Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

tion, that the said William Charles Monckton is shortly about to depart from this Island. And whereas satisfactory proof is adduced before me that there exist (and have for some time past existed) only one or two causes in which the said William Charles Monckton pretends to act as an attorney, and that he suffers his name to remain as such, merely for the purpose of taking an undue advantage of his professional character, to protect himself against the just claims of his creditors, and not for the benefit of his clients, which conduct I deem highly derogatory to the profession of an attorney, unjust and fraudulent.

"To the end therefore, that no persons in future may be wrongfully debarred from obtaining personal security for their just demands against the said William Charles Monckton by such claim of privilege; It is ordered, that the said William Charles Monckton be forthwith suspended from acting in the capacity of an attorney of this Court, and the said William Charles Monckton is accordingly hereby suspended from all the acts, duties, and rights pertaining to an attorney of this Court, and is strictly prohibited from exercising or claiming the same, or any of them. "Given under my hand, this 25th day of November 1835.

[blocks in formation]

No complaint was made before the Chief Justice by James Hamney Down, or his attorney, respecting the petitioner's claim of privilege, nor was the petitioner heard in his defence, or any notice given him except the intimation to the Solicitor-general as

1837.

In re MONOKTON.

1837.

In re MONCKTON.

above stated; and it appeared also from the affidavit made subsequently by him, that at the time of the arrest there were no claims of any amount against him, while he was in possession of real estate on the island of considerable value.

The order having become a record of the Supreme Court, excluded the petitioner from acting as an attorney in that island, or in effect in any of the colonies in North America, as the Supreme Courts require from a candidate, on his application for admission to practise, a certificate from the Chief Justice of the colony where such candidate last practised. The order not being the subject of a writ of error, the petitioner appealed to His Majesty in Council, praying that the same might be rescinded and annulled, and that the record might be transmitted to His Majesty in Council, which upon motion being made by counsel was granted, and an order upon the Chief Justice to that effect was made on the 29th June 1836. The original record and affidavit of the petitioner having been accordingly transmitted.

Mr. Burge, K.C.

Now moved to rescind the order of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, on the ground of irregularity, it having been made without any evidence to warrant the act of suspension, or to support the statements contained in the order. He contended that the Chief Justice, if he took any course, ought to have refused the privilege from arrest; that allowing that, was in direct variance with the order for suspension; that the same was made without any legal or equitable grounds, no affidavit having been made of the facts stated in it, and was an extra-judicial and oppressive act.

Lord WYNFORD:

If the petitioner was not entitled to his privilege as a bona fide practising attorney at the time of the arrest, he certainly ought not to have been protected; but he certainly ought not to have been suspended, for that debars him from obtaining any practice. Their Lordships are of opinion that the prayer of the petitioner must be granted, and the order suspending him from practising as an attorney of the Supreme Court of Judicature in Prince Edward's Island (a) rescinded, but without costs.

(a) See Re Justices of Antigua, 1 Knapp, 267.

1837.

In re MONCKTON.

4 July 1837.

The status of

a party resi

the

Mauritius must be determined by the laws of

the rights

and liabili

ON PETITION FROM THE ISLAND OF
MAURITIUS.

In re HENRY ADAM.*

THIS case came on to be heard before the Judicial
Committee upon a petition of complaint presented to
His Majesty in Council by Henry Adam, late of the
Island of Mauritius.

By this petition Mr. Adam complained that he had England, but been unlawfully banished from the Mauritius by the Governor and Council of that island, and prayed that their decree might be reversed, and that compensation might be awarded to him for the suffering which had been inflicted

ties incident-
al to such

status must
be determined
by the law

of the colony.
By the 13th

art. of the
Code Civil,
(which pre-

Mauritius

upon

wrong

him.

and

The petition alleged that Mr. Adam, being a native of France, had, in the year 1817, gone over to the vailed in the Mauritius, with the intent of permanently settling in that colony, and had with that view made large purto the British chases of land there, and engaged extensively in cultivation and export of its produce; that he continued to reside in the island until he was forcibly

previous to

Crown,) the domicile of

an alien can only be obtained "

'par

l'autorisation du Gouvernement," which, according to

• Present:-Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Brougham, Mr. Justice Bosanquet, and the Chief Judge of the Court of Bankruptcy.

the law and practice in France, is an express and formal authority of the Government, and not merely a tacit or permissive acquiescence, for the residence of an alien friend in the Island.

Where, therefore, an alien friend had, by an order of the Governor and Colonial Council, been deported, and directed to quit the Island within a month; it was held by the Judicial Committee, to whom the case was referred by the Crown, that such order was consistent with the law of France, and strictly legal, notwithstanding that it appeared that the party so deported, had enjoyed the privileges, and exercised the rights of a person duly domiciled in the Island.

removed from it by order of the Governor in Council, in the year 1833, and had in the meantime become the head of one of the principal commercial houses, and a director of the bank, and a member of other public bodies; and was at the time of his removal in the actual discharge of the duties of assignee of insolvent estates, executor, guardian, and trustee.

That in the year 1825 he married a lady, a native of the Island, by whom he had three children, born in the Island. That in the year 1832 he was admitted, upon his own request, to take the oath of allegiance to His Majesty. That in consequence of considerable excitement prevailing among the slave population in the spring of 1832, and the deficiency of regular troops in the Island, it was deemed advisable by some of the principal inhabitants to form a volunteer corps; and a meeting was held, with the sanction of the Governor (Sir Charles Colville), for that purpose, and for the choice of a chief officer, when the election fell on Mr. Adam, who was accordingly invested with the command, and his title as colonel of the volunteers recognized and confirmed by the authorities in the Island, and that various official communications were made to him in that character by order of the Governor. That in January 1833, Sir William Nicolay succeeded Sir Charles Colville as Governor, and on the 6th of February he issued a proclamation denouncing the volunteer force as an armed association, organized without authority, and calling upon the persons composing the same to disband themselves, in obedience to a proclamation of His Majesty, which he therewith published.

It did not appear from the petitioner's statement whether he had complied with the proclamation; but

1837.

In re ADAM.

« AnteriorContinua »