Annual report on the social and economic progress of the people of Sierra Leone.

Date:
[1934]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on the social and economic progress of the people of Sierra Leone. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/56 (page 5)
    II.—GOVERNMENT. Constitution. The Dependency of Sierra Leone consists of two parts, of which one is Colony and the other Protectorate. The Colony of Sierra Leone is what is generally, if not very accurately, spoken of as a Crown Colony as opposed to a self- governing Colony. Its constitution is to be found in the following Prerogative Instruments:— (1) Letters Patent passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, dated the 28th day of January, 1924. (2) Instructions passed under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet and dated the 28th day of January, 1924, as amended by additional Instructions dated the 19th day of January , 1929. (3) The Order of the King in Council, entitled the Sierra Leone (Legislative Council) Order in Council, dated the 16th dav of Januarv, 1924, as amended bv Orders of the King in Council dated respectively the 27th day of June, 1927, the 21st dav of December, 1928, and the 29th dav of June, 1931. So far as the Protectorate of Sierra Leone is concerned, the Constitutional Instrument under which it is governed is the Order of the King in Council, entitled the Sierra Leone Protectorate Order in Council, 1924, dated 16th January, 1924, passed by virtue of the powers conferred by the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1690. The Government of both the Colony and Protectorate is adminis¬ tered by a Governor and Commander-in-Chief (who in Sierra Leone is also a Vice-Admiral) appointed by Commission under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet. The Executive Council ordinarilv consists of five members, namely the officers performing for the time being the duties of the Colonial Secretary, Attornev-General, Colonial Treasurer, the Director of Medical and Sanitarv Services, and the Commissioner of the Northern Province of the Protectorate. The Legislative Council consists— (1) of the Governor as President; (2) of official members—viz., the members of the Executive Council, the Commissioner of the Southern Province of the Protectorate, the Comptroller of Customs, the Director of Public Works, the Director of Education, the General Manager of the Railway, and the Director of Agriculture; (3) of nominated unofficial members, of whom there may not be more than seven. Of these nominated members three must be Paramount Chiefs of the Protectorate. Of the re¬ maining four, one represents general European interests in the communitv; the other European nominated member is