JUNE 21.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2449

Cook Islands.—Regulations as to Leprosy and other Diseases.

LIVERPOOL, Governor.

ORDER IN COUNCIL.

At the Government House at Wellington, this eleventh day of June, 1917.

Present:

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL.

WHEREAS by section fifty-three of the Cook Islands Act, 1915, the Governor in Council is empowered to make all such regulations as he thinks necessary for the peace, order, or good government of the Cook Islands: And whereas it is expedient to make regulations accordingly with respect to leprosy and certain other diseases in the Cook Islands:

Now, therefore, His Excellency the Governor of the Dominion of New Zealand, acting by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of that Dominion, doth hereby, in pursuance of the powers conferred on him by the Cook Islands Act, 1915, make the following regulations accordingly; and doth hereby declare that these regulations shall not apply within the Island of Niue, but shall apply within all the Islands of the Cook Islands other than the said Island; and doth hereby further declare that these regulations shall come into force in those Islands on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred and seventeen.

REGULATIONS.

1. (1.) THE Resident Commissioner of Rarotonga may from time to time make such orders or give such directions as he thinks expedient for the isolation of persons affected with or suffering from leprosy or from any other infectious or contagious disease, or for preventing communication between them and other persons, or otherwise for preventing the spread of any such disease, and all such orders and directions shall have the force of law, and any breach thereof shall be an offence against these regulations.

(2.) The said Commissioner may for the purposes of these regulations appoint any place within the Cook Islands as a quarantine-ground for the isolation of persons affected with leprosy or with any other infectious or contagious disease as aforesaid.

2. (1.) Whenever in any house or kainga any person is found to be sick of leprosy or of any infectious or contagious disease to which a direction or order of the Resident Commissioner under the last preceding clause relates, or whenever in any house or kainga as aforesaid any person is found to be suffering from any sickness the symptoms of which raise a reasonable suspicion that such sickness may be leprosy, or an infectious or contagious disease as aforesaid, the occupier or head of such house or kainga shall forthwith give notice thereof in writing to a Medical Officer or to the Resident Commissioner of Rarotonga, or to the Resident Agent for the island in which such house or kainga is situate.

(2.) Any person required by this regulation to give notice of any disease, who fails or neglects to give such notice for a period of twenty-four hours or more, shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

3. (1.) Where a Medical Officer, or the Resident Commissioner, or a Resident Agent at any island has reason to suspect that leprosy, or any other disease in respect of which notice is required to be given pursuant to these regulations, exists in any house or kainga, and that such notice has not been given, the Medical Officer, Resident Commissioner, or Resident Agent, as the case may be, may visit and inspect such house or kainga and all persons therein.

(2.) Any person who wilfully obstructs or interferes with any such Medical Officer, Resident Commissioner, or Resident Agent in the course of such visit or inspection, or who prevents or seeks to prevent any such person from making such visit or inspection, shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

4. Every person who commits an offence against these regulations shall be liable to a fine of £50 or to imprisonment for a term of three months.

J. F. ANDREWS,
Clerk of the Executive Council.

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