Sir John Beaumont.-

This is an appeal by special leave from the judgment of the protectorate Court of the Somaliland Protectorate sitting as a Court of Appeal dated 30th May 1946 dismissing the appellants' appeal from the judgment of the Protectorate Court of the Somaliland Protectorate sitting as a Court of original jurisdiction dated 19th December 1945, and confirming the death sentences for murder passed on the appellants by the latter Court.

2. At the conclusion of the arguments their Lordships announced that they would humbly advise His Majesty that the appeal be allowed, and they now give their reasons.

3. The question which arises for decision on this appeal is whether the trial of the accused was vitiated by the failure of a prosecutor to appear at the trial, and by the course which the trial took in his absence.

4. Criminal procedure in the Somaliland Protectorate is regulated by the Administration of Criminal Justice Ordinance, 1926, of the Somaliland Protectorate (hereinafter referred to as "the Ordinance"). The Ordinance provides for a preliminary enquiry to be held before a Magistrate, and for committal of accused persons to the Protectorate Court. It is not disputed that