Clause 8. — (Temporary provision as to government of each of the new Dominions.)

Part of Orders of the Day — Indian Independence Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 14 July 1947.

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Photo of Mr Hartley Shawcross Mr Hartley Shawcross , St Helens 12:00, 14 July 1947

I quite agree with the hon. Member, but the Governor-General has those powers under the succeeding Clause. He has an order-making right to make whatever adaptation he thinks necessary in the 1935 Act The existing Federal Court, of course, cannot function because the circumstances in respect of which it was functioning under the i935 Act will not continue New Federal Courts may be set up for each Dominion. As far as the High Court is concerned, I was saying that it might have occasion incidentally to consider whether any particular provisions of the 1935 Act are still in operation providing that the Governor-General had not already dealt with the matter by Order in Council, the normal way in which these matters will be dealt with and will be made clear, and those orders made by the Governor-General will be made under the succeeding Clause.

The second point raised by the hon. Member was in regard to the provision in Clause 8 (2, d) as to reservation. That corresponds in the case of the Provincial Legislature with the provisions under Clause 6 (3) with regard to the reservation of Laws passed by the Central Legislature. That was dealing with reservation until His Majesty's pleasure was known and that was a form of reservation which enabled the Governor-General to withhold assent to a Bill until His Majesty could be advised by the Government of the United Kingdom about the matter. That provision would have been a wholly inappropriate one to retain and obviously would have involved a derogation from the sovereignty we are now giving to the Dominions. No doubt, the Governors-General will provide immediately, as the eventual Constitution will have to provide, that there will be some sort of power of that kind vested in the Governors-General or provided for in the provisions of the new Constitution, but that will be a matter for the new Constituent Assembly.

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