§ Sir A. HOLBROOKasked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that, though no action is now being taken by the military authorities against Russians who did not join up for military service under the Russo-British Military Convention, 1917, such action is still being taken by the police, who have been instructed to ask for a recommendation for deportation in every case where a defendant is a foreigner; and whether he will issue instructions that such applications should neither he made by the police nor granted by the magistrate in the absence of inquiry as to the character of the defendant and the sufficiency of the grounds for making it?
§ Mr. SHORTTThe answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. All aliens found by the police to be disregarding the provisions of the Aliens Order are liable to be charged with that offence before a court, and there is no reason why individuals caught by the police should be let off because they have also been deserters or absentees from military service. It is proper that the attention of the court should be drawn to the fact that the alien is liable to be recommended for deportation. The making of such a recommendation is entirely within the discretion of the court on the facts before it, and I have no power to issue any directions in regard thereto; nor am I prepared to assent to such a reflection on the actions of the courts in this connection, as is suggested in the last part of the question.