11740-1909-General-Rules-as-to-Appeals-to-the-Privy-Council — Page 11

96

Withdrawal of l'etition.

Procedure

THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, FEBRUARY 19, 1909.

where hear-

ing of Peti. tion unduly

delayed.

Only one

Counsel heard on a side in Peti- tions.

Lodging of Case.

Printing of Case.

Number of prints to be lodged.

Form of Case.

Separate Cases by

LWO OF Hore

Respondents.

Notice of

57. A Petitioner who desires to withdraw his Petition shall give notice in writing to that effect to the Registrar of the Privy Council. Where the Petition is oppo-ed, the Opponent shall, subject to any agreement between the parties to the contrary, be entitled to apply to the Judicial Committee for his costs, but where the Petition is unopposed, or where, in the case of an opposed Petition, the parties have come to an agreement as to the costs of the Petition, the Petition may, if the Judicial Committee think fit, be disposed of in the same way mutatis mutandis as a Consent Petition under the provisions of the last-preceding Rule.

58. Where a Petitioner unduly delays bringing a Petition to a hearing, the Registrar of the Privy Council shall call upon him to explain the delay, and, if no explanation is offered, or if the explanation offered is, in the opinion of the said Registrar, insufficient, the said Registrar may treat the said Petition as set down and may, after duly notifying all parties interested by Summons of his intention to do so, put the Petition in the paper for hearing on the next following day appointed by the Judicial Committee for the hearing of Petitions for such directions as the Committee may think fit to give thereon.

59. At the hearing of a Petition not more than one Counsel shall be admitted to be heard on a side.

Case.

60. No party to an Appeal shall be entitled to be heard by the Judicial Com- nittee unless he has previously lodged his Case in the Appeal. Provided that where a Respondent is merely a stakeholder or trustee with no other interest in the Appeal, he may give the Registrar of the Privy Council notice in writing of his intention not to lodge any Case, while reserving his right to address the Judicial Coinmittee on the question of costs.

61. The Case may be printed either abroad or in England, and shall, in either event, be printed in accordance with Rules I. to IV. of Schedule A. hereto, every tenth line thereof being numbered in the margin, and shall be signed by at least one of the Counsel who attends at the hearing of the Appeal or by the party himself if he conducts his Appeal in person.

62. Each party shall lodge 40 prints of his Case.

63. The Case shall consist of paragraphs numbered consecutively and shall state, as concisely as possible, the circumstances out of which the Appeal arises, the contentions to be urged by the party lodging the same, and the reasons of appeal. References by page and line to the relevant portions of the Record as printed shall, as far as practicable, be printed in the margin, and care shall be taken to avoid, as far as possible, the reprinting in the Case of long extracts from the Record. The taxing officer, in taxing the costs of the Appeal, shall, either of his own motion, or at the instance of the opposite party, inquire into any unecessary prolixity in the Case, and shall disallow the costs occasioned the by.

64. Two or more Respondents may, at their own risk as to costs, lodge separate Cases in the same Appeal.

65. Each party shall, after lodging his Case, forthwith give notice thereof to lodgment of the other party.

Casc.

Case Notice.

66. Subject as hereinafter provided, the party who lodges his Case first may, at any time after the expiration of three clear days from the day on which he has given the other party the notice prescribed by the last-preceding Rule, serve such other party, if the latter has not in the meantime lodged his Case, with a Case Notice," requiring him to lodge his Case within one month from the date of the service of the said Case Notice and informing him that. in default of his so doing, the Appeal will be set down for hearing ex parte as against him, and if the other party fails to comply with the said Case Notice, the party who has lodged his Case may, at any time after the expiration of the time limited by the said Case Notice for the lodging of the Case, lodge an Affidavit of Service (which shall set out the terms of the said Case Notice), and the Appeal shall thereupon, if all other condi- tions of its being set down are satisfied, be set down ex parte against the party in

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