pointed by such Court for that Purpose, or any Judge or Com-
missioner for taking Affidavits in any of His Majesty's Courts of
Record within the Limits of the said United Company's Charter,
or before any Master or Master Extraordinary in Chancery in
England or Ireland, or any Magistrate authorized to take Affi-
davits or Affirmations in Scotland.

LXXVI. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That no
Person who shall have been at any Time discharged by virtue of
this Act shall again be entitled to the Benefit thereof within the
Space of Five Years after such Discharge, unless a Majority in
Number and Value of the Creditors against whom such Person
shall seek to be discharged by virtue of this Act shall signify his,
her, or their Assent to such Discharge, or unless it shall be made
to appear to the Satisfaction of the Court for the Relief of Insol-
vent Debtors, to which Application for such Discharge shall be
made, that such Person has since his or her former Discharge
endeavoured by Industry and Frugality to pay all just Demands
upon him or her, and has incurred no unnecessary Expence, and
that the Debts which such Person has incurred subsequent to
such former Discharge have been necessarily incurred for the
Maintenance of such Person or his or her Family, or that the In-
solvency of such Person has arisen from Misfortune, or from
Inability to acquire Subsistence for himself or herself, and his or
her Family.

No Person

having had the Benefit of this

Act shall have it again within Five Years, except in certain Cases.

Issue

may pleaded.

be

LXXVII. And be it further enacted, That if any Action of In Actions Escape, or any other Suit or Action, shall be brought against any under this Act Magistrate or Officer or any other Person for performing the Duty the General of his Office or Appointment in pursuance of this Act, he or they may plead the General Issue, and give this Act in Evidence; and if the Plaintiff shall be nonsuited, or discontinue his or her Action, or a Verdict shall pass against him or her, or Judgment shall be given for the Defendant upon Demurrer, the Defendant shall have Treble Costs.

LXXVIII. And be it further enacted, That the proper Officer Officer of of the several Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors shall, on Court to the reasonable Request of any such Insolvent as aforesaid, or of produce Proany Creditor or Creditors of such Insolvent, or his or their At- ceedings, and torney, produce and shew to such Insolvent, Creditor or Creditors, give Copies. and his, her, or their Attorney, at such Times as such Courts respectively shall direct, every Petition, Schedule, Order of Adjudication, and all other Orders and Proceedings made and had relating to such Insolvent, and all Books, Papers, and Writings filed in such Matter, and permit him, her, or them to inspect and examine the same, and shall provide for any such Insolvent, or Creditor or Creditors, or his, her, or their Attorney requiring the same, a Copy or Copies of such Petition and other Proceedings, or of such Part thereof as shall be required, receiving such Fee as such Court shall appoint for so providing the same; and that a Copy of such Petition, Schedule, Order, and other Orders and Proceedings, purporting to be signed by the Officer in whose Custody the same shall be, or his Deputy, certifying the same to be a true Copy of such Petition, Schedule, Order or other Proceeding, and sealed with the Seal of the said Courts respectively, shall at all Times be admitted in all Courts whatever, and before Ff 4 Commis

Proceedings not liable to Stamp Duty, &c.

Courts may make Rules

for facilitating the Relief bereby intended.

Continuance of
Act.

Commissioners of Bankrupt and Justices of the Peace, as sufficient Evidence of the same, without any Proof whatever given of the same, further than that the same is sealed with the Seal of such Courts respectively as aforesaid.

LXXIX. And be it further enacted, That no Conveyance, Assignment, Letter of Attorney, Affidavit, Certificate or other Proceeding, Instrument or Writing whatsoever, before or under any Order of any of such Courts for Relief of Insolvent Debtors, nor any Copy thereof, nor any Advertisement inserted in any Newspaper by Direction of any such Court, relating to Matters within the Jurisdiction of such Court, shall be liable to or chargeable or charged with the Payment of any Stamp or other Duty whatsoever, and that no Sale of any Real or Personal Estate of any such Insolvent as aforesaid, for the Benefit of his or her Creditors under this Act, shall be liable to any Auction Duty.

LXXX. And be it further enacted, That His Majesty's Supreme Courts of Judicature at Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay respectively, shall respectively have Power to make all necessary and reasonable Rules for facilitating and carrying into Effect within their respective Jurisdictions the Relief intended to be given by this Act in Cases for which sufficient Provision has not been thereby made.

LXXXI. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall continue in force until the First Day of March One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.

WH

CA P. LXXIV.

An Act for improving the Administration of Criminal Justice in the East Indies. [25th July 1828.] HEREAS many wholesome Alterations have lately been made in the Criminal Law of England, and the Adminis'tration thereof, by Authority of Parliament; and it is expedient that some of the said Alterations should be extended to the 'British Territories under the Government of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies ;' Be it therefore enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That this Act shall commence and take effect on and from the First Day of March One thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine, and shall extend to all Persons and all Places, as well on Land as on the High Seas, over whom or which the Criminal Jurisdiction of any of His Majesty's Courts King's Courts of Justice erected or to be erected within the British Territories under the Government of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies does or shall hereafter extend.

From the 1st

of March 1829 this Act to take effect through out the Jurisdiction of the

in the East

Indies.

Who may be admitted to Bail on a Charge of Felony, and who may not.

II. And be it enacted, That where any Person shall be taken on a Charge of Felony or Suspicion of Felony before One or more Justice or Justices of the Peace, and the Charge shall be supported by positive and credible Evidence of the Fact, or by such Evidence as if not explained or contradicted shall in the Opinion of the Justice or Justices raise a strong Presumption of the Guilt of the Person charged, such Person shall be committed

to

to Prison by such Justice or Justices in the Manner hereinafter mentioned; but if there shall be only One Justice present, and the whole Evidence given before him shall be such as neither to raise a strong Presumption of Guilt nor to warrant the Dismissal of the Charge, such Justice shall order the Person charged to be detained in Custody until he or she shall be taken before Two Justices at the least; and where any Person so taken, or any Person in the first Instance taken before Two Justices of the Peace, shall be charged with Felony or on Suspicion of Felony, and the Evidence given in support of the Charge shall in their Opinion not be such as to raise a Strong Presumption of the Guilt of the Person charged, and to require his or her Committal, or such Evidence shall be adduced on behalf of the Person charged as shall in their Opinion weaken the Presumption of his or her Guilt, but there shall notwithstanding appear to them, in either of such Cases, to be sufficient Ground for Judicial Enquiry into his or her Guilt, the Person charged shall be admitted to Bail by such Two Justices in the Manner hereinafter mentioned: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to require any such Justice or Justices to hear Evidence on behalf of any Person so charged as aforesaid, unless it shall appear to him or them to be meet and conducive to the Ends of Justice to hear the same: Provided also, that in all Cases where any Person or Persons charged as aforesaid shall be brought before One Justice, at any Place beyond the local Limits of the Jurisdiction of any of His Majesty's Courts of Justice erected or to be erected within the British Territories under the Government of the said United Company, it shall be lawful for such Justice alone either to commit such Person to Prison or to admit him to Bail as hereinbefore directed.

III. And be it enacted, That the Justice or Justices of the Peace, before he or they shall admit to Bail or commit to Prison any Person arrested for Felony or on Suspicion of Felony, shall take the Examination of such Person, and the Information upon Oath of those who shall know the Facts and Circumstances of the Case, and shall put the same, or as much thereof as shall be material, into Writing, and the Two Justices shall certify such Bailment in Writing; and every such Justice shall have Authority to bind by Recognizance all such Persons as know or declare any thing material touching any such Felony or Suspicion of Felony, to appear at the next Court of Oyer and Terminer or Gaol Delivery, or Superior Criminal Court or Sessions of the Peace, at which the Trial thereof is intended to be, then and there to prosecute or give Evidence against the Party accused; and such Justices and Justice respectively shall subscribe all such Examinations, Informations, Bailments, and Recognizances, and deliver or cause the same to be delivered to the proper Officer of the Court in which the Trial is to be, before or at the opening of the Court.

Before any Person charged with Felony, bailed or committed, the Justices shall take down in Writing the Examination, &c. and bind Witnesses to appear at the Trial.

&c. shall be

IV. And be it enacted, That every Justice of the Peace before Examinations, whom any Person shall be taken on a Charge of Misdemeanor, or &c. to be deSuspicion thereof, shall take the Examination of the Person livered to the charged, and the Information upon Oath of those who shall know the Facts and Circumstances of the Case, and shall put the same,

or

Court.

Duty of

Justice on
Charges of
Misdemeanor.

Duty of
Coroner.

Penalty on
Justices and
Coroners.

Accessory before the Fact may be tried as

such, or as a substantive Felon, by any Court which has Jurisdic

tion to try the

or as much thereof as shall be material, into Writing, before he shall commit to Prison or require Bail from the Person so charged; and in every Case of Bailment shall certify the Bailment in Writing, and shall have Authority to bind all Persons by Recognizance to appear to prosecute or give Evidence against the Party accused, in like manner as in Cases of Felony; and shall subscribe all Examinations, Informations, Bailments, and Recognizances, and deliver or cause the same to be delivered to the proper Officer of the Court in which the Trial is to be, before or at the opening of the Court, in like Manner as in Cases of Felony.

V. And be it enacted, That every Coroner, upon any Inquisition before him taken, whereby any Person shall be indicted for Manslaughter or Murder, or as an Accessory to Murder before the Fact, shall put in Writing the Evidence given to the Jury before him, or as much thereof as shall be material, and shall have Authority to bind by Recognizance all such Persons as know or declare any thing material touching the said Manslaughter or Murder, or the said Offence of being accessory to Murder, to appear at the next Court of Oyer and Terminer or Gaol Delivery, or Superior Criminal Court or Sessions, at which the Trial is to be, then and there to prosecute or give Evidence against the Party charged; and every such Coroner shall certify and subscribe the same Evidence, and all such Recognizances, and also the Inquisition before him taken, and shall deliver the same to the proper Officer of the Court in which the Trial is to be, before or at the opening of the Court.

VI. And be it enacted, that if any Justice or Coroner shall offend in any thing contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of these Provisions, the Court to whose Officer any such Examination, Information, Evidence, Bailment, Recognizance, or Inquisition ought to have been delivered, shall, upon Examination and Proof of the Offence in a summary Manner, set such Fine upon every such Justice or Coroner as the Court shall think meet.

VII. And for the more effectual Prosecution of Accessories before the Fact to Felony, be it enacted, That if any Person shall counsel, procure, or command any other Person to commit any Felony, whether the same be a Felony at Common Law or by virtue of any Statute or Statutes made or to be made, the Person so counselling, procuring, or commanding shall be deemed guilty of Felony, and may be indicted and convicted either as an Accessory before the Fact to the principal Felony, together with the principal Felon. principal Felon, or after the Conviction of the principal Felon, or may be indicted and convicted of a substantive Felony, whether the principal Felon shall or shall not have been previously convicted, or shall or shall not be amenable to Justice, and may be punished in the same Manner as any Accessory before the Fact to the same Felony, if convicted as an Accessory, may be punished; If the Offence and the Offence of the Person so counselling, procuring, or commanding, howsoever indicted, may be enquired of, tried, determined, and punished by any Court which shall have Jurisdiction to try the principal Felon, in the same Manner as if such Offence had been committed at the same Place as the principal Felony, although such Offence may have been committed either on the High Seas, or at any Place on Land, whether within His Majesty's

be committed

in different

Places, Accessory may be

tried in any

of the King's, Courts in India having Jurisdiction.

Dominions

Dominions or without; and that in case the principal Felony, and the Offence of counselling, procuring, or commanding, shall have been committed in different Places, the last-mentioned Offence may be enquired of, tried, determined, and punished in any of His Majesty's Courts of Justice within the British Territories under the Government of the said United Company, having Jurisdiction to try either of the said Offences: Provided always, that no Person who shall be once duly tried for any such Offence, whether as an Accessory before the Fact or as for a substantive Felony, shall be liable to be again indicted or tried for the same Offence.

Accessory after the Fact may be tried by any has Jurisdiction to try the principal Felon.

Court which

VIII. And be it enacted, That if any Person shall become an Accessory after the Fact to any Felony, whether the same be a Felony at Common Law, or by virtue of any Statute or Statutes made or to be made, the Offence of such Person may be enquired of, tried, determined, and punished by any Court which shall have Jurisdiction to try the principal Felon, in the same Manner as if the Act by reason whereof such Person shall have become an Accessory had been committed at the same Place as the principal Felony, although such Act may have been committed either on the High Seas or at any Place on Land, whether within his Majesty's Dominions or without; and that in case the principal Felony, and the Act by reason whereof any Person shall have become Accessory, shall have been committed in different Places, the Offence of such Accessory may be enquired of, tried, determined, and punished in any of His Majesty's Courts of Justice tried in any within the British Territories under the Government of the said Court having United Company, having Jurisdiction to try either of the said Jurisdiction. Offences: Provided always, that no Person who shall be once duly tried for any Offence of being an Accessory shall be liable to be again indicted or tried for the same Offence.

IX. And be it enacted, That if any principal Offender shall be in anywise convicted of any Felony, it shall be lawful to proceed against any Accessory, either before or after the Fact, in the same Manner as if such principal Felon had been attainted thereof, notwithstanding such principal Felon shall die or be pardoned, or otherwise delivered before Attainder; and every such Accessory shall suffer the same Punishment, if he or she be in anywise convicted, as he should have suffered if the Principal had been attainted.

X. And be it enacted, That in any Indictment or Information for any Felony or Misdemeanor wherein it shall be requisite to state the Ownership of any Property whatsoever, whether Real or Personal, which shall belong to or be in the Possession of more than One Person, whether such Persons be Partners in Trade, Joint Tenants, Parceners, or Tenants in Common, it shall be sufficient to name One of such Persons, and to state such Property to belong to the Person so named, and another or others, as the Case may be; and whenever in any Indictment or Information for any Felony or Misdemeanor it shall be necessary to mention, for any Purpose whatsoever, any Partners, Joint Tenants, Parceners, or Tenants in Common, it shall be sufficient to describe them in the Manner aforesaid; and this Provision shall be construed to extend to all Joint Stock Companies and Trustees.

XI. And

If the Offence be committed

in different Places, Ac

cessory may be

Accessory may be prosecuted

after Conviction of the Princi

pal, though the Principal be not attainted.

In Indictments for Offences committed on the Property of Partners, it may be laid in any

one Partner by Name, and

others.