v. Bank of England may advance Eight Millions on the credit of this Act, notwithstanding 5 & 6 W. & M. c. 20. VI. Bills prepared by virtue of this Act to be delivered to the Bank, as security for such advances. VII. Monies raised by bills to be applied to the services voted by the Commons. VIII. Exchequer Bills made chargeable upon the growing produce of the Consolidated Fund. CAP. VI. AN ACT to alter the Hours within which certain Oaths and Declarations are to be made and subscribed in the House of Peers. By this ACT, (3rd April 1843.) After reciting that by 30 Car. 2. st. 2, certain oaths and declarations are required to be made and subscribed by Peers and members of the House of Peers, which said oaths and declarations are required to be made and subscribed between the hours of nine in the morning and four in the afternoon: And that it is expedient that the time for making the said oaths and subscribing the said declarations by Peers and members of the House of Peers should be extended as hereinafter mentioned: It is Enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act the said oaths and declarations, and all other oaths or declarations required to be made and subscribed by Peers and members of the House of Peers at the table of the said house, shall and may be made and subscribed betwixt the hours of nine in the morning and five in the afternoon; and that the said oaths and declarations made and subscribed between the hours last aforesaid shall be as effectual to all intents and purposes as if made and subscribed within the hours mentioned in the said recited Act. CAP. VII. AN ACT to amend the Law affecting transported Convicts with respect to Pardons and Tickets of Leave. (3rd April 1843.) By this ACT, ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS. 1. Repeal of so much of the recited Act as respects pardons and tickets of leave. 2. Manner of granting pardons. 3. Holders of tickets of leave enabled to sue for personal property. 4. Holders of tickets of leave declared incapable of holding real property. 6. Act may be amended. After reciting that by 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 62, it is among other things enacted, that neither the governor nor lieutenant governor of any island, colony, or settlement, or any other person, shall give any pardon or ticket of leave to any person sentenced to transportation, or who shall receive a pardon on condition of transportation, or any order or permission to suspend or remit the labour of any such person, except in cases of illness, until such person, if transported for seven years, shall have served four, if transported for fourteen years shall have served six, or if transported for life shall have served eight years of labour; and that no such person shall be capable of acquiring or holding any property, or of bringing any action for the recovery of any property, until after such person shall have duly obtained a pardon from the governor or lieutenant governor of the colony or settlement in which he or she shall have been confined; provided that nothing therein contained shall in any manner affect His Majesty's royal prerogative of mercy: And that it is expedient that the law with respect to pardons and tickets of leave should be amended: It is Enacted, 1. That so much of the above-recited Act as is hereinbefore recited shall be repealed. II. That after the time when this Act shall take effect in any place to which felons and offenders have been or may be transported by law, neither the governor nor lieutenant governor of such place shall be empowered as heretofore to remit, either absolutely or conditionally, the whole or any part of the time for which any such felons or other offenders shall have been or shall be hereafter transported to such place, but instead thereof the governor or lieutenant governor shall from time to time, by an instrument in writing under his hand, recommend such felons or other offenders as he shall think fit to be recommended to Her Majesty for an absolute or conditional pardon; and in case Her Majesty shall, through one of Her principal Secretaries of State, signify Her approval of any such recommendation, it shall be lawful for the governor or lieutenant governor to grant such absolute or conditional pardon pursuant to such instructions as shall be sent to him by the Secretary of State, by an instrument in writing under the seal of his government, which shall be deemed from the day of the date thereof to have within such place or places as shall be specified in such pardon, but not elsewhere, the same effect in the law to all intents and purposes as if a general, absolute, or conditional pardon had passed on that day under the great seal of the United Kingdom. And after reciting that the practice hath prevailed in those places to which felons and offenders have been transported by law of granting, in certain cases and on certain conditions, permission to such felons and offenders to employ themselves for their own benefit (which permissions are usually called and known by the name of tickets of leave), and it is just that they should be protected in their persons and in the possession of such property as they may acquire by their industry while holding such tickets of leave ; It is Enacted, III. That it shall be lawful for every felon under sentence or order of transportation who shall hold any such ticket of leave, notwithstanding his or her conviction of felony, to acquire and hold personal property, and to maintain any action or suit for the recovery of any personal property so acquired by him or her, and for any damage or injury sustained by him or her, in the courts of the colony or place where such felon shall lawfully reside; and if the defendant in any such action or suit shall plead or allege in his or her defence the plaintiff's or complainant's conviction of felony, and the plaintiff or complainant shall allege and prove that he or she hath received and doth still continue to hold unrevoked such a ticket of leave as aforesaid, a verdict shall pass and judgment shall be given for the plaintiff or complainant: Provided always, that whenever such ticket of leave shall be revoked all property so acquired by any such felon shall vest absolutely in Her Majesty, and shall be disposed of at the discretion of the governor or lieutenant governor, subject to such instructions as shall be from time to time sent to him by one of Her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State. IV. Provided and enacted, That no felon under sentence of transportation who shall hold a ticket of leave shall be capable of acquiring or holding any estate in lands or tenements other than as tenant for years, or for some less term or estate, determinable in each case upon the revocation of the ticket of leave, until after such felon shall have duly obtained an absolute or conditional pardon from the governor or lieutenant governor of the place to which he shall have been so transported, pursuant to the provisions herein before contained. v. That this Act shall be proclaimed by the governor or lieutenant governor of every place to which felons and offenders have been or now may be transported by law within six weeks after a copy of it shall have been received by him, and shall take effect in every such place from the day of the proclamation thereof; and in case Her Majesty shall be pleased, with the advice of Her Privy Council, to appoint any new place or places beyond the seas to which felons and other offenders under sentence or order of transportation may be conveyed, this Act shall take effect in every such place from the time of such appointment. VI. That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in this session of Parliament. CAP. VIII.-IRELAND. AN ACT to empower Justices of the Peace in Ireland to act in certain Cases relating to Rates to which they are chargeable. ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS. (3rd April 1843.) 1. Justices of the Peace empowered to act in cases relating to grand jury and poor law rates and other rates, although liable to such rates. 2. Former acts of Justices not to be declared void. 3. Act may be amended this session. By this ACT, After reciting that doubts have arisen whether Justices of the Peace in Ireland may lawfully act in cases relating to cesses, rates, and taxes to which such Justices respectively are rated or chargeable ; It is Enacted, I. That it shall and may be lawful to and for all and every Justice or Justices of the Peace for any county, county of a city, or county of a town, or borough or town corporate, in Ireland, within their respective jurisdictions, to do and perform all acts appertaining to their office as Justice or Justices of the Peace under or in execution of the laws for the presentment of public money by grand juries in Ireland, or the laws for the more effectual relief of the destitute poor in Ireland, or for the apprehension and punishment of vagrants, or under an Act, 9 Geo. 4. c. 82, intituled, 'An Act to make Provision for lighting, cleansing, and watching of Cities, Towns Corporate, and Market Towns in Ireland, in certain Cases,' or under or in execution of any other laws concerning local cesses, rates, or taxes, notwithstanding any such Justice or Justices is or are rated to or chargeable with the cesses, rates, or taxes affected by such act or acts of such Justice or Justices as aforesaid. II. That no act of any such Justice or Justices done before the passing of this Act shall hereafter be quashed or declared void because the same has been done by any such Justice or Justices so rated or chargeable as aforesaid. III. That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in this present session of Parliament. CAP. IX. AN ACT to indemnify such Persons in the United Kingdom as have omitted to qualify themselves for Offices and Employments, and to extend the Time limited for those Purposes respectively until the Twenty-fifth Day of March One thousand eight hundred and forty-four; and for the Relief of Clerks to Attornies and Solicitors in certain Cases. (3rd April 1843.) [This Act contains the same clauses as are to be found in 6 Will. 4. c. 7; see 14 Law J. Stat. p. 20; and 7 Will. 4. c. 12; 15 Law J. Stat. p. 10.] CAP. X. AN ACT for removing Doubts as to the Punishment which may be awarded under the Provisions of an Act of the Fourth and Fifth Years of Her present Majesty, "for taking away the Punishment of Death in certain Cases," for certain Offences therein specified. (11th April 1843.) ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENT. Punishment for offences herein specified. By this ACT, After reciting that in and by 4 & 5 Vict. c. 56, it was amongst other things enacted, that whereas by an Act, 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 30, intituled, 'An Act for consolidating and amending the Laws relating to malicious Injuries to Property,' it was amongst other things enacted, that if any persons riotously and tumultuously assembled together to the disturbance of the public peace should unlawfully and with force demolish, pull down, or destroy, or begin to demolish, pull down, or destroy, any church or chapel, or any chapel for the religious worship of persons dissenting from the united church of England and Ireland, duly registered or recorded, or any house, stable, coach-house, outhouse, warehouse, office, shop, mill, malthouse, hop-oust, barn, granary, or any building or erection used in carrying on any trade or manufacture, or any branch thereof, or any machinery, whether fixed or moveable, prepared for or employed in any manufacture, or in any branch thereof, or any steam-engine or other engine for sinking, draining, or working any mine, or any staith, building or erection used in conducting the business of any mine, or any bridge, waggon-way, or trunk for conveying minerals from any mine, every such offender should be deemed guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof should suffer death as a felon; and that in case of every felony punishable under that Act every principal in the second degree and every accessary before the fact should be punishable with death or otherwise, in the same manner as the principal in the first degree was by that Act punishable: And that it was expedient that the said last-mentioned offences should be no longer punishable with death; that from and after the commencement of the said Act, 4 & 5 Vict. c. 56, if any person should be convicted of any of the offences hereinbefore specified, whether as principal, or as principal in the second degree, or as accessary before the fact, such person should not be subject to any sentence, judgment, or punishment of death, but should, instead of the sentence or judgment in and by the said Act hereinbefore first recited ordered to be given and awarded against persons convicted of the above-mentioned offences or any of them respectively, be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be transported beyond the seas for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any time not exceeding three years: And that doubts have arisen whether such offenders are liable, under the provisions of the said Act, 4 & 5 Vict. c. 56, hereinbefore recited, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of their natural lives: And that it is expedient to put an end to such doubts:— It is Enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act, if any person shall be convicted of any of the offences hereinbefore in the said Act first above recited specified, such person shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of the natural life of such person, or for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding three years. VOL. XXI.-STAT. B CAP. XI. AN ACT to indemnify Witnesses who may give Evidence before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal on a Bill to exclude the Borough of Sudbury from sending Burgesses to serve in Parliament. By this ACT, it is Enacted, (11th April 1843.) I. That all persons implicated in bribery at Sudbury, who may be examined before the House of Lords, and shall make a faithful disclosure, shall be indemnified. II. Witnesses examined before the House of Lords, or any committee thereof, not to be indemnified, unless they shall have a certificate from the Lord Chancellor. CAP. XII. AN ACT for the more convenient holding of Coroners Inquests. (11th April 1843.) ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS. 1. Coroner only within whose jurisdiction the body is lying dead shall hold the inquest. 2. Provision for detached parts of counties. 3. Parties may be tried on verdicts of murder or manslaughter. 4. Deodands may be levied on verdicts. 5. Act may be amended or repealed. By this ACT, After reciting that it often happens that it is unknown where persons lying dead have come by their deaths, and also that such persons may die in other places than those in which the cause of death happened : It is Enacted, 1. That the coroner only within whose jurisdiction the body of any person upon whose death an inquest ought to be holden shall be lying dead shall hold the inquest, notwithstanding that the cause of death did not arise within the jurisdiction of such coroner; and in the case of any body found dead in the sea, or any creek, river, or navigable canal within the flowing of the sea, where there shall be no deputy coroner for the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England, the inquest shall be holden only by the coroner having jurisdiction in the place where the body shall be first brought to land. II. That for the purpose of holding coroners inquests every detached part of a county, riding, or division shall be deemed to be within that county, riding, or division by which it is wholly surrounded, or, where it is partly surrounded by two or more counties, ridings, or divisions, within that one with which it has the longest common boundary. III. Declared and enacted, That if a verdict of murder or manslaughter, or as accessary before the fact to any murder, shall be found by the jury at any such inquest against any person or persons, the coroner holding the said inquest, and the Justices of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery for the county, city, district, or place in which such inquest shall be holden, and all other persons, shall have the same powers respectively for the commitment, trial, and execution of the sentence of the person or persons so charged as they now by law possess with regard to the commitment, trial, and execution of the sentence upon any person or persons committed and tried within the jurisdiction where the death happened. IV. Declared and enacted, That if a verdict of accidental death shall be found by the jury at any such inquest, the coron and jury, and the sheriff and Court of Exchequer, and all other persons whosoever, shall have the same powers respectively with regard to the finding, returning, and levying of deodands as they now possess in cases where the death and the cause of death happened within the same jurisdiction. v. That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in this session of Parliament. CAP. XIII. AN ACT to enable Her Majesty to provide for the Government of Her Settlements on the Coast of Africa and in the Falkland Islands. (11th April 1843.) ABSTRACT OF THE ENACTMENTS. 1. The Queen in council may make laws, constitute courts, &c. 2. The Queen may delegate Her powers and authorities to resident officers.—Orders in council, &c. to be laid before Parliament. 3. Act may be amended, &c. By this ACT, After reciting that divers of Her Majesty's subjects have resorted to and taken up their abode and may hereafter resort to and take up their abode at divers places on or adjacent to the coast of the continent of Africa and on the Falkland Islands: And that it is necessary that Her Majesty should be enabled to make further and better provision for the civil government of the said settlements: It is Enacted, 1. That it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by any order or orders to be by Her made, with the advice of her Privy Council, to establish all such laws, institutions, and ordinances, and to constitute such courts and officers, and to make such provisions and regulations for the proceedings in such courts, and for the administration of justice, as may be necessary for the peace, order, and good government of Her Majesty's subjects and others within the said present or future settlements respectively, or any of them; any law, statute, or usage to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding. II. That it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by any commission or commissions under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, or by any instructions under Her Majesty's signet and sign manual, accompanying and referred to in any such commission or commissions, to delegate to any three or more persons within any of the settlements aforesaid respectively the powers and authorities so vested in Her Majesty in council as aforesaid, either in whole or in part, and upon, under, and subject to all such conditions, provisoes, and limitations as by any such commission or commissions or instructions as aforesaid Her Majesty shall see fit to prescribe: Provided always, that notwithstanding any such delegation of authority as aforesaid, it shall still be competent to Her Majesty in council, in manner aforesaid, to exercise all the powers and authorities so vested as aforesaid in Her Majesty in council: Provided also, that all such orders in council, commissions, and instructions as aforesaid, and all laws and ordinances so to be made as aforesaid, shall be laid before both houses of Parliament as soon as conveniently may be after the making and enactment thereof respectively. III. That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in this session of Parliament. CAP. XIV. AN ACT for carrying into effect a Treaty between Her Majesty and the Republic of Bolivia, for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. (11th April 1843.) This ACT, after reciting that on the 25th of September 1840 a treaty was concluded and signed at Sucre, between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Republic of Bolivia, for the abolition of the slave trade, and the articles of the treaty, contains the following clauses : I. Commanders of ships of war to exercise right of searching merchant vessels liable to suspicion, and suspected of being engaged in the slave trade. II. Ships suspected of having been fitted out for the purposes of traffic in slaves liable to search. III. Her Majesty may appoint Judges and arbitrators to decide cases of detention. Iv. Her Majesty may appoint a secretary or registrar to the mixed court. v. In case of the death or incapacity from illness of any British Judge of such courts, or of the British arbitrator. VI. The Judges and arbitrators to take an oath.-Form of oath.-Secretary or registrar to take oath. VII. Judges and arbitrators may administer oaths. VIII. Punishing persons giving false evidence. IX. Pendency of suits before the Judges to be a bar to any proceedings instituted for the recovery of the vessels detained. x. Captors of vessels shall, after the same are condemned, be entitled to the portion of the proceeds belonging to Her Majesty XI. Bounty of 51. for every slave found on board of vessels seized and condemned. XII. Bounties not liable to payment of fecs. |