§ LORD STRICKLANDasked whether His Majesty's Government is aware that before his prosecution, conviction and imprisonment Joseph Orlando Smith was a journalist, and that the confiscation of his library deprived him of the instruments of his profession, and that none of the books confiscated were seditious, and that none of them have been returned, and whether information can be given as to when they will be returned, and as to under what law they have been retained, and whether the correspondence on the subject has been brought to the notice of the Colonial Department.
§ THE EARL OF PLYMOUTHThe answer to the first part of the Question is in the affirmative. With regard to the other matters raised, the Acting Governor has reported as follows. Under Maltese law, books, like all other articles seized in connection with an offence and exhibited before a Criminal Court, remain in the custody of the Registrar under the jurisdiction of the Court which tried the case. Mr. Orlando Smith was convicted for being in possession of literature of a seditious character seized from his possession. It rests with the Court, on the application of the accused, to say which, if any, of the books seized and produced had no connection with the charge and to order that they be returned. Many of the books seized by the police when Mr. Orlando Smith's house was searched were not produced in Court as having no bearing on the charge. These were returned to Mr. Orlando Smith. The relevant sections, of the Criminal Laws are Articles 24 and 639–657. The answer to the last part of the Question is in the affirmative.