HC Deb 27 February 1946 vol 419 cc1909-10
37 Lieut.-Colonel Rees-williams

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) whether the Order in Council constituting the Legislative Council of the Gold Coast Colony was made in 1925 under the Royal Prerogative, or under the British Settlements Act, 1887;

  1. (2)what is the constitutional status of the territory at Cape Coast on which certain forts were erected by the African Company of Merchants, in view of the fact that this territory was obtained by conquest from the King of Ashanti in 1826 and having regard to the British Settlements Acts, 1887 and 1945;
  2. (3)what is the constitutional status of the Gold Coast Colony in view of the fact that the territory of the Colony, other than the land forming the sites for certain forts, was originally a Protectorate; and having regard to the British Settlements Acts, 1887 and 1945.

The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. Creech Jones)

I am advised that it was decided in a recent case in the West African Court of Appeal that the whole of the territory now comprised in the Gold Coast Colony is a British settlement as defined in the British Settlements Act, 1887, and that the Gold Coast Colony(Legislative Council) Order in Council, 1925, was made under the authority of that Act. A petition for special leave to appeal was dismissed by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Lieut.-Colonel Rees-Williams

Can the Minister inform the House why the prerogative Order by the Minister was amongst the list of prerogative Orders if that is the case, and not in the list of Orders made under the British Settlements Act?

Mr. Creech Jones

I am not in a position to give an answer to that, but I think that my hon. and gallant Friend will appreciate that this is matter of great legal and constitutional argument, and 1 am making inquiries into the matter and will communicate with him later.