COURTS OF INQUIRY REGULATIONS

COURTS OF INQUIRY

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 452.03

COURTS OF INQUIRY REGULATIONS

15th March, 1949

GOVERNMENT NOTICE 154 of 1949, as amended by Government

Notice 584 of 1949 and Emergency Ordinance VI of 1958.

The title of these regulations is the Courts of Inquiry

Regulations.

The meanings set out in article 2 of the Employment and

Industrial Relations Act are applicable to these regulations.

A Court of Inquiry shall be appointed by the Minister by

means of a letter addressed to each member, and the appointment

and the composition of a Court of Inquiry shall be published in the

Gazette. When a Court of Inquiry consists of more than one

member one of the members, to be designated as such by the

Minister, shall be chairman.

The terms of reference of a Court of Inquiry shall be set out

in writing by the Minister and transmitted to it before it holds its

first sitting, provided that such terms of reference may be modified

by the Minister by means of a letter after the Court has commenced

its proceedings.

A Court of Inquiry shall hold its sittings in public or in

private at its discretion, subject to any directions given by the

Minister.

A Court of Inquiry consisting of more than one member

may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its number.

Before a Court of Inquiry takes cognizance of any matter

referred to it, each member thereof other than a Judge or a

Magistrate shall take an oath to conduct the inquiry with

impartiality and to the best of that member’s ability.

(1) A Court of Inquiry shall have the power to summon

witnesses and to administer the oath to same; to appoint assessors;

and to require any person who appears to the Court to have special

knowledge of the subject matter of the inquiry to furnish, in writing

1958. or otherwise, and to confirm on oath such particulars in relation

thereto as the Court may require. All necessary orders shall be

made in the name of the sole member of the Court of Inquiry or as

the case may be of the chairman thereof over the signature of the

secretary to the Court. In cases where the Court consists of more

than one member, the oath shall be administered by the chairman.

(2) In the matter of summoning witnesses and of enforcing the

attendance of the witnesses summoned, a Court of Inquiry shall

have the same powers as a civil court as set out in the Code of

Organization and Civil Procedure except that it shall not in any

case be enabled to order the detention of any person, and execpt

that the duties of court usher and of a court marshal respectively

shall be performed by members of the Executive Police detailed for

COURTS OF INQUIRY

the purpose by the Commissioner of Police. Any fine inflicted by a

Court of Inquiry shall be recoverable by the Attorney General as a

civil debt due to the Government.

A Court of Inquiry, if it so thinks fit or if required by the

Minister so to do, may make interim reports.

Every report, whether interim or final, of a Court of

Inquiry, accompanied by the minority report if any, shall be

addesssed to the Minister, and shall be laid by him before the

House of Representatives.

The members of a Court of Inquiry shall not divulge

anything that was discusssed by the Court in the course of its

proceedings.

(1) The Minister shall appoint an officer of the Ministry to

act as secretary to each Court of Inquiry, and shall make all

arrangements for the accommodation of the Court.

(2) The written record of the proceedings of a Court of Inquiry

shall, on the final report having been delivered to the Minister, be

delivered to and kept as a confidential file by the Minister.

Witnesses shall be paid fees in accordance with the

Witnesses (Fees) Ordinance).