CHAPTER II 
THE TERRITORIAL LIMITATION OF DOMINION 
LEGISLATION 
§ 1. THE NATURE OF THE LIMITATION 
T'ue power given to Dominion Parliaments to legislate is in 
all cases now for the peace, order (welfare), and good govern- 
ment of the Dominion in question. In the case of Queensland 
the intention is made more clear by the express use of the 
word ‘ within’ in the power given to legislate ;! but this 
exact wording is unusual. No deduction can therefore be 
drawn from the fact that the word within ’ is not expressed 
in the other cases, for the whole history of the matter shows 
that the territorial limitation has existed throughout. | 
In granting powers of legislation to the Colonies, it is 
obvious that nothing but chaos would result if each Colony 
could legislate without regard to the limits of the Colony. 
The Imperial Parliament can legislate for any part of 
the world over which it chooses to legislate? subject to the 
possibility of it being unable to enforce the laws beyond 
the limits of its own territory, but to claim for the Colonies 
a similar power of legislation would end in hopeless confusion. 
This view has repeatedly been asserted by the law officers 
of the Crown. For example, with reference to British 
Guiana, they advised in February 1855:% ‘ We conceive that 
a Colonial Legislature cannot legally exercise its jurisdiction 
beyond its territorial limits—three miles from the shore— 
or at the utmost can only do this over persons domiciled 
in the Colony who may offend against its ordinances, even 
' See 31 Vict. No. 38, s. 2; in Victoria, see 18 & 19 Vict. c. 55, sched. 
s. 1 where ‘peace’ &c. do not occur ; in the Canadian Provinces, 30 Vict. 
c. 3,8. 92, 
* Trial of Barl Russell, [1901] A. C. 446, 
* Forsyth, Cases and Opinions on Constitutional Law, Pp. 24, 25, 217-38, 
Cf. Jenkyns, British Rule and Jurisdiction beyond the Seas, p. 70; Ewart, 
Kingdom of Canada, p. 10,