8. The state of things disclosed by the reports of the District Commissioner was so serious, and the pernicious influence of the Human Leopard Society appeared to be so widely spread, that it was considered necessary, in order to deal adequately with the situation, to give the Government special powers. The Human Leopard and Alligator Societies Ordinance of 1909 was accordingly amended in the following particulars:—
(a) The two Societies were declared to be unlawful societies.
(b) Power was given to the Governor to proclaim any chiefdom in which a murder had been committed in connection with an unlawful society, and to the District Commissioner to arrest and detain any person in a proclaimed chiefdom on a warrant under his hand.
(c) It was made an offence to be a member of an unlawful society, or to take part in the operations of any such society or of any meeting of an unlawful society. The effect of this provision was made retrospective.
(d) Powers of search were given to the police in the Colony, and to court messengers and the West African Frontier Force in the Protectorate.
(e) Power was given to the Governor-in-Council to order the expulsion of any alien convicted under the Ordinance and sentenced to imprisonment on the expiration of his term of imprisonment. A copy of the amending Ordinance (No. 17 of 1912) is attached.
9. It was further considered necessary to appoint a special tribunal to deal with offences committed by members of unlawful societies, for the following reasons:—
(1) The number of cases to be heard and the number of persons committed for trial was so large that it would have been impossible for the Judge of the Circuit Court to hear them without seriously interfering with the ordinary criminal and civil work of the Court.
(2) In the Circuit Court, native chiefs sit with the Judge as assessors, and as it appeared from the reports of the District Commissioner that many of the Paramount Chiefs in his District were implicated in the crimes of the Human Leopard Society, there was a danger of the Assessors being in sympathy with the persons whom they would be called upon to try.
10. An Ordinance was accordingly passed empowering the Governor to appoint a Court or Courts of Special Commissioners for the trial of persons charged with offences committed in connection with unlawful societies, whether before or after the commencement of the Ordinance, and defining the powers and jurisdiction of the Court. A copy of the Ordinance (No. 18 of 1912) is attached, together with a copy of Ordinance No. 21 of 1912, by which certain amendments in matters of detail were made.