4. 1t is evident from this pronouncement that the Commission 
regard the existing provision in section 4 of the Sierra Leone Pro. 
tectorate Courts Jurisdiction Ordinance :— 
* No claim for or in respect of the person of any slave shall 
be entertained by any of the courts established or recognised 
by this Ordinance for the administration of justice in the Pro: 
tectorate,’’ 
as Justifying the conclusion that the legal status of slavery *’ 
does not exist in the Protectorate of Sierra Leone, and I may add 
that in 1900, when the ‘ legal status ’ was announced by public 
notification as “‘ abolished ** in Southern Nigeria and the Lagos 
Protectorate, this expression was explained to mean that courts 
established and conducted by the Government do not recognise 
that one man can be the property of any other man, and that the 
courts will not order a fugitive slave to be handed back to an 
owner.’ 
3. The existing law in India is the Hast India Company’s Act 
No. V of 1843, of which I enclose a copy, and the Tanganyika 
Territory Ordinance, No. 13 of 1922, follows this Indian Act some- 
what closely. Although the words ‘ legal status ’ do not occur in 
the Act, it is commonly regarded as the standard or model law for 
the abolition of the ‘* legal status,” which is taken to mean the 
recognition by local law of the status of slavery, and not the status 
of slavery itself. 
4. T have thought it advisable to call your attention to the possible 
ambiguity attaching to the expression ‘legal status of slavery,”’ 
in order that you may consider whether it is necessary to include 
in your proposed ordinance the provision in section 3 for the aboli- 
tion of the legal status. I am disposed to consider that the pro- 
visions of section 2 of the draft provide, in effect, for the abolition 
of the ** legal status ** (as that expression has been commonly inter 
preted elsewhere) and that no specific provision for such abolition 
18 required. 
5.. Subject to this suggestion, I concur in the enactment of the 
Bill enclosed.in vour despatch. 
I have, etc., 
L. 8S. AMERY. 
Enclosure in No. 5. 
East Inp1a Comreany’s Act, No. V oF 1843. 
An Act for declaring and amending the law regarding the con- 
dition of slavery within the territories of the Fast India Company. 
I. It is hereby enacted and declared, that no public officer shall, 
in execution of any decree or order of court, or for the enforcement