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Summary Jurisdiction Act of 1848
of all force and effect in this
Colony, but seeing that that
section deals with substantive
criminal law only 'whereas the
1848 Act is a purely Procedural
Statute. we cannot accept that
short cut to a solution of the
question. We can, however, arrive
at a solution by the following
reasoning:-
First of all it is very doubtful
if a Statute like the Act of J848
could be held to apply to the
Police Magistrates' Courts of this
Kingdon, Colony, which are
branches of the Supreme Court
invested with C.J.
far larger powers and wider
jurisdictions than a Petty
Sessional Aitken Court in England.
A time limit of six months to
prevent stale and prosecutions for
petty offence in a country like
England is by no Graham means a
statutory provision which
obviously fits in with local Paul,
JJ. circumstances and the status
of our Courts of Summary
Juristiction.
In the second place a cursory
study of the Supreme Court
Ordinance, the Criminal Procedure
Ordinance and the Commissioners
Ordinance, all of which are to be
read together, suffices to show
that the Colonial legislature has
adopted and embodied in its own
Ordinances practically every
provision of the 1848 Act except
the six months time limit provided
by section 11 thereof. From these
legislative activities it seems
reasonably clear (a) that
the Colonial legislature intended
to replace the 1848 Act by its
local Ordinances, and (b)
that it had decided that the six
months limit was not suitable to
the circumstances and conditions
of this Colony.
Lastly we have section 15 of the
Supreme Court Ordinance, which
explicitly enacts that the
jurisdiction vested by that
Ordinance in the Supreme Court
shall be exercised (so far as
regards procedure and practice) in
the manner provided by itself, and
the Criminal Procedure Ordinance,
or by rules and orders of the
Court made pursuant to its own
provisions.
In the face of that section it
seems well nigh impossible to
argue that the procedure and
practice of the local Supreme
Court, which includes all Courts
of the Police Magistrates and
District Commissioners in the
Colony, can be affected by any
other enactments than those
specified therein. Our judgment on
the question at issue may thus be
summarised as follows :-The
criminal procedure in the Colonial
Police Magistrates' and District
Commissioners' Courts is regulated
and governed by our local laws,
which have made ample provision
therefor, and there appears to be
no reason ~'whatsoever to pray in
aid the provisions of any English
Statute " of general application".
In our opinion, therefore, section
11 of the Summary .Jurisdiction
Act of 1848 does not apply to this
Colony ..
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