430 



rim v >i: A i. 



I'KOA 



paid judges, each being, or having been, a judge 

 of one of the superior num.- at Westminster or 

 chief-justice of Uengal, Madras, or Itomhay, to act 

 upon tin* juilifitkl ooiiiinittee. Under the Appellate 

 Jurisdiction Act, 1876 (sect 14), provision was 

 made for the substitution of two additional 'lords 

 ordinary of appeal ' for the four paid judges ap- 

 pointed under 34 ainl .Ti Virt. chap. !M. .-iml thus 

 for the ultimate merging of the judicial coiiunittee 

 in tlie HouKe of Lords. 



The conditions of appeal from colonial courts to 

 tlie Privy -council are prescribed, sometimes in the 

 charters of justice constituting such courts, some- 

 times by colonial acts, usually by orders in council. 

 The customary conditions are tiiat the amount at 

 stake should exceed a certain sum in value, that 

 leave to appeal should lie asked from the court 

 In-low within a certain time after the date of the 

 judgment appealed against, and that proper security 

 should be found. It is, however, the inherent pre- 

 rogative right, and on proper occasions the duty, 

 of the King or Queen in council to exercise an 

 appellate jurisdiction over all colonial courts and 

 in all colonial cases, civil as well as criminal. In 

 the exercise of this jurisdiction, and in the absence 

 of any charter or statutory right, the Sovereign in 

 council may grant special leave to appeal in rii-it 

 cases of substantial, general, or constitutional im- 

 portance, where the judgment appealed against wag 

 plainly wrong or attended with sullicii'iit <limht to 



justify tlie judicial committee in rei mending that 



itsliould lien-viewed. The Sovereign in council will 

 not, however, review or interfere with the course 

 of criminal proceedings, unless it is shown that, by 

 disregard of the forms of legal process, by some viola- 

 tion of the principles of natural justice, or other- 

 wise, grave and substantial injustice lias been done. 



The decisions of the judicial committee are pro- 

 nounced by one member of the committee only, 

 and not, according to the usual practice in divi- 

 sional courts, the court of appeal, and the House 

 of Lords, by each nf tlie presiding judges. The 

 .-indent of the Privy-council reports is unable, 

 therefore, to tell whether or not their lordships are 

 unanimous, and, if not, who constitute the majority. 



The Lord President of the Council is the fourth 

 great officer of state, and is appointed by letters- 

 patent under the Great Seal. The office is very 

 ancient, and was revived by Charles II. in favour 

 of the Earl of Shaftcslmry in 1672. 



Scotland once hail a Privy -council of its own, but 

 it was merged in that of England by 6 Anne, chap. 

 6. There is a separate Privy-council for Ireland, 

 which in 1S91 consisted of fifty -eight memlters, 

 who are sworn pursuant to a sign-manual warrant 

 directed to the Lord-lieutenant. 



See Diocy's Prirg-couneU (1860; new ed. 1887); 

 Heni'Wormfii<o/A'iij//rtiK/(i-il. 1887); Maephenon'i 

 1'rnctirt (1860; new cd. 1873); Mtcquet-n's A/fellaU 

 Jnritdictionaf . . . . tin I'riry-caumcil (1842); Cnndi- 

 of Appeal from the Colonif* to thr J'rini-cfntncil 

 (1888) ; G. Wheeler, Privy-council Lnto (1894). 



Privy-seal. See SEAL. 



Prize. Prlze-lllOliey. property captured from 

 an enemy ; but tlie term is generally applied 

 exclusively to property taken at sea. As IH-- 

 tween the belligerent powers themselves the pro- 

 perty in a ship or other thing captured passes at 

 once by the mere capture to the captor. Up to 

 the close of the Crimean war all property of 

 an enemy even when carried in a neutral ship was 

 liable to capture, as also was the property of a 

 neutral if captured on board a belligerent ship. 

 This involved a claim to the right of searching 

 neutral ship.-, a claim whirh llritain was only abb- 

 to enforce during the great war with France in con- 

 sequence of her mastery of the sen ; it was a right, 

 however, which was continually being disputed, 



and the enforcement of it in the case of American 

 ships led repeatedly to difficulties with tin- I'nited 

 States. When the treaty of Paris was signed in 

 Iv'iiiii was universally agreed that pi hate proper! v 

 in neutral Itottoms so long as it is not contraband 

 of war should no lunger be liable to capture (see 

 NMTRAI.ITY, KM MY. I'.i OCK.UIK). Army prize- 

 money is distributed according to the provision.- of 

 the Army Prize Act of ls:i-J : a list of tho-i- en- 

 titled to share lii-ing sent to Chelsea Hospital, 

 whose treasurer makes the distribution. In naval 

 cases, a ship taken must be sent to a port belong- 

 ing to the capturing power, where the Court of 

 Admiralty, on full evidence, adjudicates whether 

 she lie lawful prize or not. If the decision IK- 

 affirmative the prize is then sold; or, if a ship- 

 of- war, a certain allowance is granted by the 

 -tale. The produce of the sale or grant is lodged 

 in the hands of the Accountant -general of the Navy. 

 for distribution to the officers anil men who assisted 

 at the capture. The net produce of the sale or 

 grant is first divided rateably among any ships (if 

 there lie more than one) concerned in tlie eapluic. 

 If under the orders of a flag-officer, he receives mie 

 thiitieth part of the whole ; the commanding officer 

 then receives one-tenth part of the remainder, or of 

 the whole if no Hag is present ; or, if there is more 

 than one ship present, one-tenth part is divided 

 lietween the commanding officers. After provision 

 has thus l>een made for the Hag ( if any ) and for the 

 portion of the commanding officer or officers, the 

 remainder of the proceeds is so distributed that 

 each officer, man, and IKIV shall receive shares 

 or a share : commanders and officers of similar 

 rank receive forty-five shares each ; lieutenant* 

 and officers of similar rank, from forty shares to 

 thirty according to seniority ; sub-lieutenants, \c. , 

 twenty shares each; midshipmen, <Vc., twelve 

 shares; naval cadets, ten shares; chief pettvolliccrs, 

 twelve shares ; first-class petty officers, ten shares ; 

 second-class petty officers, seven shares ; able sea- 

 men, four shares; ordinary seamen, two shares; 

 and boys, one share each. Warlmrton's I'rince 

 Rupert (vol. iii.) gives an interesting distribution 

 of prize-money in the 17th century. 



Prlze-rourt. See ADMIRALTY COURTS. 



Pri/c-liuhting. See PUGILISM. 



Prjevalskl. See PREJKVAI.SKI. 



Proa (Malay praAu), sometimes known as 

 the ' flying 

 proa,' is a 

 peculiarly- 

 shaped canoe 

 in use by the 

 natives of the 

 Malay Archi- 

 pelago, and on 

 theChinaSeas, 

 especially by 

 the Lad rone 

 islanders. It 

 is about 30 feet 

 in length by 3 

 in width, ami 

 lias the stem 

 and stern 

 equally sharp, 

 so as to sail 

 backward or 

 forward with- 

 o ii t bei n g 

 turned round. 

 One side is flat, 



and in a straight line with the stem and stern; the 

 other side is rounded, as in onliimry boats. This 

 peculiar fonnation would make it liaole to be easily 

 upset, were it not for a framework which project* 



Pro*. 



