THE AUTHORITY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
point that the Courts in the American Colonies would probably not have done so. The Act could have made no difference to the law in force in the Colonies; it was either redundant or invalid.
In point of fact, there can be little doubt that it was redundant.A very similar question would arise if an Act of Parliament purported to extend to, say, a Protected State in which the Crown had not acquired jurisdiction in the subject matter of the Act. It is highly improbable that a United Kingdom Court would hold that an Act was invalid to the extent that it went beyond jurisdiction acquired. But what of local Courts? They would be quite justified in declining to give effect to an Act of Parliament which went beyond the Crown’s jurisdiction. It is interesting to speculate how, if an appeal were brought to Her Majesty in Council, the situation would be dealt with by the Judicial Committee, bearing in mind that, when dealing with an appeal from a particular country, it sits as the highest appellate tribunal of that country. Unfortunately for students of Commonwealth jurisprudence, this absorbing problem is never likely to come before the Courts.