§ Sir A. Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) what, if any, legal qualifications are possessed by judges in British Somaliland who have power, respectively, to pass, and to hear appeals against, death sentences on defendants who are not permitted to be heard by counsel; and whether he has now reviewed the question of judicial arrangements in this protectorate and has in hand the issue of rules of procedure under Article 36 of the Somaliland Order in Council, 1929;
(2) whether he has now reviewed the practice of the protectorate court in Somaliland, established under the Somali-land Orders in Council, 1929, to refuse to persons accused of criminal offences, who might on conviction be sentenced to death, leave to be heard by counsel; and, if so, what is the present position?
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreAt present the members of the courts empowered to pass death sentences, and to hear appeals against such sentences, in British Somaliland are not required to possess legal qualifications. My hon. and gallant Friend is aware that the question of amending the judicial arrangements in the protectorate, including the question of the representation of accused persons by counsel, has been engaging my attention.