HC Deb 04 May 1908 vol 187 c1649
MR. BELLOC (Salford, S.)

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the law and practice of Natal permit imprisonment upon a general warrant containing no specific charge; and, if so, what other Colonies, if any, have effected this fundamental change in English law.

THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Colonel SEELY,) Liverpool, Abercromby

The law and practice of Natal does not, as far as I am aware, permit of imprisonment on general warrants.

MR. BELLOC

was understood to ask if Dinizulu was not imprisoned on a general warrant.

COLONEL SEELY

It depends on what the hon. Member means by a general warrant. If he means a warrant on which the crime is not specified that may be so, but in Dinizulu's case he is charged under an Ordinance which enables the arrest on a warrant in which the crime is not stated.