653800-1891-Mail-Ships-Act-1891 — Page 3

THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 10TH OCTOBER, 1891.

ships, and be entitled to the exemptions and privileges given by this Act to exempted mail ships; and the Board of Trade shall give the prescribed notices for informing the arresting authorities that the ships actually engaged in carrying the mails for the said postal service are exempted mail ships.

(4.) Notice of every application respecting any security given in pursuance of this section shall be given to the Board of Trade.

(5.) If at any time it appears to the Board of Trade that a security given as respects ships engaged in any postal service is from any cause (whether pending claims, variation of the conditions of the service, or otherwise) insufficient, the Board of Trade shall apply to the High Court, and that Court, if satisfied of such insufficiency, shall require the security to be made sufficient to the satisfaction of the Court within a reasonable time, and direct that in default the ships engaged in the postal service shall cease to be exempted mail ships, and that the Board of Trade shall give the prescribed notices for informing the arresting authorities of such cesser.

(6.) The amount and nature of the security may be varied and the whole security may be withdrawn, and the income of the security may be disposed of, by order of the High Court from time to time on such application either of the shipowners, or of the Board of Trade, or of any person appearing to be interested, and in such manner, and after such notice, and upon such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by rules of court, or, so far as the rules do not extend, as the Court may think just.

4.

(7.) Provided that before the security is actually withdrawn, the High Court shall be satisfied-

(a) that the prescribed notice of the order for withdrawal has been given to

the arresting authorities; and

(b) that there is no pending claim for the purposes of which the security may

be required;

and upon the prescribed notice of the order for withdrawal being given to an arresting authority, the ships shall, as respects that authority, cease, after the date specified in the notice, to be exempted ships.

(8.) Rules of court may be made for carrying this section into effect, and in particular for regulating the nature, amount, and value of the security to be given, and the mode of giving security, and of giving notices to the arresting authorities, and for providing for the evidence of the exemption of ships under this section, and for the information to be given from time to time to the High Court respecting the ships to which the security applies, and for the jurisdiction of the High Court under this Act being exercised in chambers.

879

A.D. 1891.

process on board

4.-(1.) Where this section applies to a convention with a foreign state, and an Arrest and exempted mail ship to which this section applies is in a port in the United Kingdom no execution of person shall be arrested without warrant on board such ship, and before any process exempted mail civil or criminal authorising the arrest of any person who is on board such ship is ships. executed against that person the following provisions of this section shall be observed;

that is to say,

(a.) written notice of the intention to arrest a person who is, or is suspected to be, on board the ship, stating the hour at which, if necessary, the ship will be searched, shall, if it is a ship of a Foreign State and there is at the port a consulate of that State, be left at the consulate, addressed to the consular officer: :

(b.) it shall be the duty of the master upon demand, if the said person is on

board his ship, to enable the proper officer to arrest him: (c.) if the

officer is unable to arrest the said person he may, but if it is a foreign ship only after the expiration of such time after notice was left at the consulate as is specified in the convention, search the ship for such person, and if he is found may arrest him.

(2.) The ship may be delayed for the purposes of this section for the time specified in the Convention, but not for any longer time.

(3.) If the master of a ship refuses to permit a search of the ship in accordance with this section, any officer of customs may detain the ship, and such master shall be liable to a fine of five hundred pounds.

(4.) This section shall apply to the arrest of the master in like manner as in the case of any other person.