Report No. 104

6.2. Protection as to acts within and without jurisdiction.-

It may be desirable to analyse a few aspects of the Act of 1850 which is under consideration. Under the Act of 1850, the protection applied to acts done within jurisdiction, irrespective of questions of good faith; but the protection does not apply to acts done without jurisdiction, if the act is not done in good faith. This will be apparent from the conditions for claiming the protection, analysed in the next paragraph. The protection afforded to a judicial officer under the Act requires that (i) he was acting judicially, (ii) that he made the order in discharge of his judicial duties, and (iii) that either the action was within the limits of his jurisdiction or (if it was without jurisdiction) that, in good faith, he believed himself to have jurisdiction to do or order the act complained of. This is fairly clear on a reading1 of section 1.

1. See para. 3.3, supra, for the text of section 1.