§ MR. ANDERSONasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, If the Law Officers have yet given an opinion as to a Colonial Government being a Corporation that cannot be sued except by petition of right, and as to whether that remedy is excluded in the case of the Cape Government; and, if they have confirmed that opinion, whether Her Majesty's Government have any steps in contemplation to put an end to a state of matters so unsatisfactory?
§ MR. COURTNEYSir, the case referred to in previous answers in this House as being the subject of an appeal before the Privy Council has now been decided; but the decision does not touch 1918 the question whether the Cape Government can be sued by Petition of Right in the Courts of the Cape Colony. The matter is one of considerable delicacy. It is proposed to address a despatch to the Governor of the Colony to inquire whether, in the opinion of the Colonial authorities, the Cape Government can be sued by Petition of Right in the Courts of the Colony; and, if not, to suggest the propriety of taking steps with a view of supplying an apparent deficiency.