33 VICTORIA, with intent to defraud shall be liable to a penalty of not exceeding twenty pounds.

No. 355.

Penalty for issuing or serving documents not stamped or failing to cancel stamps.

Appropriation of penalties.

Proof in suits for penalties.

Justices may mitigate penalties in certain cases.

3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 97 s. 25.

Proceedings not

23. If any person shall without lawful excuse (the proof whereof shall be upon such person) file issue receive procure or deliver any document, or serve or execute any writ rule order matter or proceeding, not properly stamped as required by this Act, or do or perform or permit to be done and performed any act matter or thing in respect whereof a stamp should be used without using such stamp, or shall fail or omit to cancel or obliterate any adhesive stamp at the time and in the manner prescribed by this Act, he shall be liable to a penalty of not exceeding twenty pounds.

24. All penalties recovered under this Act shall be applied as follows:-One moiety shall be paid into the consolidated revenue, and the other to the informer or person prosecuting.

25. In any proceeding under this Act for the recovery of any penalty the production of any document unstamped or stamped with an insufficient stamp, or the stamp of which is not properly or sufficiently obliterated and cancelled, or the proof of any such document having been unstamped or not sufficiently stamped at the time when it was so filed issued received procured delivered served or executed, or of the stamp not having been properly and sufficiently obliterated and cancelled, shall be sufficient primâ facie evidence of such document having been without lawful excuse so filed issued received procured delivered served or executed, or of the doing or performing of the act matter or thing or without the stamp having been properly and sufficiently obliterated and cancelled.

26. Where any person shall or may be convicted before any justice of the peace in any penalty incurred under this Act, and except as is hereinafter provided, the said justice may in cases where upon consideration of the circumstances he shall deem it expedient so to do, and for a first offence only, mitigate the payment of the said penalty so as the sum to be paid by such person be not less than one-fourth part of the amount of the penalty (exclusive of the costs and charges) in which such person shall have been or may be convicted.

27. Proceedings to be had or taken under this Act shall not be quashed or vacated for want of form nor shall be removed by removed by cer- certiorari.

to be quashed for want of form or

tiorari.

Nothing to inter

of Governor in

28. Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to interfere with the fere with power power of the Governor in Council judges or other persons empowered Council for alter- to alter or otherwise regulate the amount of fees comprised in any ation of fees &c. of the Acts in the Schedule hereto, or of directing that any fee comprised in any of the said Acts shall cease to be payable.

28 & 29 Vict.

c. 45 s. 5.

Penalties for

offences herein named.

32 & 33 Vict. c. 49 s. 8.

29. If any person is guilty of any of the following offences:Forges or counterfeits or causes or procures to be forged or counterfeited any stamp or die or any part of any stamp or die provided made or used in pursuance of this Act;

or,

Forges or counterfeits or causes or procures to be forged or counterfeited the impression or any part of the impres

No. 355.

sion of any such stamp or die as aforesaid upon any 33 VICTORIA,
document; or,
With intent to defraud stamps or marks or causes or procures

to be stamped or marked any document with any such
forged or counterfeited stamp or die; or

Sells or exposes for sale any document having thereupon the
impression of any such forged or counterfeited stamp or
die or part of any such stamp or die or any such forged
or counterfeited impression or part of an impression
knowing the same to be forged or counterfeited; or,
Fraudulently cuts or gets off or causes or procures to be cut
or got off the impression of any such stamp or die from
any document with intent to use the same for any other
document; or,

Knowingly and without lawful excuse (the proof whereof lies
on the person accused) has in his possession any false
forged or counterfeited die plate or other instrument or
part of any such die plate or instrument resembling or
intended to resemble either wholly or in part any stamp
or die which at any time whatever has been or may be
provided made or used for the purposes of this Act; or,
Knowingly and without lawful excuse (the proof whereof lies
on the person accused) has in his possession any vellum
parchment or paper having thereon the impression of
any such false forged or counterfeited stamp or die or
having thereon any false forged or counterfeit stamp
mark or impression resembling or representing either
wholly or in part or intended or liable to pass or be
mistaken for any such stamp or die;

With intent to defraud forges or alters or offers utters dis-
poses of or puts off knowing the same to be forged or
altered any false forged or counterfeited impression of
any such stamp or die;

every person so offending, and every person knowingly and wilfully
aiding and abetting any person in committing any such offence and
being thereof lawfully convicted shall be judged guilty of felony,
and shall be liable at the discretion of the court to be imprisoned
for any term not exceeding fifteen years.

SCHEDULE.

1. An Act to make provision for the better administration of Justice in the Colony of Victoria, 15 Vict. No. 10.

2. Common Law Procedure Statute 1865.

3. County Court Statute 1869.

4. Insolvency Statute 1865.

5. The Justices of the Peace Statute 1865.

6. Mining Statute 1865.

7. Real Property Statute 1864.

8. Transfer of Land Statute.

9. The Instruments and Securities Statute 1864.

10. Companies Statute 1864.

11. The Marriage and Matrimonial Causes Statute 1864.

12. Lunacy Statute.

13. Public Works Statute Part VI.

Fifty-third section of "Consti

tution Act" repealed as from 31st December 1875.

Interpretation clause.

An Act to provide for the Abolition of State Aid to

Religion.

[Reserved 15th July 1870. Royal Assent proclaimed 6th January 1871.]

BE it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty by and with

the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of Victoria in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows :

1. From and after the thirty-first day of December One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five no moneys shall be set apart for the advancement of the Christian religion in Victoria under the provisions of the Fifty-third Section and for public worship under the Eighth Part of Schedule D of the "Constitution Act," and as from that day such provisions shall be and the same are hereby repealed. 2. In the construction and for the purposes of this Act the following terms shall if not inconsistent with the context or subject matter have the respective meanings hereby assigned to them, that is to say:

"The Governor" shall mean the person administering the
government acting by and with the advice of the Execu-
tive Council.

"The Minister" shall mean the responsible Minister of the
Crown administering this Act.
"Denomination" shall mean any church religious body sect

or congregation or the members of any church formed
into or acting as a body of persons for religious purposes
of what kind of faith or form of belief soever.

"Head or authorised representative" shall mean the person accepted as such for the time being by the Governor.

No. 391.

"Trustee" shall mean any person holding that office for the 34 VICTORIA,
time being, whether named as such in the Crown grant
or approved of or appointed as such by the Governor,
although no legal estate may be vested in such person.

may dispose of

Crown and apply

nominational

3. All lands which at the time of the passing of this Act have Denominations been granted by the Crown without receiving any purchase money trust lands or promised or reserved by the Crown or by the Governor per- granted by the manently or temporarily for church purposes or church and school proceeds to depurposes or dwelling-houses for the ministers of any denomination purposes. may, subject to the provisions hereinafter contained, be disposed of by the denomination to or for the benefit of which such lands may have been granted promised or reserved, and the proceeds of disposition applied for the purposes of such denomination in such manner as the denomination may deem most beneficial.

power to dispose

head or autho

4. Every application for leave to dispose of any such land shall Application for be made in the form in the First Schedule hereto by the head or of such lands to authorised representative of the denomination, with the consent of be made by the the trustees of any such land resident in Victoria, or of the majority rised representhereof, and of the person or persons, if any, entitled to minister in or occupy any building upon the land.

tative of the denomination. First Schedule.

Notice of appli

cation to be given by adver

notice to non

5. Such application shall be lodged at the office of the Minister, and within one month from the time of lodging the same the applicant shall give notice thereof by advertising the same at length once tisement and by in the Government Gazette and once in some newspaper circulating consenting in the neighbourhood of the land and by serving a copy of the application upon any trustee of the land resident in Victoria who shall not have consented to such application.

trustees.

be lodged.

6. Within one month from the publication of the last adver- Objections to tisement any person may lodge objections to the allowance of the application may application at the office of the Minister, and a copy of every objection so lodged shall be forwarded by the Minister to the applicant.

allowed if no

be rejected or

7. If notice of the application shall have been duly given as Application to be aforesaid, and if no objection shall have been lodged within one objection lodged. month from the last advertisement, and if the land described in the application shall have been granted promised or reserved as aforesaid, the Governor shall allow the application; and if any objection Application may shall have been lodged as aforesaid the Governor may allow or reject modifed if obthe application, or with the consent of the applicant modify the jected to. trusts thereby proposed, and if deemed expedient for the purpose of dealing with any such objection may refer the same for the inquiry and report of any person or persons to be appointed by the Governor in that behalf; and every such allowance shall be signed by the Governor and shall be in the form in the Second Schedule hereto.

Second Schedule.

application to be

dence that the

8. Upon the allowance of any application, the allowance thereof, Publication of as signed by the Governor, shall be published in the Government allowance of Gazette, and such publication shall be conclusive evidence that all conclusive evithe provisions of this Act in respect of the application have been Act has been complied with and that the trustees named in the statement of trusts and that trustees are entitled to the land therein described in fee-simple upon the name are the trusts thereof discharged of all, trusts and limitations as to the trusts allowed.

complied with

titled upon

No. 391.

Certificate of title to issue to

new trustees as

34 VICTORIA, Use thereof theretofore affecting the same, anything contained in the seventh section of the "Land Act 1869" to the contrary notwithstanding, and upon the application of such persons the Registrar of Titles under the "Transfer of Land Statute" shall register such persons as joint proprietors in fee of the said land with no survivorship. 9. The certificate of title to be issued as aforesaid shall be in the same form and of the same effect as any other certificate of title proprietors under issued under the provisions of the "Transfer of Land Statute" as to the title of the proprietors, the immunity of persons dealing with them, and in every other respect; and at the time of applying under this Act for a certificate of title a copy of the Government Gazette containing the allowance shall be deposited with and retained by the Registrar of Titles, under the provisions of Section thirty-eight of the said Statute, as the document declaring the trusts of the land as to which the certificate issues.

the Transfer of
Land Statute"
and Gazette to be
deposited as

document declar-
ing trusts.

The Governor

may frame regulations.

No reservation to be made of

public

10. The Governor may from time to time frame alter and revoke regulations providing for the manner in which applications under this Act, or objections thereto, shall be lodged or dealt with, or for altering the forms in the Schedules to this Act, so far as consistent therewith, and for the execution of all orders matters or things arising under and consistent with this Act and not herein expressly provided for, and such regulations when published in the Government Gazette, and purporting to be signed by the Minister, shall have the force of law.

11. So much of section six of the "Land Act 1869" as relates Crown lands for to reservations of Crown lands for places of public worship and places of wel dwelling-houses for the ministers of any religious denomination shall be and the same is hereby repealed as from the first day of July One any religious de- thousand eight hundred and seventy, save as to any reservation or application for reservation which may have been made thereunder before the said date.

ling-houses for the ministers of

nomination after the 1st day of July 1870.

Promise or reser

vation of land not

to be affected

allowed.

12. Nothing hereinbefore contained shall be deemed to affect any promise or reservation of land in the third section mentioned, until application unless and until an application under this Act shall be made in respect thereof, and subject to the allowance of any such application every such promise or reservation shall be given effect to as if this Act had not passed.

Section 4.

SCHEDULES.

I

THE FIRST SCHEDULE.

head or authorised representative of the denomination known as with the consent of [names of consenting trustees] trustees of the land described in the subjoined statement of trusts and of [name and address of persons so entitled if any] being the person or persons entitled to minister in or occupy a building or buildings upon the said land, hereby apply to the Governor of the colony of Victoria for leave to dispose of the said land by the means and for the purposes mentioned in the said statement of trusts. And I hereby certify that the said land was [state the particulars of the grant promise or reservation of the land] granted by the Crown on the day of or promised or reserved by for the purpose of [state in full the purposes for which

the

day of

on