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![handle is hein.slavery/ssactsengr0331 and id is 1 raw text is: DIONISSIS V. REG.-LAURA (THE) [1865]
[181] ON APPEAL FROM THE VICE-ADMIRALTY COURT OF
ANTIGUA.
NICOLAS DIONISSIS,-Appellant; THE QUEEN, FRANCIS HART DYKE, Her
Majesty's Procurator, and HENRY SCHANK HILLYAR, the Commander
of Her Majesty's ship Cadmus,-Respondents * [Jan. 23, 24, 25, and 26;
and Mar. 15, 1865].
THE LAURA.
The Appellant, a native of the Ionian Islands, purchased an American ship, and,
upon a declaration that he was a British subject, obtained from the British
Consul at Cuba a provisional Registry of the ship as British. The ship was
afterwards seized and condemned for a breach of the Slave Trade Acts. Upon
a preliminary objection taken on appeal to the jurisdiction of the Court
below, on the ground of the national character of the owner of the ship and
cargo, Held:-
First, that the Registry, Flag, and pass of a ship carry with them the presumption
that they are true and correct, and that the owner was estopped from
proving that he was not a British subject, and consequently that the Registry
of the ship was void [3 Moo. P.C. (N.S.) 185]; and
Secondly, that even if he could have established that the Registry was void and
the ship not entitled to claim the protection of any Flag or nation, yet that
the ship was by the Statute, 2nd and 3rd Vict. c. 73, liable to be adjudicated
upon by a Vice-Admiralty Court for a violation of the Slave Trade Acts [3
Moo. P.C. (N.S.) 185].
A decree of the Vice-Admiralty Court at Antigua, condemning a ship and cargo
for infraction of the Slave Trade Acts, reversed, and restitution decreed,
with damages and costs.
As proceedings under the laws for the suppression of the Slave Trade are
penal, the offence charged being a criminal offence, the onus probandi is
upon the Seizors to establish that the law has been infringed [3 Moo. P.C.
(N.S.) 186].
Offences against the Slave Trade Acts may be established by circumstantial
evidence; but the circumstances must be such as to satisfy a reasonable mind
that the suspicion as to the character of the vessel is well founded [3 Moo.
P.C. (N.S.) 187].
Where articles of merchandize usually employed for the purpose of the Slave
Trade, but capable of being employed for lawful commerce are found on
board a vessel seized on suspicion of being so employed; it is not sufficient
to consider merely of what the cargo of the vessel accused of, being im-
plicated in the unlawful trade, consists, but all the circumstances of the case,
and more especially the locality in which the vessel may be found, must be
taken into consideration [3 Moo. P.C. (N.S.) 187].
An allegation pleading facts, noviter ad notitiani perventa, admitted by the
appellate Court, and evidence taken viva voce thereon [3 Moo. P.C. (N.S.)
183].
The appeal in this case was brought from a decree of the Vice-Admiralty Court
of Antigua, by which decree the Brig Laura and her cargo were condemned as
forfeited for breach of the Statutes for the suppression of the Slave Trade
The Laura, formerly called the Ida Raynes, of New Orleans, in the United States,
was an American [182] built vessel of 303 tons burthen. The vessel was trans-
ferred at Havannah by Bill of sale in October, 1861, to the Appellant, who obtained
a provisional certificate of registry from Her Majesty's Consul-General in Cuba,
dated the 25th of October, 1861, on his declaration, in which he was described as
Present: The Right Hon. Dr. Lushington, the Lord Justice Knight Bruce, and
the Lord Justice Turner.
III MOO0RE N.S., 181](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.slavery/ssactsengr0331&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)