655741-1890-Instructions-to-Superintendents-of-Mercantile-Marine-Offices-re-Certificate-of-Competency — Page 5

THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 14TH JUNE, 1890.

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551

"Authority shall mean the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Administrator, Head of the Government, Minister, Board, Body, or Corporation of or in any British Possession for the time being authorised by the Legislature of such Possession to grant Colonial Certificates of Competency.

REGULATIONS.

Form of Certificate.

1. A Colonial Certificate of Competency shall be on parchment, and as nearly as possible similar in shape and form to the corresponding Certificate of Competency for the Foreign Trade granted by the Board of Trade under the Acts relating to Merchant Shipping.

Name of Possession to be inserted.

2. A Colonial Certificate of Competency shall have the name of the British Possession in which the same is granted, inserted prominently on its face and back.

Certificates to be numbered consecutively.

3. The Colonial Certificates of Competency granted in each British Possession shall be numbered in consecutive order.

Lists of Certificates granted, cancelled, &c., to be sent to Registrar General of Seamen.

4. The Authority in each British Possession shall furuish the Registrar General of Seamen in London, from time to time, with accurate lists of all such Colonial Certificates of Competency as may be granted therein or as may for any cause whatsoever be cancelled, suspended, renewed, or re-issned; and shall also furnish him with duplicates of the applications for examination made by the persons to whom such Certificates are granted.

Certificates to be granted only upon proof of service at sea.

5. A Colonial Certificate of Competency shall be granted only upon proof that the previous service at sea of the person applying for the same has been such as is required by the regulations for the time being in force in the United Kingdom with respect to certificates of the like grade.

Certificates of Competency granted contrary to this regulation, or upon any false, incorrect or insufficient proof, certifi- cate, or report of service, qualification, conduct, or character shall be regarded as improperly granted.

Certificates not to be granted when former are cancelled.

6. A Colonial Certificate of Competency shall not be granted to any person who may have had a certificate, whether granted by the Board of Trade or by the Government of a British Possession, cancelled or suspended under the provisious of the said Acts or of any Act or Ordinance for the time being in force in any part of Her Majesty's dominions, unless-

(i) in accordance with the next following Regulation;

(i.) or the same is a certificate of a lower grade than the one so cancelled or suspended, and is issued upon the recom-

mendation of the court or Authority which cancelled or suspended the original certificate ;

(iii.) or the period of suspension has expired;

(iv.) or intimation has been received from the Board of Trade, or the Authority by whom the cancelled or suspended certificate was originally granted, to the effect that no objection to the grant of such Colonial Certificate is knowa to exist. Colonial Certificates of Competency granted contrary to this regulation shall be regarded as improperly granted.

Certificates which may be granted after a Certificate has been cancelled or suspended.

7. It shall be lawful for the Governor or person administering the Government of the British Possession in which a Certificate has been cancelled or suspended if, after full investigation of all the circumstances, he thinks the justice of the case requires it, to return any Certificate which has been cancelled or suspended, or to shorten the time for which it is suspended, or to grant or to request the proper authority in such British Possession to grant a new Certificate of the same or any lower grade in place of any Certificate which has been cancelled or suspended, and such authority may grant a certificate accordingly.

In all cases in which powers given by this Regulation are exercised, a report of the case shall be sent by the Governor or person administering the Possession in which the powers are exercised to the authority by whom the cancelled or suspended certificate was granted.

Certificates improperly granted may be cancelled without formal investigation.

8. A Colonial Certificate of Competency which appears from information subsequently acquired, or otherwise, to have been improperly granted, may be cancelled by the authority by which the same was granted, or by the Board of Trade in the United Kindom, without any formal investigation under "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," and the holder of such certificate shall thereupon deliver it to the Board of Trade or such authority, or as they or either of them may direct, and in default thereof shall incur a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds, which shall be recoverable in the same manner as penalties imposed by the Acts relating to Merchant Shipping are thereby made recoverable, or in such other summary proceedings as the law of any British Possession where the holder may be may allow or permit to be brought for the recovery thereof.

Cancellation, &c. of a Certificate shall involve cancellation of all the other Certificates possessed by its Owner,

9. Every decision with respect to the cancellation or suspension of a certificate pronounced by any board, court, or tribunal under the provisions of the said Acts, shall, unless otherwise directed, extend equally to all the Colonial Certificates at the time possessed by the person in respect of whom the decision is made.

Certificates believed to be fraudulent may be demanded,

10. Any Officer of the Board of Trade, or the Registrar-General of Seamen, or any of his Officers, or a Superintendent of a Mercantile Marine Office, or a Consular Officer, or duly appointed Shipping Officer in a British Possession, may demand the delivery to him of any Colonial Certificate of Competency which he has reason to believe has been improperly issued, or is forged, altered, cancelled, or suspended, or to which the person using it is not justly entitled, and may detain such Certi- ficate for a reasonable period for the purpose of making inquiries respecting such issue, forgery, alteration, cancellation, suspension, or possession, and any person who, without reasonable cause, neglects or refuses to comply with such demand shall incur a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds or its equivalent in local currency, which shall be recoverable in the same manner as penalties imposed by the Acts relating to Merchant Shipping are thereby made recoverable.

Suspended Certificates to be re-issued only by Colony by which originally granted.

11. Subject to these Regulations, a Colonial Certificate of Competency which has, from any canse, been cancelled or suspended shall be renewed or re-issued only by the authority by which the same was originally granted.