1620
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[Nov. 20

Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty’s Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same; and issued under the Seal of the said Colony, at the Government House, at Wellington, this nineteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.

H. A. ATKINSON.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

Amendments as to Constitution, &c., of High Commissioner’s Court, under Western Pacific Order in Council of 1877.

Colonial Secretary’s Office,
Wellington, 3rd November, 1879.

THE following order, made by Her Majesty the Queen in Council, relative to the constitution, &c., of a High Commissioner’s Court for the Islands of the Pacific, and which may be cited as the Western Pacific Order in Council of 1879, is published for general information. Extracts from the Western Pacific Order in Council of 1877 were published in the New Zealand Gazette of 1st May, 1879, page 592.

JOHN HALL.

At the Court at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, the 14th day of August, 1879.

Present:

THE QUEEN’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY IN COUNCIL.

WHEREAS by the Western Pacific Order in Council of 1877 Her Majesty the Queen was pleased to create and constitute the office of High Commissioner in, over, and for certain islands and places in the Western Pacific Ocean, which islands and places are in the said order more particularly described, and are therein and in this order referred to as the Western Pacific Islands, with such powers and jurisdiction as are in the said order set forth:

And whereas it is expedient to extend and amend in various respects the said order:

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by virtue and in exercise of the powers in this behalf by the Pacific Islanders Protection Acts, 1872 and 1875, and by the Foreign Jurisdiction Acts, 1843 to 1878, or otherwise, in Her Majesty vested, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:—

Preliminary.

1. This order may be cited as the Western Pacific Order in Council of 1879; and the Western Pacific Order in Council of 1877 and this order may be cited together as the Western Pacific Orders in Council of 1877 and 1879.

2. This order shall be read as if it were part of the Western Pacific Order in Council of 1877 (which order is herein referred to as “the principal order”).

Successor or Representative of High Commissioner.

3. In the event of the death or incapacity of the High Commissioner, or in any such other event as may be from time to time provided for by Commission under the sign-manual and signet of Her Majesty, all the powers and authorities of the High Commissioner shall be transferred to and vested in such person as Her Majesty shall, at any time after the making of this order, think fit by such Commission to appoint or designate to succeed temporarily to the office of High Commissioner, and to exercise the powers and authorities thereof, or if there be no person so appointed, then to and in the Chief Justice of Fiji.

4. (1.) Whenever the High Commissioner has occasion to leave his ordinary place of official residence in order to visit any distant places within which he has jurisdiction as High Commissioner, he may, by an instrument under his hand and official seal, appoint a Judicial Commissioner, or some one of Her Majesty’s Deputy Commissioners for the Western Pacific, to represent him during his absence; and the person so appointed shall be styled the Assistant High Commissioner, and may, so long as his appointment remains in force, exercise all the powers and authorities of the High Commissioner, or so much thereof as is specified in the instrument appointing him.

(2.) The High Commissioner may revoke any such appointment by a similar instrument; and every such appointment shall cease on the return of the High Commissioner to his ordinary place of official residence.

(3.) Such appointment shall not affect the right of the High Commissioner to exercise his full power and authority in any place within his jurisdiction.

5. In this order, and in the principal order, unless inconsistent with the context, the High Commissioner includes the person for the time being exercising any of the powers and authorities of High Commissioner under the foregoing provisions of this order.

Proceedings before Deputy Commissioners.

6. All instruments relating to proceedings before a Deputy Commissioner, which under the principal order would require to be sealed with the seal of the Court, shall be sufficient without such seal if signed by a Deputy Commissioner.

Regulations by High Commissioner.

7. (1.) The High Commissioner shall, by virtue of this order, have power and authority to make from time to time, in the name and on behalf of Her Majesty, by writing under his hand and official seal, such regulations as to him seem fit for the government of British subjects in the Western Pacific Islands, and for securing the maintenance (as far as regards the conduct of British subjects) of friendly relations between British subjects and all kings, chiefs, and other authorities in those islands, and persons subject to them.

(2.) The regulations may define offences against the same; and acts thereby defined to be offences are hereby declared to be offences against the principal order; and the regulations may impose a punishment for any such offence as follows:—

(i.) Imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months, with or without hard labour, and with or without a fine not exceeding £10; or

(ii.) A fine alone, not exceeding £10, without any imprisonment; and

(iii.) In case of a continuing offence—in addition to any such punishment by imprisonment or a fine, or both, as aforesaid—a further fine, not exceeding in any case 10s. for each day during which the offence continues after the day of the commission of the original offence.

(3.) The regulations shall be so framed as to allow that less than the highest punishment imposed by the regulations may be adjudged in any case; and the regulations shall not be so framed as to impose a fixed punishment in any case, or to prevent the Court from adjudging in any case as low a punishment as the Court in its discretion may think fit.

(4.) The regulations shall be affixed and as far as practicable at all times kept exhibited at each Courthouse, or at some other public place in each district.