Mr. WILSONasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the grounds upon which native inhabitants in Somaliland and Nigeria are refused the right to employ counsel for their defence in capital charges?
Mr. THOMASNative inhabitants in Nigeria are not in general refused the right to employ counsel in capital charges. The prohibition only applies in the case of certain native courts in the north of Nigeria where the employment of counsel would be contrary to the long-established custom and tradition of these courts. In the case of Somaliland this is one of the questions which I hope to discuss with the Governor when he shortly comes home on leave of absence.
§ Sir A. WILSONasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that no person, British or foreign, or a native of the protectorate, whether literate or illiterate, is permitted to be defended by a lawyer or any other British subject in any court in the Somaliland Protectorate; under what provision of the Somaliland Order in Council this prohibition is enforced and for what reasons; and whether there is any precedent elsewhere in the British Empire for this procedure?
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Mr. THOMASThere is no statutory authority in Somaliland providing that accused persons are not to be defended by counsel, but in practice counsel have not been permitted to appear in any court, as no rules of procedure governing their appearance have been framed under Article 36 of the Somaliland Order-in-Council, 1929. As my hon. and gallant Friend was informed on the 2nd April I am reviewing the position in consultation with the Governor. There is no precedent in other dependencies for the position in this matter as it exists in Somaliland.