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22.
23.
Lord Denning at p. 15 stated:
"They (the courts) will not examine the
treaty or grant under which the Crown
acquired jurisdiction: nor will they
enquire into the usage or sufferance or
other lawful means by which the Crown may
have extended its jurisdiction. The courts
rely on the representatives of the Crown
to know the limits of its jurisdiction and
to keep within it. Once jurisdiction is
exercised by the Crown the courts will not
permit it to be challenged".
These dicta do not of course sanction the exercise
of jurisdiction where none exists. Nor does the Foreign
Jurisdiction Act 1890, which provides for the manner of
exercising jurisdiction, not the extension of it. (See
the Nyali case at p. 14).
24.
At the moment I am not aware of anything on which
a claim to jurisdiction might be based. I do not consider
that a formal treaty or grant is necessary, but HMG would
not be prepared to make an Order in Council without some
prior authority from the CPG. Possibly it would be
sufficient to have a prior and private understanding
which would later be continued by tacit acceptance of
the new situation. In short, we cannot give what we do
nöt possess and it seems to me inevitable that we shall
have to go to our landlord first.
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