I move amendment No. 43:
In page 2, to delete all words after "Court" in line 8 to the end of line 11 and substitute "The High Court and other Courts of First Instance."
The amendment is designed to change the Title and to make it more consistent with the constitutional position. Article 34 of the Constitution is referred to in the Title as it stands:
An Act to establish, in pursuance of Article 34 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court and the High Court and Courts to be called respectively the Court of Criminal Appeal, the Circuit Court and the District Court,...
Article 34 of the Constitution does not refer to these courts by these titles. It refers merely to Courts of First Instance and Courts of Final Appeal. The Court of Final Appeal is described as the Supreme Court and it is to be called that.
I suggest it is more in consonance with the wording of the Constitution to establish the Supreme Court, High Court and other Courts of First Instance. I have a particular objection to saying the Court of Criminal Appeal is established in accordance with Article 34 of the Constitution. The argument I used last night was at least accepted to the point of having further consideration given to the matter. The Court of Criminal Appeal is a hybrid court. It is not a Court of First Instance; it is not a High Court because members of the Supreme Court are compulsorily in it; and it is not a Court of Final Appeal.