§ MR. R. G. WEBSTER (St. Pancras, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) if his attention has been called to the action taken by the Maltese local authorities in respect to Colonel J. L. Hewson, of the Army Pay Department, stationed at Malta; (2) is he aware that Colonel Hewson was instructed to attend as a witness at the Magistrate's Court at Valetta; that he was requested to sign a declaration of his evidence written in Italian; that he objected, on principle, to sign a document the purport of which he did not understand, but said he did not wish to show any disrespect to the Law; and that, in consequence, this British officer was awarded three days' detention and taken in charge by the superintendent of police; and, (3) as Italian is not the native language of the Maltese, but is as foreign a language as English is in Malta, whether he will take any steps to secure to English-speaking subjects in Malta the right, when called on to sign declarations of their evidence or other legal documents in Maltese Courts, to ask for true translations in English prior to being called on to sign them?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIESMy attention has been called to the case of Colonel Hewson, who was committed by a Malta magistrate for three days' imprisonment for declining to sign a statement in Italian, which 1051 he did not understand, of his deposition given in English as a witness in the magistrate's court. The account of the case given in the second paragraph of the hon. Member's Question appears to be substantially correct, except that it should be added that the Italian version of the deposition was really translated into English to Colonel Hewson, and that it contained in a parenthesis, dictated by the magistrate, the name of a person which Colonel Hewson had not mentioned in giving his evidence, and that Colonel Hewson offered to sign the deposition under a protest to be written on the document. It appears from this case that in a British Colony a British officer may be imprisoned for declining respectfully to sign a document which he does not understand, and which is in a language which is neither his own nor that of the majority of the inhabitants of the Colony. I propose to communicate with the Governor with a view to the amendment of the law.
§ MR. J. LOWTHER (Kent, Isle of Thanet)Will any steps be taken to secure redress for this officer?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIESNo, Sir. I do not think it is a question of redress. There is no doubt that the law justified the action, and, in fact, almost compelled the detention. I should add that Colonel Hewson, though condemned to three days' imprisonment, was released by the Governor on learning the circumstances.