district court to the supreme court of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, for the decision, or determination, of any points or questions of law arising in such case; and upon such removal being certified, the said last-mentioned court shall proceed to adjudge, decide or determine the said points or questions, and shall then remit the case with its judgment, decision or determination to the said circuit [district ?] court, which said court shall conform to, and give effect to, the same; [provided that it shall not be necessary for the person convicted to be present in the supreme court; meantime the district court shall commit to prison the person convicted or release him on bail]. 29. [Rules of court to be framed by the District Court.] 30. [In all civil suits appeals may be made to the Supreme Court of the Cape.] 31-33. [Regulation of such appeals.] 34. [A case coming before the Supreme Court or the District Court may be removed by the court concerned to the other court.] 35. [The District Court shall see to the execution of judgments, decrees, etc. pronounced by the Supreme Court and Circuit Courts.] 36. [Certified records of cases to be supplied by one court to the others if required.] 37. [Lieutenant-Governor of Natal to notify where and when the District Court shall be held.] 38. [Interpretation of terms.] 39. [Ordinance to take effect from date of promulgation.] P.R.O., C.O. 52/11 (C. of G. Hope Govt. Gaz., 17 Oct. 1845). FIELD-CORNETS AND CONSTABLES. [7 Jan. 1846.] No. 5, 1846. No. 138. Ordinance.-Enacted by the GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, with the advice and consent of the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL thereof, for creating Field-Cornets and Constables in and for the District of Natal. WHEREAS it is expedient that the Lieutenant-Governor of the district of Natal should be authorised and empowered to appoint field-cornets and constables to act in the said district : Be it, therefore, enacted, by the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, that the said Lieutenant-Governor shall have, possess and exercise, in regard to the district of Natal, all and singular the like powers and authorities for appointing field-cornets and policemen, and for fixing the limits of field-cornetcies, and of the bailiwicks of constables and policemen, as the Governor aforesaid has and possesses in regard to those parts of this colony other than the said district; And every fieldcornet, constable and policeman so appointed as aforesaid shall be, within his ward or bailiwick, as the case may be, an officer of the law proper for the execution of criminal warrants, within the meaning of Ordinance No. 18, 1845, and shall, moreover, have and enjoy the powers and authorities, and perform the same or similar duties as those by law belonging to fieldcornets, constables and policemen respectively, in those parts of this colony other than the district aforesaid. 2. And be it enacted, that it shall and may be lawful for the Lieutenant-Governor aforesaid, by any writing under his hand, to authorise any magistrate, justice of the peace or other person within the district of Natal, to appoint constables and policemen respectively, in such numbers and under such conditions and regulations as the said Lieutenant-Governor shall, from time to time, fix and prescribe,-and every constable or policeman so appointed shall have and possess the same powers and authorities as a constable or policeman appointed directly by the said Lieutenant-Governor. 3. And be it enacted, that this Ordinance shall commence and take effect from and after such date as shall be fixed and appointed for the commencement thereof, by any proclamation to be by the Lieutenant-Governor of the said district for that purpose issued and posted upon, or affixed to, any public place in Pietermauritzburg, in the said district. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. P.R.O., C.O. 50/2. JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. [7 Jan. 1846.] No. 6, 1846. the No. 139. Ordinance. - Enacted by His Excellency GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, with the advice and consent of the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL thereof, for creating Justices of the Peace within the District of Natal. WHEREAS it is expedient that Justices of the Peace should be appointed for the district of Natal, having the like powers and authorities as Justices of the Peace in other parts of this Colony Be it therefore enacted by the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, that it shall and may be lawful for the Lieutenant-Governor of the district of Natal to appoint, by commissions under his hand and seal, Justices of the Peace for the said district, and to assign to every such Justice of the Peace as the bounds or limits within which he shall be empowered to act, either the whole of the said district, or such a portion or division of the same as he, the said LieutenantGovernor, shall deem fitting and shall define. 2. [Justices to take oaths of allegiance and office.] 3. And be it enacted, that all and singular the clauses and provisions contained in the 2nd and remaining sections of the Ordinance No. 32, of 1827, entituled "Ordinance for creating Justices of the Peace in this Colony," shall, except as hereinafter in this section excepted, be deemed and taken to apply to the jurisdiction, powers, rights, and privileges of Justices of the Peace appointed under and by virtue of this Ordinance, and that as fully as if the said sections were herein again set forth, and word for word repeated. Provided, however, that when the clerk of the peace is mentioned and referred to in the 3rd section of the said Ordinance, the Crown Prosecutor of Natal shall be deemed and taken to be meant and intended. 4. [Justices to act as magistrates in criminal cases.] 5. [Ordinance to take effect from such date as shall be fixed by the Lieutenant-Governor by Proclamation.] P.R.O., C.O. 50/2. RESIDENT MAGISTRATES. [24 April 1846.] No. 140. Ordinance.-Enacted by the GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the more effectual administration of justice within the district of Natal, and for that purpose to create and establish certain inferior courts within the same: Be it, therefore, enacted by the Governor of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, that it shall and may be lawful for the Lieutenant-Governor of the district of Natal, from time to time, as occasion may require, to appoint one magistrate, who shall be called "The Resident Magistrate, for each and every division into which the said district of Natal shall be divided, for the purposes of this Ordinance as hereinafter mentioned. 2-3. [Declaration of divisions. Magistrates to take an oath.] 4. And be it enacted, that every such Resident Magistrate shall have jurisdiction in all civil cases within the division for which he shall have been appointed, wherein the sum or matter in dispute shall not exceed the amount or value of £15, and wherein the title to any lands or tenements, or any fee, duty, or office, is not in question, or whereby rights in future cannot be bound. 5. And be it enacted, that the said Resident Magistrate shall have jurisdiction without appeal, in all cases of crimes and offences wherein any person may be accused of any crime or offence not punishable by death, banishment, or transportation: Provided, always, that it shall not be lawful for any Resident Magistrate to punish any offender in any higher or more severe manner than by fine not exceeding £10, and imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a period not exceeding three months, and by whipping privately in prison not exceeding 25 lashes; except as to such crimes or offences for the commission of which any higher or more severe punishment, whether by fine or imprisonment, or both, shall be provided, and in which jurisdiction shall be expressly given by any special law or ordinance. 6. And be it enacted, that such Resident Magistrates shall have jurisdiction in all cases of fines or penalties not exceeding £40, which have been, or shall be, imposed on persons for offences by any ordinance which at any time hereafter shall be in force in the said district of Natal, for the recovery of which no provision repugnant to, or inconsistent with, the provisions contained in this and the three next succeeding sections of this Ordinance shall be expressly made in such law or ordinance. .. 7-9. [Proceedings in event of non-payment of fines.] 10. [Magistrates under this Ordinance to be Magistrates within the meaning of Ordinance 18, 1845.] II. [In what divisions offences may be tried.] 12. [Offences upon persons or property in or upon vehicles or vessels, triable in any division through which they may have passed.] 13. [Courts to be held on two days a week, or oftener.] 14. [To be courts of record.] 15. And be it enacted, that it shall and may be lawful for any party conceiving himself aggrieved by any judgment or decision of any Resident Magistrate, (save and except such judgments or decisions as may have been made under and by virtue of the 5th section of this Ordinance,) to appeal against such judgment or decision to the district court of Natal; or otherwise, to bring the same under the review of the said court. 16. [Public prosecutions to be conducted by the Crown Prosecutor or other person appointed for that purpose.] 17. [Private parties may conduct their own cases.] 18. [But the Crown Prosecutor may take up, stay, and conduct further proceedings if necessary.] 19. [Magistrate may stop further proceedings in important cases and refer them to the district court.] 20. [All sentences, documents, etc. to be in English. Evidence to be viva voce, and in open court.] 21. [Lieutenant-Governor of Natal may separate civil from criminal jurisdictions, and make other arrangements in that respect.] 22. [Lieutenant-Governor, with the advice of the recorder of Natal, may frame rules for courts.] 23. [Explanation of terms.] 24. [Ordinance to commence on proclamation by LieutenantGovernor.] P.R.O., C.O. 50/2. ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE AMONG NATIVES. No. 3, 1849.—(Signed) M. WEST. [23 June 1849.] No. 141. Ordinance.-For repealing so much of Ordinance No. 12, 1845, as is inconsistent with a Proclamation issued by the Lieutenant-Governor of the District of Natal, on the 21st day of June 1849, and with the provisions of this Ordinance; and for providing for the better Administration of Justice among the Natives. WHEREAS, on the 21st day of June 1849, the LieutenantGovernor issued the following Proclamation, to wit: PROCLAMATION. Whereas Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen was pleased by Instructions addressed to the Officer for the time being administering the Government of the District of Natal, dated at Buckingham Palace, on the Eighth day of March, Eighteen Hundred and Forty-eight, under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet, and with the advice of the Privy Council, amongst other things to direct : Twenty-Eighth.-And whereas the said District of Natal is inhabited by numerous Tribes, Natives of the said District, or of the Countries thereunto adjacent, whose ignorance and habits unfit them for the duties of civilized life, and it is necessary to place them under special control, until having been duly capacitated to understand such duties, they may reasonably be required to render ready obedience to the Laws in force in the said District; We do hereby declare it to be Our Will and Pleasure, that you make known by Proclamation 1 Repealed by Law No. 26, 1875 (p. 247). |