§ Mr. Parkerasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that there have recently been published in Sierra Leone three Bills, the Deportation (British Subjects) Bill, 1939, the Sedition Bill, 1939, and the Undesirable Publications BUI, 1939, each of which affects the liberty of the subject and none of which has any statement of reasons appended thereto; whether it is customary for such Bills to be published without any reasons being given; and what were the reasons for the publication of these Bills?
Mr. M. MacDonaldThese Bills were published, in accordance with established 1835W practice, in the Sierra Leone Government Gazette, accompanied by brief statements of their objects and reasons. Full explanations, however, of their purpose were given in the case of the Deportation and Sedition Bills by the Governor in a statement to Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council, which was subsequently printed and published, and, in the case of all three Bills, by the Colonial Secretary of Sierra Leone in Legislative Council on moving the Second Reading of the Bills. I shall be happy to send the hon. Member copies of the Governor's statement and of the reports of the Colonial Secretary's speeches if he desires to study a detailed exposition of the reasons for the enactment of these measures.
§ Mr. Parkerasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to the fact that the definition of the offence of importing in the Sierra Leone Sedition Ordinance, 1939, and the Undesirable Publications Ordinance, 1939, would render liable to imprisonment persons on ships visiting Sierra Leone, who, while possessing literature prohibited in Sierra Leone, have no intention of introducing such literature into Sierra Leone; and whether he will take steps to secure the deletion of this definition both from the Ordinances referred to and from the model Ordinances used by the Colonial Office?
Mr. M. Mac DonaldI am advised that the definition of "import" in these two Ordinances has the opposite effect to that suggested by the hon. Member if, as I assume, he refers to ships anchored in the territorial waters of Sierra Leone in the ordinary way. In such a case a document is not imported until it is brought on land. It is only when a ship goes up the inland waters, that is to say the rivers, that paragraph (b) of the definition applies.
§ Mr. Parkerasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the wording of Section 5 (2) of the Sierra Leone Deportation (British Subjects) Ordinance, 1939, would enable the deportation of persons who belong to Sierra Leone, and that this interpretation is widespread in Sierra Leone; and whether he will cause the Bill to be amended so as clearly to exclude the possibility of such persons being deported?
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Mr. M. MacDonaldI am advised that the Sub-section of the Ordinance to which the hon. Member refers does not enable the deportation of persons who belong to Sierra Leone, by reason of the words "as in the case may be lawful and desirable." A deportation order in respect of a person who belongs to Sierra Leone could not lawfully be made in view of the provisions of Section 3 of the Ordinance in question. In these circumstances, an amendment of the Ordinance would not appear to be necessary.
§ Mr. Parkerasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that under the Sierra Leone Deportation (British Subjects) Ordinance wide powers are given to interfere with the private lives of British subjects whose only offence is that they are poor or suffer from ill-health, and that it would then be illegal for any person to communicate with them in any way; whether such provisions appear in the model Bill sent out by the Colonial Office; and whether he will take steps to secure the deletion of such provisions?
Mr. M. MacDonaldI assume that the persons to whom the hon. Member refers are those included in the definition of "destitute person" in Section 2 of the Ordinance. Section 20, Sub-section (1), of the Ordinance empowers the Governor to give directions for the control of communications to or from persons against whom an order has been made under the Ordinance. It is, however, expressly provided that no letter, cable, telegram or other document or matter having reference only to the private affairs of such person or to the proceedings as a result of which such order shall have been made shall be withheld or detained. It is further provided that the provisions of this Section shall not apply in the case of any order made against a destitute person. The second and third parts of the question do not, therefore, arise.