A.—6

16

cases where the beginning and the end of the voyage are both in the Commonwealth. While, therefore, the extra-territorial operation of Commonwealth laws is not ousted merely because the ship's itinerary includes some foreign port, provided that there is a single round voyage beginning and ending in the Commonwealth, it does not include cases where the ship is making separate foreign, voyages out and home, and her home port is in Australia. (/) The Parliament of the Dominion has not authority to enact legislation repugnant to the legislation of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in relation to ships coming into the harbours or territorial waters of the Dominion, if such ships are registered in other parts of the British Commonwealth of Nations, or are foreign ships. (g) The Parliament of the Dominion has not authority to enact legislation repugnant to the provisions of the third part of the 1894 Act in relation to emigrant ships registered in the Dominion. (h) The Parliament of the Dominion, under section 736 of the 1894 Act (which is a re-enactment of section 4 of the Merchant Shipping (Colonial) Act, 1869) may enact legislation to regulate the coasting trade of such Dominion. This legislation however, must contain a suspending clause providing that the Act shall not come into operation until His Majesty's pleasure thereon has been publicly signified in the Dominion ; the legislation must treat all British ships (including ships of any other British possession), in exactly the same manner as ships of such Dominion ; and, where by treaty made before 1869 " Her Majesty has agreed to grant to any ships of any foreign State any rights or privileges in respect of the coasting trade of any British possession, those rights and privileges shall be enjoyed by those ships for so long as Her Majesty has already agreed or may hereafter agree to grant the same, anything in the Act or Ordinance to the contrary notwithstanding." 88. Further, the legal situation appears to be confused because of the fact that, as already explained, legislation of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in relation to shipping continued to be made applicable to the Dominions from 1854 until 1911, but after that date such legislation was expressed not to extend to the Dominions : the restrictions, however, imposed by the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1906, were not removed; and in view of the provisions of the Colonial Laws Validity Act, 1865, legislation passed by a Dominion Parliament on the subject of merchant shipping might be held to be void and inoperative on the ground of repugnancy. 89. What, therefore, the Parliament of such a Dominion as Canada or Australia is required to do since the year 1911 is, by means of its own legislation, to endeavour to work into the existing shipping legislation of the Parliament of the United Kingdom applicable to such a Dominion certain modifications and additions embodied in international conventions to which the Dominion may be a party, or which may otherwise be desired. This it must do, avoiding repugnancy to any legislation of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and avoiding also the field of legislation into which the Parliament of a Dominion cannot enter by reason of restrictive provisions in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and in such Acts as the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act, 1890. This in some cases may be impossible. For instance, the Brussels International Maritime Conference of 1926 agreed upon certain rules of law relating to maritime mortgages and liens, and other rules relating to the limitations of the liability of owners of seagoing vessels. If a Dominion Parliament desired to confer upon its Courts jurisdiction and authority to enforce these rules of law, it might find it impossible to enact legislation fully implementing the Conference agreement in respect of foreign ships or ships registered outside the Dominion, as these fields of jurisdiction appear to be partially, if not wholly, reserved for the Parliament of the United Kindgom. In respect of mortgages and liens there may even be difficulty for the same reason in regard to ships registered in the Dominion itself. 90. In the Report of the Imperial Conference of 1926 it was pointed out that exisitng legislative forms are admittedly not wholly in accord with the constitutional status of the United Kindgom and the Dominions as described in the Report. Itwas also pointed out that this was inevitable, since most of these forms date back to a time well antecedent to the present stage of constitutional development. This is obviously the case in connection with merchant-shipping legislation, and the need for immediate remedy is quite apparent.