Court shall be taken by action, and not otherwise, and shall be designated an action.

(2.) For the purposes of any statutory enactment or other provision applicable under this Order to any civil proceeding in the Court, an action under this Order shall comprise and be equivalent to a suit, cause, or petition, or to any civil proceeding, howsoever required by any such enactment or provision to be instituted or carried on.

77.-(1.) Every action shall commence by a summons issued from the Court, on the application of the plaintiff, and served on the defendent (in this Order referred to as an original summons),

(2.) Every application in the course of an action may be made to the Court orally, and without previous formality, unless in any case the Court otherwise directs, or the Rules of Court otherwise provide.

(3.) No action or proceeding shall be treated by the Court as invalid on account of any technical error or mistake in form or in words.

(4.) All errors and mistakes may be corrected, and times may be extended, by the Court in its discretion, and on such terms as the Court thinks just.

78.--(1.) The stittings of the Court for the hearing of actions shall, where the amount of business so requires, be held on stated days.

(2.) The sittings shall ordinarily be public, but the Court may, for reasons -recorded in the Minutes, hear any particular case in the presence only of the parties. and their legal advisers and the officers of the Court.

79.-There shall ordinarily be no written pleadings; but the Court may at any time, if it thinks fit, order the plaintiff to put in a written statement of his claim, or a defendent to put in a written statement of his defence.

80.-The evidence on either side may, subject to the directions of the Court, be wholly or partly oral, or on affidavit, or by deposition.

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