ACTS OF PARLIAMENT.

CAP. XLI.-An Act for the better Administration of Justice in His Majesty's Privy Council. [14th August, 1833.]

WHEREAS by virtue of an Act passed in a session of Parliament of the second and third years of the reign of his present Majesty, intituled 'An Act for transferring the Powers of the High Court of Delegates, both in Ecclesiastical and Maritime Causes, to His Majesty in Council,' it was enacted, That from and after the first day of February, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, it should be lawful for every person who might theretofore, by virtue either of an Act passed in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, intituled The Submission of the Clergy and Restraint of Appeals,' or of an Act passed in the eighth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, intituled For the avoiding of tedious Suits in Civil and Marine Causes,' have appealed or made suit to His Majesty in his High Court of Chancery, to appeal or make suit to the King's Majesty, his heirs or successors, in Council, within such time, in such manner, and subject to such rules, orders, and regulations for the due and more convenient proceeding, as should seem meet and necessary, and upon such security, if any, as His Majesty, his heirs and successors, should from time to time by order in council direct: And whereas, by Letters Patent under the great seal of Great Britain, certain persons, members of His Majesty's Privy Council, together with others, being judges and barons of His Majesty's Courts of Record at Westminster, have been from time to time appointed to be His Majesty's Commissioners for receiving, hearing, and determining appeals from His Majesty's Courts of Admiralty in causes of prize: And whereas, from the decisions of various courts of judicature in the East Indies, and in the plantations, colonies, and other dominions of His Majesty abroad, an appeal lies to His Majesty in Council: And whereas, matters of appeal or petition to His Majesty in Council have usually been heard before a committee of the whole of His Majesty's Privy Council, who have made a Report to His Majesty in Council, whereupon the final judgment or determination hath been given by His Majesty: And whereas it is expedient to make certain provisions for the more effectual hearing and reporting on appeals to His Majesty in Council and on other matters, and to give such powers and jurisdiction to His Majesty in Council as hereinafter mentioned: Be it therefore enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the President for the time being of His Majesty's Privy Council, the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain for the time being, and such of the members of His Majesty's Privy Council as shall from time to time hold any of the offices following, that is to say, the office of Lord Keeper or First Lord Commissioner of the Great Seal of Great Britain,

Lord Chief Justice or Judge of the Court of King's Bench, Master of the Rolls, Vice Chancellor of England, Lord Chief Justice or Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Lord Chief Baron or Baron of the Court of Exchequer, Judge of the Prerogative Court of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, and Chief Judge of the Court in Bankruptcy, and also all persons, members of His Majesty's Privy Council, who shall have been President thereof, or held the office of Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, or shall have held any of the other offices hereinbefore mentioned, shall form a Committee of His Majesty's said Privy Council, and shall be styled 'The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council': Provided, nevertheless, that it shall be lawful for His Majesty from time to time, as and when he shall think fit, by his sign manual, to appoint any two other persons, being Privy Councillors, to be members of the said Committee.

II. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of June, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, all appeals or applications in prize suits, and in all other suits or proceedings in the Courts of Admiralty, or Vice Admiralty Courts, or any other Court in the Plantations in America, and other His Majesty's dominions or elsewhere abroad, which may now, by virtue of any law, statute, commission, or usage, be made to the High Court of Admiralty in England, or to the Lords Commissioners in prize cases, shall be made to His Majesty in Council, and not to the said High Court of Admiralty in England, or to such Commissioners as aforesaid; and such appeals shall be made in the same manner and form and within such time wherein such appeals might, if this Act had not been passed, have been made to the said High Court of Admiralty or to the Lords Commissioners in prize cases respectively; and that all laws or statutes now in force with respect to any such appeals or applications shall apply to any appeals to be made in pursuance of this Act to His Majesty in Council.

III. And be it further enacted, That all appeals or complaints in the nature or appeals whatever, which either by virtue of this Act, or of any law, statute, or eustom, may be brought before His Majesty or His Majesty in Council from or in respect of the determination, sentence, rule, or order of any Court, Judge, or judicial Officer, and all such appeals as are now pending and unheard, shall from and after the passing of this Act be referred by His Majesty to the said judicial Committee of his Privy Council, and that such appeals, causes, and matters shall be heard by the said Judicial Committee, and a report or recommendation thereon shall be made to His Majesty in Council for his decision thereon as heretofore, in the same manner and form as has been heretofore the custom with respect to matters referred by His Majesty to the whole of his Privy Council, or a Committee thereof (the nature of such report or recommendation being always stated in open court).

IV. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for His Majesty to refer to the said Judicial Committee for hearing or consideration any such other matters whatsoever as His Majesty shall think fit, and such Committee shall thereupon hear or consider the same, and shall advise His Majesty thereon in manner aforesaid.

V. And be it further enacted, That no matter shall be heard, nor shall any order, report, or recommendation be made, by the said Judicial Committee, in pursuance of this Act, unless in the presence of at least four members of the said Committee; and that no report or recommendation shall be made to His Majesty unless a majority of the members of such Judicial Committee present at the

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hearing shall concur in such report or recommendation: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall prevent His Majesty, if he shall think fit, from summoning any other of the members of his said Privy Council to attend the meetings of the said Committee.

VI. And be it further enacted, That in case His Majesty shall be pleased, by directions under his sign manual, to require the attendance at the said Committee for the purposes of this Act of any member or members of the said Privy Council who shall be a Judge or Judges of the Court of King's Bench, or of the Court of Common Pleas, or of the Court of Exchequer, such arrangements for dispensing with the attendance of such judge or judges upon his or their ordinary duties during the time of such attendance at the Privy Council as aforesaid, shall be made by the judges of the court or courts to which such judge or judges shall belong respectively in regard to the business of the Court and by the judges of the said three courts, or by any eight or more of such judges, including the chiefs of the several courts, in regard to all other duties, as may be necessary and consistent with the public service.

VII. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Judicial Committee, in any matter which shall be referred to such Committee, to examine witnesses by word of mouth, (and either before or after examination by deposition,) or to direct that the depositions of any witness shall be taken in writing by the registrar of the said Privy Council to be appointed by His Majesty as hereinafter mentioned, or by such other person or persons, and in such manner, order, and course, as His Majesty in Council or the said Judicial Committee shall appoint and direet; and that the said registrar and such other person or persons so to be appointed shall have the same powers as are now possessed by an examiner of the High Court of Chancery or of any Court Ecclesiastical.

VIII. And be it enacted, That in any matter which shall come before the said Judicial Committee it shall be lawful for the said Committee to direct that such witnesses shall be examined or re-examined, and as to such facts as to the said Committee shall seem fit, notwithstanding any such witness may not have been examined, or no evidence may have been given on any such facts in a previous stage of the matter; and it shall also be lawful for His Majesty in Council, on the recommendation of the said Committee, upon any appeal, to remit the matter which shall be the subject of such appeal to the Court from the decision of which such appeal shall have been made, and at the same time to direct that such Court shall rehear such matter, in such form, and either generally or upon certain points only, and upon such rehearing take such additional evidence, though before rejected, or reject such evidence before admitted, as His Majesty in Council shall direct; and further, on any such remitting or otherwise, it shall be lawful for His Majesty in Council to direct that one or more feigned issue or issues shall be tried in any Court in any of His Majesty's dominions abroad, for any purpose for which such issue or issues shall to His Majesty in Council seem proper.

IX. And be it enacted, That every witness who shall be examined in pursuance of this Act shall give his or her evidence upon oath, or, if a Quaker or Moravian, upon solemn affirmation, which oath and affirmation respectively shall be administered by the said Judicial Committee and registrar, and by such other person or persons as His Majesty in Council or the said Judicial Committee shall appoint; and that every such witness who shall wilfully swear or affirm_falsely shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be punished accordingly.

X. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Judicial Committee to direct one or more feigned issue or issues to be tried in any Court of Common Law, and either at bar, before a Judge of Assize, or at the sittings for the trial of issues in London or Middlesex, and either by a special or common jury, in like manner and for the same purpose as is now done by the High Court of Chancery.

XI. And be it enacted, That it shall be in the discretion of the said Judicial Committee to direct that, on the trial of any such issue, the depositions already taken of any witness who shall have died, or who shall be incapable to give oral testimony, shall be received in evidence; and further, that such deeds, evidences, and writings shall be produced, and that such facts shall be admitted, as to the said Committee shall seem fit.

XII. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Judicial Committee to make such and the like orders respecting the admission of persons, whether parties or others, to be examined as witnesses upod the trial of any such issues as aforesaid, as the Lord High Chancellor or the Court of Chancery has been used to make respecting the admission of witnesses upon the trial of issues directed by the Lord Chancellor or the Court of Chancery.

XIII. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Judicial Committee to direct one or more new trial or new trials of any issue, either generally or upon certain points only; and that in case any witness examined at a former trial of the same issue shall have died, or have, through bodily or mental disease or infirmity, become incapable to repeat his testimony, it shall be lawful for the said committee to direct that parol evidence of the testimony of such witness shall be received.

XIV. And whereas by an act passed in the thirteenth year of his late Majesty King George the Third, and intituled An Act for establishing certain Regulations for the better Management of the Affairs of the East India Company, as well in India as in Europe,' and by an act passed in the first year of the reign of his present Majesty, and intituled An Act to enable the Courts of Law to order the Examination of Witnesses upon Interrogatories and otherwise,' certain powers are given to certain courts therein mentioned to enforce, and provisions are made for the examination of witnesses by commission, upon interrogatories and otherwise; be it therefore further enacted, That all the powers and provisions contained in the two last-mentioned acts, or either of them, shall extend to and be exercised by the said Judicial Committee in all respects as if such committee had been therein named as one of his Majesty's Courts of Law at Westminster.

XV. And be it enacted, That the costs incurred in the prosecution of any appeal or matter referred to the said Judicial Committee, and of such issues as the same committee shall under this act direct, shall be paid by such party or parties, person or persons, and be taxed by the aforesaid registrar, or such other person or persons, to be appointed by his Majesty in council or the said Judicial Committee, and in such manner as the said committee shall direct.

XVI. And be it further enacted, That the orders or decrees of his Majesty in council made, in pursuance of any recommendation of the said Judicial Committee, in any matter of appeal from the judgment or order of any court or judge, shall be enrolled, for safe custody, in such manner, and the same may be inspected and copies thereof taken under such regulations, as his Majesty in council shall direct.

XVII. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said committee to refer any matters to be examined and reported on to the aforesaid registrar, or to such other person or persons as shall be appointed by his Majesty in council or by the said Judicial Committee, in the same manner and for the like purposes as matters are referred by the Court of Chancery to a master of the said court; and that for the purposes of this act the said registrar and the said person or persons so to be appointed shall have the same powers and authorities as are now possessed by a master in Chancery.

XVIII. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for his Majesty, under his sign manual, to appoint any person to be the registrar of the said Privy Council, as regards the purposes of this act, and to direct what duties shall be performed by the said registrar.

XIX. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the president for the time being of the said Privy Council to require the attendance of any witnesses, and the production of any deeds, evidences, or writings, by writ to be issued by such president in such and the same form, or as nearly as may be, as that in which a writ of subpoena ad testificandum or of subpoena duces tecum is now issued by his Majesty's Court of King's Bench at Westminster; and that every person disobeying any such writ so to be issued by the said president shall be considered as in contempt of the said Judicial Committee, and shall also be liable to such and the same penalties and consequences as if such writ had issued out of the said Court of King's Bench, and may be sued for such penaltties in the said court.

XX. And be it further enacted, That all appeals to his Majesty in council shall be made within such times respectively within which the same may now be made, where such time shall be fixed by any law or usage, and where no such law or usage shall exist, then within such time as shall be ordered by his Majesty in Council; and that, subject to any right subsisting under any charter or constitution of any colony or plantation, it shall be lawful for his Majesty in council to alter any usage as to the time of making appeals, and to make any order respecting the time of appealing to his Majesty in council.

XXI. And be it further enacted, That the order or decree of his Majesty in council on any appeal from the order, sentence, or decree of any Court of Justice in the East Indies, or of any colony, plantation, or other his Majesty's dominions abroad, shall be carried into effect in such manner, and subject to such limitations and conditions, as his Majesty in council shall, on the recommendation of the said Judicial Committee, direct; and it shall be lawful for his Majesty in council, on such recommendation, by order, to direct that such Court of Justice shall carry the same into effect accordingly, and thereupon such Court of Justice shall have the same powers of carrying into effect and enforcing such order or decree as are possessed by or are hereby given to his Majesty in Council; provided always, that nothing in this act contained shall impeach or abridge the powers, jurisdiction, or authority of his Majesty's Privy Council as heretofore exercised by such council, or in anywise alter the constitution or duties of the said Privy Council, except so far as the same are expressly altered by this act, and for the purposes aforesaid.

XXII. And whereas various appeals to his Majesty in Council from the Courts of Sudder Dewanny Adawlut at the several presidencies of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, in the East Indies, have been admitted by the said courts,