by public legislation; and a public Bill, which became law as the Irish. Presbyterian Church Act, 1871 (34 & 35 Vict., c. 24), took its place.

A consideration of the different precedents and varying practice shows that the boundary line between public and private Bills depends not merely on whether the Bill comes within the Standing Orders relating to private Bills, or does or does not affect a particular locality only, but also on questions of policy, on the circumstances and political questions of the time, and on the general character of the Bill. On the one hand, it would not be right that a measure required by the general public interest on general grounds of public policy should not be passed merely because it is objected to by particular persons or localities whom it would affect. On the other hand, it would not be right that a particular person or locality should be allowed to obtain any privilegium inconsistent with what is considered at the time to be true public policy. In some cases it may be convenient that a municipality should be authorised by private Bill to try a particular experiment which is not inconsistent with general public policy. If the experiment is successful, it may be afterwards adopted as a matter of general legislation. Again, there may be cases where the general law will not meet the circumstances of a particular locality. Thus, a law suitable to the great majority of towns may be found inapplicable to the large populations of such places as Liverpool or Glasgow.

It seems therefore impossible to lay down a hard and fast rule as to the subjects which should and which should not be dealt with by private Certain principles should be observed, such as that a private Bill should not, except for very strong reasons, deal with certain subjects, including the public revenue, the administration of justice, or the constitution or election of local governing bodies. But the boundary line will vary, and ought to vary, from time to time. Circumstances and the requirements of localities change. Old needs pass away and new needs arise. If experiments by private Bills had not been allowed, some of our public legislation would not have taken place. Of course these experiments ought to be carefully watched, and probably there ought to be some special machinery such as the Select Committee now appointed annually by the House of Commons on Police and Sanitary Regulation Bills, for the purpose of determining the cases in which they should be allowed.

As has been said above, experiments in private legislation have often led to public legislation. A good instance is supplied by the Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1890 (53 & 54 Vict., c. 59), which enables any sanitary authority to adopt various enactments which had been frequently embodied in measures introduced as private Bills.

A very large number of matters which used to be dealt with by private legislation can now be dealt with under the general law. Thus, the Divorce and Naturalisation Acts, which were so common in the last century, are now superseded in most cases by general enactments. Most of the Estate Acts

have been made unnecessary by such Acts as the Settled Land Acts, 1882 to 1890. Amendments of the general company law have removed the necessity for much special legislation about companies, and many matters for which private Bills were formerly required can now be dealt with by the machinery of Provisional Orders.

Provisional Orders' Confirmation Bills.-The Bills to confirm the numerous Provisional Orders now made, under statutory authority, by the Local Government Board, the Board of Trade, and other Government departments, are introduced as public Bills by the Minister in charge of the department which made the order, are referred to the examiners for consideration, and if any of the orders scheduled for confirmation is opposed, it is treated as a private Bill for the purpose of investigation in committee.1

Public Acts of a Local Character.-Acts to confirm Provisional Orders, and other Acts which, though introduced as public Bills, are considered to be of a local character, are, as a rule, included in the group of local Acts, but distinguished by having the letter "P" prefixed to their number in the group. To this class belong the Acts which are occasionally passed to remove doubts as to the validity of marriages celebrated in particular places of worship.

Chronological Table and Index of Acts.-A chronological table and index of the Statutes is published annually under the direction of the Statute Law Committee. In its latest form this work consists of two volumes, which are arranged for combined use. The first volume contains a chronological table of all the Statutes, showing total or partial repeals; the second contains an index to the subject-matter of the Statutes in force. The chronological table is based on the edition of the Record Commission, known as the Statutes of the Realm, as far as that edition extends-namely, to the end of the reign of Queen Anne (1713). Thenceforward it follows Ruffhead's edition (by Serjeant Runnington, 1786) so far as it extendsnamely, to the end of the session 25 Geo. III., 1785. From that date, it is believed, all editions are alike. The following extract from the preface to the fifteenth edition shows the principle on which particular classes of Statutes have been included in or excluded from the chronological table :

"The chronological table covers the whole period between the passing of the earliest Statute of the Parliament of England (1235) and the end of the fifth session of the Twenty-sixth Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland-namely, the session 62 & 63 Vict., 1899. Ante-Union Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland and Ireland are not comprised in the table. Acts of the Parliament of England extended to Ireland by Poynings' Act, 10 Hen. VII., c. 22 (I), are, in relation to Ireland, treated as Ante-Union Acts of the Parliament of Ireland, with the exception that the repeals of such enactments by the Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act, 1872, are noted.

"The chronological table comprises all Acts printed in the Statutes of the

'Standing Orders, House of Commons, 72, 208A, Clifford, vol. i., p. 270.

Reaim, and after the end of that edition all Acts printed by the King's or Queen's Printers as public or as public general.

"Many of these Acts, however, cannot be regarded as public Acts, affecting the community generally, being in their nature special or private Acts, relating to particular persons or places or to private concerns. Acts of this kind are distinguished by the italic entries Local, Personal, Private, in the second column of the table (except in a few cases in which they are shown to be not in force); and the table does not profess to show repeals affecting these Acts. Further means of reference to the provisions of these Acts is afforded by the indexes to the local and personal Acts compiled by order of the Select Committee on the Library of the House of Lords, which cover the period 1801 to 1887, and by the classified lists of local Acts annexed to the annual volumes of the Statutes. The second volume of the chronological table gives, as regards all Acts of a public nature, wholly or partly in force, the titles of subject matters under which they are to be found in the Index to the Statutes in Force'; and as regards Acts spent or repealed, gives in italic type either the short title of the repealed Act or a general indication of its subject matter."

The index is framed in accordance with instructions prepared by Lord Thring in 1876. It is followed by a series of appendices containing references to various Acts, mainly of a local character, which were printed among the public or public general Acts, but which, for various reasons, it has been considered undesirable to index in detail.

Lists of Local and Private Acts.-Local and private Acts have not been indexed in the same manner or to the same extent as public general Acts. Until 1798 local Acts were not numbered or printed separately from general Acts. It is estimated that the number of Acts of a local, personal, or private character passed before the present century is upwards of eleven thousand, and that upwards of twenty-one thousand Acts of a similar character have been passed during the present century. In 1867 an index, or rather a classified list, of Statutes passed between 1801 and 1865, was published by order of the House of Lords, but is now out of print. It was divided into two parts, the first containing public general Acts, and the second local and private Acts. The second part has been supplemented by additional volumes published in 1878 and 1890. A classified list of all the local and private Acts (including Provisional Orders confirmed by Local Acts) from 1801 to 1899 is now in course of preparation under the direction of the Statute Law Committee.

MODES OF LEGISLATION IN THE BRITISH

COLONIES.

(Being answers to a series of questions addressed by the late Lord Herschell-the then President of the Society-to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, to obtain information respecting the common and statute law of the several colonies, the methods of legislation, the publication revision, and consolidation of statute law and matters connected therewith: see Vol. I., New Series, p. 70).

(a) CYPRUS.

[Contributed by A. G. LASCELLES, ESQ., Queen's Advocate.]

I. COMMON LAW AS THE BASIS OF STATUTE LAW.

(a) What is the Common Law of the colony? Under what circumstances was it introduced?

The Common Law in Cyprus, so far as any system of Common Law may be said to exist in the island, is the Common Law of the Ottoman Empire, which is based upon the Sheri or Mohammedan Sacred Law.

The principles of the Mohammedan Common Law, as recognised in the Ottoman Empire, are collected in the Mejélé, or Civil Code, which was compiled by a committee of Turkish jurists in 1869.

The Mejélé, in interpreting the Sacred Law, in most respects follows what is known as the Hanifite tradition.

Mohammedan Law was introduced on the conquest of the island by the Turks in 1571.

(b) Is there any law applying exclusively to particular races or creeds?

English Law, which is defined by the Cyprus Courts of Justice Order, 1882, to mean "The Common Law, the Rules of Equity, and the Statutes of General Application which were in force in England on the 21st day of December, 1878," as from time to time altered or modified by Cyprus Statute Law, is applied

(a) in civil actions where the defendant or any defendant is not an Ottoman subject, and

(b) in criminal matters where the person accused is not an Ottoman

subject,

except (1) where the parties agree that their rights are to be determined by Ottoman Law; (2) where it is apparent that the parties intended their

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rights to be determined by Ottoman Law; (3) where by any Ottoman Law in force on July 13th, 1878, it is expressly enacted that every person, whether of Ottoman nationality or not, shall be subject to the provisions thereof; (4) in actions relating to immovable property where the rights of the parties are regulated by Ottoman Law as modified or varied by Cyprus Statute Law.

The Mohammedan Sacred Law is applied by the tribunals known as Mekheme-i-Sherié in religious matters concerning persons of the Mohammedan faith. In practice the jurisdiction of these Courts principally consists of matrimonial causes and the administration of the estates of Mohammedans under disability.

The Archbishop of Cyprus has jurisdiction in matrimonial causes concerning persons belonging to the orthodox Eastern Church, and the validity of divorces granted by the archbishop in such matters is recognised in the civil tribunals.

II. STATUTE LAW.

(a) Of what does the Statutory or Enacted Law of the colony consist? To what extent is it embodied in Charters, Regulations, Orders in Council, Ordinances, or Acts?

The Statute Law of the island consists

(1) of the legislative enactments of the Sublime Porte so far as these were in force in Cyprus on July 13th, 1878.

These enactments are collected in the Turkish work known as the Destour, the greater part of which is to be found in a French translation known as the Legislation Ottomane, by Aristarchi Bey, and in the modern Greek translation of Demetrius Nikolaides.

In point of form Ottoman legislation may be divided into Charters (such as the Khatti-Sherif and the Khatti-Humayoun), Laws, Firmans, Regulations, and Vezirial Orders and Instructions, all of which derive their authority from the Sovereign, and are equally binding.

(2) Of Ordinances and Laws passed since the British occupation of the island.

From the British occupation to the alteration in the constitution of the Legislative Council which was effected by Her Majesty's Order in Council of November 13th, 1882, the legislation of the island is embodied in Ordinances.

The enactments passed after the new Legislative Council came into existence in July, 1883, are embodied in Laws.

(3) Of Orders of Her Majesty in Council.

The constitution of the Legislative Council, the jurisdiction of the Courts, extradition, and certain other matters are regulated by Orders of the Queen in Council.

(4) Instructions under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet to the High