PETTY SESSIONS COURT ORDINANCE

PETTY SESSIONS COURT ORDINANCE

ORDINANCE No. 1 of

Petty Sessions Court.

No. I of 1849.

An Ordinance to repeal Ordinance No. fi of 1847, entitled ' An Ordinance
Title.
for extending the Summary Jurisdiction o£ Police Magistrates and
Justices of the Peace within the Colony of Hongkong,' and to
substitute other Provisions in the place of those contained in the said
Ordinance.

22nd February, 1849.)

WHER'8AS it has been deemed advisable and fit to repeal the said
Ordinance No. .'note,
6 of 1847, and to substitute other provisions in place of those
coutained'in the
said Ordinance, but with the intent of extending the said jurisdiction as
it existed
previous to the passing of that Ordinance:

1. Be it therefore enacted and ordained by His Excellency the Governor of
Hongkong, with the advice of the Legislative Council thereof, that from
and after the
passing of this Ordinance, the said recited Ordinance No. 6 of 1847 b©,
and the same
is hereby repealed.

Q, And be it further enacted and ordained, that a Court of Petty Sessions
shall sit
at the office of the Chief Magistrate of Police, on the Monday of every
week, to hear,
try, and determine in a summary manner, any of the crimes and o6nces
iiuderlnen-
$ioiled, committed within this Colony or its dependencies, or the
harbours thereof, that
is to say, assault, and assault and battery, notwithstanding that it may,
have been
attended with an intent to commit felony; larcenies where the stolen
property shall not
issceed fifty dollars in value; all cases whatsoever of embezzlement,
(save those of
embezzlement by factors or agents), or of obtaining property, by false
pretences, or o£
knowingly receiving stolen property whore the value of the property
involved as the
subject-matter of the offence, shall not exceed fifty dollars; all cases
of extorting money
or property by threatening to accuse any person of any indictable
offence, or by threats
of injury to his, her, or their property; all cases of breach of prison
where no serious
bodily injury shall have been inflicted ; all cases of knowingly
uttering, or having
possession of with intent to utter, counterfeit silver or copper coin
current in this
Colony, if the amount of such coin so uttered ox possessed be intended to
represent a
value not exceeding fifty dollars; all cases of conspiracy or combination
among artisans
or workmen, relating to their employ or work; all cases of riotous
assemblage with
intent to injure any house, place, or furniture, or any person
whatsoever; and all
attempts or endeavours to commit any of the crimes or offences above
enumerated.

3. And be it further enacted and ordained, that the said Court of Petty
Sessions
shall be held before the Chief Magistrate of Police, or in his
unavoidable absence before
such person, being a Justice of the Peace, as he may depute subject to
the approval of
the Governor together with any Justice or Justices of the Peace of the
said Colony of
Hongkong that may see fit to attend; such Justice or Justices having
separately
and individually, in all proceedings before the Court, an equal voice
with the said

Ordinance No. 6
of 1847 repealed.

Natabltshment
of a Court of

Petty Sessions,

with jurisdiction
to deal with
certain offences,

Constitution of
Court with re-
spect to the
presiding.
Jnsdces; ,,
232

Extent ofpnnish
meat to-be
awarded by the
Court.

Directions as to
corporalpanieh-
meat.

Power to award
amends to certain
cases.

Power of a
Magistrate oat of
sessions in cases
of assault, and
assault and
battery.

ORDINANCE No. 1 of 1849.

Petty Sessions Court.

Chief Magistrate of Police or person duly authorized to act in his stead;
Provided
always, that in the event of none of the Justices attending, it shall be
fully competent
for such Chief Magistrate of Police or person so deputed, to proceed
singly to hear,
try, and determine such cases as aforesaid, as may be brought before him;
and he shall
be vested with the same power as is intended to be hereby vested in the
Court of Petty
Sessions aforesaid: And that for the despatch of business, it shall and
may be lawful
to and for the said Chief Magistrate of Police, or person so deputed, to
adjourn the
said Court from day to day.

4. .And be it further enacted and ordained, that such Court shall have
power and
authority to award as punishment on due conviction, for any of the crimes
or offences
above specified, imprisonment in any of Her Majesty's jails within the
Colony for any
period not exceeding six calendar months, with or without hard labour; or
solitary
confinement not exceeding fourteen days at a time, or one mouth in all;
or any fine
not exceeding fifty dollars; or both fine and imprisonment not exceeding
these limits
And be it further provided, that when any male offender shall be
convicted under this
Ordinance of larceny, embezzlement, or of the knowingly uttering, or
having possession
of with intent to utter, counterfeit coin as aforesaid, or of any felony,
or of receiving
stolen property, it shall be lawful for the Court to direct that, in
addition to any other
punishment to which he may be liable, the offender be once or twice
publicly or
privately whipped.

5. And be it further enacted and ordained, that whenever corporal
punishment
shall be inflicted under this or any previous Ordinance, such punishment
shall in no
case at any single time exceed thirty-six blows with a rattan, to be
inflicted in the
presence of the principal jailer, or some other proper person deputed for
the purpose
by the presiding Magistrate.

g, And be it further enacted and ordained, that on the conviction of any
person of
an offence by which injury or loss to person or property shall have
accrued, it shall be
lawful for such Court to award reasonable amends to be made to the person
aggrieved,
by payment of any sum not exceeding fifty dollars, besides the penalty to
which the
offender may be liable for the offence, notwithstanding that the
aggrieved person may
have been examined as a witness in the case.

7, And be it further enacted and ordained, that any one Magistrate of the
Colony
sitting out of sessions shall have the same power to decide all cases of
assault, and
assault and battery unaccompanied by an intent to commit felony, as is
herein vested
in the Court of Petty Sessions in regard to assaults generally. And it is
hereby pro:
vided, that such Magistrate shall not have power to award amends or
compensation; or
any punishment greater than six weeks' imprisonment; or a fine not
exceeding twenty-
five dollars.~

Provision in the 8., gad be it further enacted and ordained, that if any
fine imposed hereunder, or.
event any amends be not paid on conviction, or within such time or times as
may be deter-
notd d~
being paid. mined by the Court or Magistrate convicting, it shall be
lawful for the convicting Court

or Magi strate to imprison the offender for any period not exceeding,
together with any
ORDINANCE No. 1 of 1849.

Petty sessiotes Court.

other imprisonment that may have been awarded, the term of six calendar
months in
the whole; or such Magistrate or Court may in his or its discretion levy
the amount
and costs by distress on the goods'and chattels of the offender.

9. And be it further ordained and declared, that it shall and may be
lawful to and
for the said Court, during the trial of any case under this Ordinance, or
at any time
before conviction, to commit the prisoner to stand his or her trial
before the Supreme
Court, should it appear that the case would be properly visited with a
heavier punish.
ment than such Court of Petty Sessions could award, and that the law
administered in
the said Supreme Court applies such heavier punishment; or for any other
reasonable
cause.

10. And be it further enacted and ordained, that it shall be ,lawful and
competent jurisdiction ind
for the said Court of Petty Sessions, or for any Magistrate of Police
thereto duly author. 'c'e'rgtat`n anotheinr

ized by the Governor of this Colony, to try and determine in a summary
manner,
cases and differences between master and servant, and relating to wages,
where the
pecuniary question for decision shall not exceed the sum of fifty
dollars; and all
dispute and differences between party and party touching any matter of
debt or pro.
mise; injury to the person or property, or other matter, where the debt
or damages
sought to be recovered shall not exceed the said sum of fifty dollars;
except the matter
in question shall relate to the title of any lands, tenements, or
hereditaments, or to the
taking of any duty payable to Her Majesty, or to any fee of office or
other matter
where rights in future might be bound, or to any general right or duty ;
Provided
also, that nothing herein contained relating to the said civil
jurisdiction aforesaid
shall extend to any debt being the disputed balance of any unsettled
account
originally exceeding fifty dollars, nor to any bebt or supposed debt, for
any
money or thing won or alleged to have been won at or by means of any
horse-race,
cock-match, wager or any kind of chance, gaming, or play, or to any debt
for which there
has not been a contract, acknowledgment, undertaking, or promise to pay
within three
years before the taking out of the summons: And that such Court of Petty
Sessions or
Police Magistrate so authorized may examine the plaintiff or plaintiffs,
defendant or
defendants, viva voce on their several corporal oaths, and may make an
order in writing
for the payment of such wages, or debt or damages aforesaid, and any
costs incurred
by the proceeding, before the said Court or Magistrate, payable either on
demand or
by instalments, as shall seem advisable, or as the case may be, an order
for the dismissal
of the case with or without costs. And that in the event of any such
order not being
complied with it shall be lawful for the Chief or presiding Magistrate of
the said Court,
or for the Police Magistrate authorized as aforesaid, to issue a precept
to some known
bailiff of the Colony, or other discreet person or persons, to levy the
sum so ordered to
be paid by a sale of the goods, and chattels of the defendant or
defendants or other
party; or in case it shall appear from the return to the precept, by the
statement of
the defendant, or otherwise, that the defendant or other party has no
goods or chattels
whereon to levy, the Court or Magistrate having issued. the said precept
may order that
the said defendant or other party be imprisoned for any term not
exceeding three

Power to commit
offenders before
convictten to
stand their trial
before the
Supreme court.

civil cases.
aAVmANcE N(J: I of 3:8~4g.

petty 3emow Gd urE.,

ttiotbl>s~: Ptovided: always, that when, from its involving a difficult
point of law, dr
ftota and other cause whatever, the said Court or Magistrate may think
proper td
refer for trial to the Supreme Court, any ease over which the said Court
of Petty.
Sessions or Magistrate may have jurisdiction and cognizance under this
section, it or he
may do so. And be it further declared, that nothing herein contained
shall be deemed
to abridge the summary jurisdiction of the Supreme Uourt, or to prevent
or impede any
suitor from proceeding thereunder for wages, or -any other debt or
damages on this
section above mentioned, if desirous so to do.

11. And be it further enacted and ordained, that if any person shall use
any
insulting expression in Chinese or any other language towards a
Magistrate or Justice:
of the Peace acting in the discharge of any magisterial duty, he shall be
liable to be
fined by the said Magistrate or Justice of the Peace in an amount not
exceeding fifty
dollars, or imprisoned for a term not exceeding two calendar months.

12: And be it further enacted and ordained, that the said Chief and all
other
Magistrates shall,, and are hereby required to make and transmit to the
Colonial
Secretary,. a weekly return of all eases tried and determined by them
during the
preceding week;. exhibiting the nature of the offences, and the
punishments or fines
awarded.
13. And be it further enacted and ordained, that if any person be
charged. before
a Magistrate on any day when the said Court of Petty Sessions be not
sitting; with any
ofenoe cognizable by the said Court under this Ordinance, such
Magistrate may commit
such person so charged to take his trial before the said Court, or may
admit to bail,
or discharge such. person without taking down in writing any part of the
examination;
and it shall be sufficient to state in the warrant of commitment that the
prisoner., is
charged with felony or misdemeanour, as the case may be, without further
particularizing
the offence.
14. . And be it further enacted and ordained, that if any native .of
China, or
Chinese native of any other place than Hongkong, not being a householder
or a
pernaanenb resident in the Colony, shall have been convicted of any
felony, or shall be
a suspected person apparently frequenting the Colony for felonious
purposes, or, who
shall be a public beggar therein, it shall be lawful for the said Court
o£. Petty.
Sessions, whether before or after thep unishment of such person, to send
him in custody,
to the nearest Chinese Magistrate residing on the mainland of China,
with, a redue4
from any Magistrate of the said Court that the person so sent in custody
may be
prevented from returning to the said Colony, and if any person having
been so sent
away shall return to the Colony without the premission of a Magistrate
thereof, he shall
be subject, on conviction before the said Court, to a term of
imprisonment not eaceedn-
si$ calendar months, with or without hard labour, or whipping, and to be
again sent

in custody to the mainland of China, as is above provided.

Contempt
towards

Vtrates W,

Isseharge of
their duties.

M(stratsa to
make weekly
return to the
colonial

Secretary of all
acres tried by

them.

When ahargs

preibrred before
a Magistrate on a
day when the
Court of Petty
sessions is not
sitting, he may
discharge, bait'
or commit fn

manner provided,
the prisoner for
trial at the Bald
Court.

Certain Chinese
offenders may be
deported.

Power to the 1:G. And be it further enacted and ordained, that whenever
any person his
Court to eatreat
rocog~nlzanaae heretofore entered or shall hereafter enter into any
recognizance or Crown bond before
under certain
clraamatanaas. any Justice ofAho Eeatoe, or any officer of Police, and.
that such bond or recognisande
Petty Sessions Court.

Ordinance No. 1 of 1849.

has or shall become forfeited, or any of the qonditions thereof broken,
it shall and may
be lawful to and for the said Court of Petty Sessions to summon the
person bound by
the said recognizance or bond before it, and on satisfactory proof of
such forfeiture or
breach of condition, to order the said recognizance to be estreated, and
to direct its
precept to the sheriff of the said Colony to levy the amount or penalty
of the said
recognizance from off the goods, chattels, lands, and tenements of the
defaulter ; and in
case the said sheriff shall make his return to the said precept, that
such defaulter 4949
not sufficient goods or chattels, lands or tenements, to satisfy the
exigency of the said
precept, it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Court of Petty
Sessions to order
and direct that such defaulting party be imprisoned for any term not
exceeding three
months.

16. And be it further enacted and ordained that in the construction of
this lnierMtat.lon
cto~ae.
Ordinance, unless there be something in the context repugnant thereto,
any word
denoting the singular number and male sex, shall be taken to extend to
any number
of persons and things, and to both sexes.

1'7. And be it further enacted, and ordained, that this Ordinance shall
come into - ordinance to
operation arid take effect from and after the first day of larch next
ensuing. ist Macron; from

[Repealed by Ordinance No. 6 of 1862.]
Title.
Preamble.
Ordinance No. 6 of 1847 repealed.
Establishment of a Court of Petty Sessions, with jurisdiction to deal with certain offences.
Constitution of Court with respect to the presiding Justices.
Extent of punishment to be awarded by the Court.
Directions as to corporal punishment.
Power to award amends in certain cases.
Power of a Magistrate out of Sessions in cases of assault, and assault and battery.
Provision in the event of fines imposed or amends directed, not being paid. Power to commit offenders before conviction to stand their trial before the Supreme Court.
Jurisdiction in wages and in certain other civil cases. Contempt towards Magistrates in the discharge of their duties.
Magistrates to make weekly return to the Colonial Secretary of all cases tried by them.
When charge prefered before a Magistrate on a day when the Court of Petty Sessions is not sitting, he may discharge, bail or commit in manner provided, the prisoner for trial at the said Court.
Certain Chinese offenders may be deported.
Power to the Court to estreat recognizances under certain circumstances. 235

Interpretation clause.
Ordinance to take effect from 1st March, 1849.

Title.
Preamble.
Ordinance No. 6 of 1847 repealed.
Establishment of a Court of Petty Sessions, with jurisdiction to deal with certain offences.
Constitution of Court with respect to the presiding Justices.
Extent of punishment to be awarded by the Court.
Directions as to corporal punishment.
Power to award amends in certain cases.
Power of a Magistrate out of Sessions in cases of assault, and assault and battery.
Provision in the event of fines imposed or amends directed, not being paid. Power to commit offenders before conviction to stand their trial before the Supreme Court.
Jurisdiction in wages and in certain other civil cases. Contempt towards Magistrates in the discharge of their duties.
Magistrates to make weekly return to the Colonial Secretary of all cases tried by them.
When charge prefered before a Magistrate on a day when the Court of Petty Sessions is not sitting, he may discharge, bail or commit in manner provided, the prisoner for trial at the said Court.
Certain Chinese offenders may be deported.
Power to the Court to estreat recognizances under certain circumstances. 235

Interpretation clause.
Ordinance to take effect from 1st March, 1849.

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