§ The LORD CHANCELLORmoved the Second Reading of this Bill. He said the Bill was designed to meet a difficulty which had been ascertained in the working of the Extradition Act. Under that Act, if a person were charged with an extradition offence, it was not possible for a Magistrate to hear the charge except at Bow Street. If the person were too ill to be conveyed to Bow Street there was no means of holding an inquiry at all, even though he was well enough to be present at the inquiry. The Bill did not propose to alter the procedure in the case of a person charged with an extradition offence, but only the place where the inquiry might be held. It proposed that where the circumstances to which he had alluded existed the Secretary of State might order that an inquiry should be made by a person other than the chief Magistrate at Bow Street.
§ Bill read 2a.