Hong Kong Letters Patent 1917
PROCLAMATIONS.
No. 3.
| [L.S.] | Francis Henry May, |
By His Excellency Sir Francis Henry May Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hongkong and its Dependencies and Vice-Admiral of the same:
Whereas by Article XXI of the Letters Patent intituled “Letters Patent passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom constituting the Office of Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hongkong and its Dependencies” and dated the 14th day of February 1917 it is directed and enjoined that the said Letters Patent shall be read and proclaimed at such place or places within the Colony as the Governor shall think fit and shall come into operation on a day to be fixed by the Governor by Proclamation:
And whereas I have thought fit that the said Letters Patent shall be read and proclaimed in the presence of the Legislative Council of the Colony on this 19th day of April 1917 at the Council Chamber and that they shall come into operation on the 20th day of April 1917 and whereas they have been so read accordingly:
Now therefore I Sir Francis Henry May Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hongkong and its Dependencies and Vice-Admiral of the same in pursuance of the said Article and by virtue of the powers thereby vested in me do hereby proclaim the said Letters Patent accordingly and do direct that they shall come into operation on the 20th day of April 1917.
Given at the Council Chamber, Victoria, in the Colony of Hongkong, this 19th day of April 1917.
By Command,
Claud Severn,
Colonial Secretary.
God Save The King.
HONGKONG.
LETTERS PATENT passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, constituting the Office of Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hongkong and its Dependencies.
Dated 14th February 1917. George the Fifth by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India: To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting.
Recites Letters Patent of 19th January 1888. WHEREAS by certain Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster the Nineteenth day of January 1888, Her Majesty Queen Victoria did constitute the office of Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Colony of Hongkong and its Dependencies, as therein described, and did provide for the Government thereof:
Recites Orders in Council of 20th January 1898 and 27th December 1899. And whereas by Orders of Her said Majesty in Her Privy Council bearing date respectively the Twentieth day of October 1898, and the Twenty-seventh day of December 1899, certain territories adjacent to the said Colony were, for the term therein referred to, declared to be part and parcel of the Colony in like manner and for all intents and purposes as if they had originally formed part of the Colony:
And whereas We are minded to make other provision in lieu of the above recited Letters Patent of the Nineteenth day of January 1888:
Revokes Letters Patent of 19th January 1888. Now, know ye that We do by these presents revoke the above recited Letters Patent of the Nineteenth day of January 1888, but without prejudice to anything lawfully done thereunder; and We do by these Our Letters Patent declare Our Will and Pleasure as follows:—
Office of Governor constituted. I. There shall be a Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Our Colony of Hongkong and its Dependencies (hereinafter called the Colony), and appointments to the said Office shall be made by Commission under Our Sign Manual and Signet.
Governor’s powers and authorities. II. We do hereby authorise, empower, and command Our said Governor and Commander-in-Chief (hereinafter called the Governor) to do and execute all things that belong to his said office, according to the tenour of these Our Letters Patent and of any Commission issued to him under Our Sign Manual and Signet, and according to such Instructions as may from time to time be given to him, under Our Sign Manual and Signet, or by Order in Our Privy Council, or by Us through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, and to such laws as are now or shall hereafter be in force in the Colony.
Publication of Governor’s Commission. III. Every person appointed to fill the office of Governor shall, with all due solemnity, before entering upon any of the duties of his office, cause the Commission appointing him to be Governor to be read and published in the presence of the Chief Justice or other Judge of the Supreme Court, and of such Members of the Executive Council of the Colony as can conveniently attend; which being done he shall then and there take before them the Oaths to be taken by Governor.Oath of Allegiance, in the form provided by an Act passed in the Session holden in the Thirty-first and Thirty-second years of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, intituled Imperial Act, 31 & 32 Vict. c. 72.“An Act to amend the Law relating to Promissory Oaths”; and likewise the usual Oath for the due execution of the office of Governor and for the due and impartial administration of justice; which Oaths the said Chief Justice or Judge, or if they be unavoidably absent, the senior Member of the Executive Council then present, is hereby required to administer.
Public Seal. IV. The Governor shall keep and use the Public Seal of the Colony for sealing all things whatsoever that shall pass the said Public Seal.
Executive Council. V. There shall be an Executive Council in and for the Colony, and the said Council shall consist of such persons as We shall direct by Instructions under Our Sign Manual and Signet, and all such persons shall hold their places in the said Council during Our pleasure. The Governor may upon sufficient cause to him appearing suspend from the exercise of his functions in the Council any Member thereof pending the signification of Our pleasure, giving immediate notice to Us through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State. If the suspension is confirmed by Us through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State the Governor shall forthwith by an instrument under the Public Seal of the Colony revoke the appointment of such Member, and thereupon his seat in the Council shall become vacant.
Legislative Council. VI. There shall be a Legislative Council in and for the Colony, and the said Council shall consist of the Governor and such persons as We shall direct by any Instructions under Our Sign Manual and Signet, and all such persons shall hold their places in the said Council during Our pleasure. The Governor may upon sufficient cause to him appearing suspend from the exercise of his functions in the Council any Member thereof pending the signification of Our pleasure, giving immediate notice to Us through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State. If the suspension is confirmed by Us through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State the Governor shall forthwith by an instrument under the Public Seal of the Colony revoke the appointment of such Member, and therenpon his seat in the Council shall become vacant.
Governor, with advice and consent of Council, to make Laws. VII. The Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council, may make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Colony.
Disallowance of Laws. VIII. We do hereby reserve to Ourselves, Our heirs and successors, fall power and authority to disallow, through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, any such law as aforesaid. Every such disallowance shall take effect from the time when the same shall be promulgated by the Governor in the Colony.
Power of legislation reserved to the Crown. IX. We do also reserve to Ourselves, Our heirs and successors, Our and their undoubted right, with the advice of Our or their Privy Council, to make all such laws as may appear necessary for the peace, order, and good government of the Colony.
Assent to Bills. X. When a Bill passed by the Legislative Council is presented to the Governor for his assent he shall, according to his discretion, but subject to any Instructions addressed to him under Our Sign Manual and Signet or through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, declare that he assents thereto, or refuses his assent to the same, or that he reserves the same for the signification of Our pleasure.
Reserved Bills. XI. A Bill reserved for the signification of Our pleasure shall take effect so soon as We shall have given Our assent to the same by Order in Council, or through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, and the Governor shall have signified such assent by message to the Legislative Council or by proclamation: Provided that no such message shall be issued. after two years from the day on which the Bill was presented to the Governor for his assent.
Governor and Legislative Council to observe Instructions. XII. In the making of any laws the Governor and the Legislative Council shall conform to and observe all rules, regulations, and directions in that behalf contained in any Instructions under Our Sign Manual and Signet.
Land grants. XIII. The Governor, in Our name and on Our behalf, may make and execute, under the Public Seal of the Colony, grants and dispositions of any lands which may be lawfully granted or disposed of by Us. Provided that every such grant or disposition be made in conformity either with. some law in force in the Colony or with some Instructions addressed to the Governor under Our Sign Manual and Signet, or through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, or with some regulations in force in the Colony.
Governor empowered to appoint Judges and other officers. XIV. The Governor may constitute and appoint all such Judges, Commissioners, Justices of the Peace, and other necessary Officers and Ministers in the Colony, as may lawfully be constituted or appointed by Us, all of whom, unless otherwise provided by law, shall hold their offices during Our pleasure.
Grant of pardon. XV. When any crime or offence has been committed within the Colony, or for which the offender may be tried therein, the Governor may, as he shall see occasion, in Our name and on Our behalf, grant a pardon to any accomplice in such crime or offence who shall give such information as shall lead to the conviction of the principal offender, or of any one of such offenders, if more than one; and further, may grant to any offender convicted of any crime or offence in any Court, or before any Judge or other Magistrate within the Colony, a pardon, either free or subject to lawful conditions, or any remission of the sentence passed on such offender, or any respite of the execution of such sentence for such period as the Governor thinks fit, and may Remission of fines.remit any fines, penalties, or forfeitures due or accrued to Us. Proviso. Banishment prohibited.Provided always that the Governor shall in no case, except where the offence has been of a political nature unaccompanied by any other grave crime, make it a condition of any pardon or remission of sentence that the offender Exception. Political offences.shall be banished from or shall absent himself or be removed from the Colony.
Dismissal and suspension of officers. XVI. The Governor may, upon sufficient cause to him appearing, dismiss any public officer not appointed by virtue of a Warrant from Us, whose pensionable emoluments do not exceed one thousand dollars or one hundred pounds sterling a year, according as the said emoluments are fixed with reference to dollars or to pounds sterling as the case may be, provided that in every such case the grounds of intended dismissal are definitely stated in writing and communicated to the officer in order that he may have full opportunity of exculpating himself, and that the matter is investigated by the Governor with the aid of the head for the time being of the department in which the officer is serving.
The Governor may, upon sufficient cause to him appearing, also suspend from the exercise of his office any person holding any office in the Colony whether appointed by virtue of any Commission or Warrant from Us, or in Our name, or by any other mode of appointment. Such suspension shall continue and have effect only until Our pleasure therein shall be signified to the Governor. If the suspension is confirmed by one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, the Governor shall forthwith cause the officer to be so informed, and thereupon his office shall become vacant. In proceeding to any such suspension, the Governor is strictly to observe the directions in that behalf given to him by Our Instructions as aforesaid.
Succession to Government. XVII. Whenever the office of Governor is vacant, or if the Governor become incapable, or be absent from the Colony, Our Lieutenant Governor of the Colony, or if there shall be no such Officer therein, then such person or persons as may be appointed under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet, and in default of any such appointment, the person lawfully discharging the functions of Colonial Secretary shall during Our pleasure administer the Government of the Colony, first taking the Proviso. Oaths of Office.Oaths hereinbefore directed to be taken by the Governor and in the manner herein prescribed; which being done, Powers, &c., of Administrator.We do hereby authorise, empower, and command Our Lientenant Governor, or any other such Administrator as aforesaid, to do and execute, during Our pleasure, all things that belong to the office of Governor and Commander-in-Chief, according to the tenour of these Our Letters Patent, and according to Our Instructions as aforesaid, and the laws of the Colony.
Officers and others to obey and assist Governor. XVIII. And We do hereby require and command all Our officers and ministers, civil and military, and all other the inhabitants of the Colony, to be obedient, aiding and assisting unto the Governor and to any person for the time being administering the Government of the Colony.
Term “Governor” explained. XIX. In these Our Letters Patent the term “the Governor,” shall include every person for the time being administering the Government of the Colony.
Power reserved to His Majesty to revoke, alter, or amend present Letters Patent. XX. And We do hereby reserve to Ourselves, Our heirs and successors, full power and authority, from time to time, to revoke, alter, or amend these Our Letters Patent as to Cs or them shall seem meet.
Publication of Letters Patent. XXI. And We do further direct and enjoin that these Our Letters Patent shall be read and proclaimed at such place or places within the Colony as the Governor shall think fit, and shall come into operation on a day to be fixed by the Governor by Proclamation.
In witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent. Witness Ourself at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of February, in the Seventh year of Our Reign.
By Warrant under the King’s Sign Manual,
SCHUSTER.
This work is in the public domain worldwide because it was created by a public body of the United Kingdom with Crown Status and commercially published before 1975.
See Crown copyright artistic works, Crown copyright non-artistic works and List of Public Bodies with Crown Status.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse