PACIFIC ISLANDS REGULATIONS (VALIDATION) BILL. (Hansard, 13 April 1916)

§ LORD ISLINGTON

My Lords, I will very briefly explain to your Lordships the provisions of this Bill, which has come up from another place. Under Article 108 of the Pacific Order in Council of 1893 the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific has power to make King's Regulations for the peace, order, and good government of persons subject to His Majesty's jurisdiction within the limits of that Order. The islands within the limits of that Order include both British Settlements, such as Ocean, Fanning, and Washington Islands, and Protectorates such as the Solomon group, and, formerly, the Gilbert and Ellice group. In 1912 the Law Officers of the Crown advised that the power to make King's Regulations under the above Article did not extend to British Settlements, owing to certain rather detailed 722 provisions of the law with which I do not think I need occupy your Lordships' time, the upshot of which was that it was held that in a British Settlement the required legislative authority must be delegated to "any three or more persons within the Settlement." Consequently Article 108 of the Pacific Order in Council of 1893 was not a valid delegation to the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific of the legtislative powers of His Majesty in Council under the British Settlements Act, 1887. In these circumstances it has become necessary to provide for the validation of the King's Regulations, which have hitherto been made purporting to apply to British Settlements within the limits of the Pacific Order in Council; and as the Law Officers of the Crown have advised that an Act of Parliament is necessary for this purpose, the present, Bill has been introduced accordingly.

With regard to future legislation for British Settlements within the limits of the Pacific Order in Council it may, perhaps, be explained that three of the most important of them—namely, Ocean, Fanning, and Washington Islands—have recently been included within the limits of the Gilbert and Ellice group, which was annexed last year and became a British Colony. The High Commissioner has been given power to legislate by means of Ordinances for the Colony, and this legislative power is therefore made applicable to the three islands in question as part of the Colony. In the case of other British Settlements within the limits of the Pacific Order in Council, such as Pitcairn Island, His Majesty retains the direct power of legislation by Order in Council, the legislative power of which will thus be made applicable to such British Settlements. This is a short Bill which merely regulates the law. It has passed through all its stages without amendment in another place, and I hope it will receive the same reception at your Lordships' hands.