Conviction Chapter XII if he has "been convicted either in His Majesty's dominions or elsewhere of an offence, which, if committed in England, would or unprofes- be a felony or misdemeanor "; or if he has "been guilty of any infamous or disgraceful conduct in a professional respect ". sional conduct abroad. (III) - VETERINARY SURGERY AND MEDICINE. The Veterinary Surgeons Act, 1881, s. 13, provides for the recognition of foreign diplomas, and allows them to be registered under the Act. 44 & 45 Vict. c. 62. reign prac Registra- 13-(1) Where a person shows that he holds some recogtion of colo- nised veterinary diploma granted to him in a British possesnial or fo- sion, and either that the grant of such diploma occurred when titioner with he was not domiciled in the United Kingdom, or in the course recognised of a period of not less than 5 years during which he resided diploma. out of the United Kingdom, or, if he was practising veterinary surgery in the United Kingdom at the passing of this Act, that he has practised veterinary surgery for not less than 10 years, either in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, he shall upon payment of the registration fee be entitled without examination in the United Kingdom to be registered as a colonial practitioner in the register of veterinary surgeons and to become to all intents a member of the said Royal College.* (2) Where a person shows that he obtained some recognised veterinary diploma granted in a foreign country, and either that he is not a British subject, or, that if a British subject he has practised veterinary surgery for more than 10 years elsewhere than in the United Kingdom, or if he was practising veterinary surgery in the United Kingdom at the passing of this Act for not less than 10 years, either in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, and either continues to hold that diploma or has not been deprived thereof for any cause which disqualifies him for being registered under this Act, he shall on payment of the registration fee, be entitled without examination in the United Kingdom to be registered as a foreign practitioner in the register of veterinary surgeons and to become to all intents a member of the said Royal College. (3) For the purposes of this section a veterinary diploma is any diploma, licence, certificate, or other document granted by any University, College, corporation, or other body, in respect of veterinary surgery, and includes a licence or authority to a person to practise veterinary surgery granted by any Department of or persons acting under the authority of the Government of the country or place within or without Her Majesty's dominions wherein the licence or authority is granted ; and a British possession is any part of Her Majesty's dominions out of the United Kingdom; and a recognised veterinary diploma is a veterinary diploma recognised for the time being by the Council of the said Royal College as furnishing a sufficient guaranty of the possession of the requisite knowledge and skill for the efficient practice of veterinary surgery and as entitling the holder thereof to practise veterinary surgery, in the British possession or foreign country wherein the diploma was granted. * i.e. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, (4) If a person is refused registration as a colonial practitioner, or Chapter XII as a foreign practitioner, the Council of the said Royal College shall, if required by that person, state in writing the reason for that refusal, and if that reason be that the veterinary diploma held or obtained by him is not a recognised veterinary diploma, that person may appeal to the Privy Council, and the Privy Council, after communication with the Council of the said Royal College and the appellant, may either dismiss the appeal or order that Council to recognise that veterinary diploma. sions of the By s. 17 (2) persons who are not on the register are not en- Other provititled to recover in any Court any fee for operations or advice: Act. and by s. 16 a penalty of £20 is imposed for false representation as to membership of the Royal College. NOTE. Among the Acts repealed by the Naturalization Act, 1870, was 11 and 12 Will. III, c. 6—“ an Act to enable His Majesty's natural-born subjects to inherit the estate of their ancestors, either lineal or collateral, notwithstanding their father or mother were aliens. " In 1752, another Act-25 Geo. II, c. 39-was passed to obviate doubts which might arise on the Act of William III. The later Act has not been repealed, but was, as it were, given fresh vitality by being christened "The British Subjects Act, 1752" by the Short Titles Act in 1896. It cannot therefore but find a place in this book, though what its precise effect is now it is difficult to say. At the time the Act of William III was passed, the only statute in existence dealing with the subject was that of 25 Edward III: at the time the Act of George II was passed, the Acts of Anne and of 4 George II were in force at the present time, the statute of George III has come into force, the disability as to the tenure of lands by aliens has been swept away, and succession to realty belonging to an alien is assimilated to that of realty belonging to a natural-born subject. Apart from these considerations however, and looking at the Act of 1752 on its own merits, we find that s. I deals expressly with inheritance "by the recited Act", i. e. by the repealed Act. This section has presumably passed away too. And s. 2 deals with descents cast upon a daughter "by virtue of this Act, or of the recited Act." But the recited Act has lost its virtue and the virtue of "this Act ", so far as s. 2 is concerned, must lie in s. 1, which has also lost its virtue. It would therefore appear that this Act has been impliedly repealed. And, seeing that it is now 150 years since it was passed, it is hardly possible that any persons should be now in being whose rights would depend on it, so as to justify its retention on the statute book. Chapter XII 25 Geo. II, cap. XXXIX : An act to obviate doubts that may arise upon an act made and passed in the eleventh and twelfth years of the reign of his late majesty King William the Third, intituled, An act to enable his Majesty's natural born subjects to inherit the estate of their ancestors, either lineal or collateral, notwithstanding their father or mother were aliens. WHEREAS in and by an act of parliament made and passed in the eleventh and twelfth years of the reign of his late majesty King William the Third, intituled An act to enable his Majesty's natural born subject to inherit the estate of their ancestors, either lineal or collateral, notwitstanding their father or mother were aliens; it is enacted, That all and every person or persons, being the King's natural-born subject or subjects, within any of the King's realms or dominions, should and might thereafter lawfully inherit and be inheritable, as heir or heirs, to any honours, manors, lands, tenements or hereditaments, and make their pedigrees and titles by descent from any of their ancestors, lineal or collateral, although the father and mother, or father or mother, or other ancestor of such person or persons by, from, through, or under whom he, she or they should or might make or derive their title or pedigree, were or was, or should be born out of the King's allegiance, and out of his Majesty's realms or dominions, as freely, fully and effectually, to all intents and purposes, as if such father or mother, or fathers or mothers, or other ancestor or ancestors by, from, through, or under whom he, she or they should or might make or derive their title or pedigree, had been naturalized or natural-born subjects: and whereas many doubts and inconveniencies may arise upon the said recited act, in case of persons gaining capacities to inherit and derive their pedigrees by virtue of the said recited act, after the deaths of their ancestors to whom they claim to be heirs, whereby estates well vested by descent, mortgages, purchases, and settlements, duly made, may be defeated for remedy whereof be it enacted and declared 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 said statute shall not None to in- extend, or be deemed, taken, or construed to extend to give any right, herit by the or title to any person or persons to inherit as heir or heirs, or coheir or recited act, coheirs, to any person dying seised of any manors, lands, tenements or but sush as hereditaments, in possession, reversion or remainder, by enabling any being at the such person or persons to claim or derive his, her or their pedigree death of the through any alien ancestor or ancestors, unless the person or persons so ancestor who claiming or deriving his, her, or their title as heir or heirs, coheir or coheirs, was or were, or shall be in being, and capable to take the same estate as heir or heirs, coheir or coheirs, by virtue of the said statute, at the death of the person who shall so last die seised of such manors,lands, tenements or hereditaments, and to whom he, she or they shall so claim to be heir or heirs, coheir or coheirs, by force of the said statute. shall be in shall die feised. If the des H. Provided always, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, cent shall be That in case the person or persons who shall be in being, and capable cast upon a to take at the death of the ancestor so dying seised of any such honours, daughter, manors, lands, tenements or hereditaments, and upon whom the descent shall be cast by virtue of this act, or of the said recited act, shall happen to be a daughter or daughters of an alien, and that the alien father or mother, through whom such descent shall be derived by such daugh ter or daughters, shall afterwards have a son born within any of his Chapter XII Majesty's realms or dominions; the descent so cast upon such daugh wards have a son, the ter or daughters shall be divested in favor of such son; and such son and the alien shall inherit and take the estate in like manner as is allowed by the father, &c. common law of this realm in cases of the birth of a nearer heir; or in shall aftercase such father or mother shall have no son or sons, but shall have one or more daughter or daughters afterwards born within any of his daughter to Majesty's realms or dominions, the daughter or daughters so born be divested afterwards shall inherit and take in coparcenary with the daughter or in favour of daughters upon whom the descent shall be cast at the death of the the son &c. ancestor last seized; anything in this act contained to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding. Chapter XIII. Of Doubtful Nationality: and of Declarations of By the fourth paragraph of s. 7 of the Act of 1870, the Secre- Chapter XIII tary of State has power to grant special certificates of naturaliSecretary of zation to persons with respect to whose right to be deemed Brit- State's certiish subjects a doubt exists," for the purpose of quieting such doubts". 23 & 34 Vict. c. 14, s. 7: [4th. para.] The said Secretary of State may in manner aforesaid grant a special certificate of naturalization to any person with respect to whose nationality as a British subject a doubt exists, and he may specify in such certificate that the grant thereof is made for the purpose of quieting doubts as to the right of such person to be a British subject, and the grant of such special certificate shall not be deemed to be any admission that the person to whom it was granted was not previously a British subject. ficate in cases of doubtful nationality. the provi It is more than doubtful whether, after reading this section, the impression left on the mind as to what the power Difficulty of of the Secretary of State is, has any definite resemblance to the interpreting power which he actually has: for this paragraph is one of the sion. dark passages of the Act, and it needs some careful analysis of the words used to fathom its intention. The meaning often attributed to it is that it gives power to settle cases of doubtful nationality the actual meaning will be found to be the very reverse. In the first place it must be noted that the paragraph forms part of s. 7, which deals with the grant of certificates of naturalization; the provision must therefore be closely allied to that sub Certificate Chapter XIII ject, and the key to its meaning is, that the certificate granted is a certificate of naturalization, and not a certificate of nationality. is of natura- The special circumstances of the case require that the certificate of nationa- should be a special one, because the ordinary certificate is not, as we shall see, applicable to those circumstances. lization not lity. The grant of the special certificate may be made "to any person with respect to whose nationality as a British subject a doubt exists". Taking those words in conjunction with the nature of the certificate actually granted, it will be seen that a certificate of naturalization, which only admits the person to the status of British subject for the future, could not in any way help in the settlement of difficulties, the consequence of the doubtful nationality, which had arisen in the past. Suppose, for example, that a dispute had arisen as to the person's right to hold shares in a British ship: the grant of a certificate of naturalization, operative as to the future, would do little to solve the question whether he was entitled to have been registered as owner. Nature of doubts as to What are the doubts which might arise as to a person's “nanationality arising from tionality as a British subject"? It is often a matter of great diffidifficulty of determining culty to ascertain a person's birth-place, more especially in birth-place: a country which has not adopted a complete law of civil status. of person himself or of his ancestors.. could not be If a man's parents are dead, his knowledge of the place of his birth will depend on how much he remembers of what he has heard, which may by chance guide him to the right parish register, from which a copy of his birth certificate may be obtained. But possible difficulties as to his own birth-place, which may prevent his proving his birth within the realm-more especially if he is by parentage the subject of another State-become probable difficulties when it is necessary for him, knowing that he was born abroad, to prove his father's birth-place [4 Geo. II, c. 21] : and become certain difficulties, if, knowing that both he and his father were born abroad, he has to prove the birth-place of his grandfather [13 Geo. III, c. 21]. Assuredly it would be most convenient if the Act had provided Such doubts a summary way of settling such difficulties. But the mere stateSettle by Se- ment of the question whether it should be by way of reference to the Secretary of State answers it. No more inconvenient. method could be contrived, for it would throw the burden of deciding difficult questions of fact, and perhaps of law, on the Secretary of State. This incongruity might be got rid of by allow cretary of State. |