ABSTRACT Recent literature has recast the history of the British empire as a vast project of intervention in and reordering of colonial legal administrations. Closer inspection of local moments of legal reform, however, reveals substantial complications and contradictions in that project. This article re-considers Governor Richard Bourke's Punishment and Summary Jurisdiction Act 1832, the most celebrated legal intervention in the history of the ‘convict colony’ of New South Wales by a governor whose liberalism and humanitarianism epitomized the spirit of imperial reform agendas. The nature and objectives of Bourke's so-called Fifty Lashes Act are widely misunderstood. This article shows that while Bourke positioned his Act as a matter of legal urgency, its core aim was to render convict punishment more useful and economical. Moreover, Bourke's reforms were less innovative than is commonly assumed, being mostly required to re-assert and refine existing law that was being disregarded. Nevertheless, Bourke's reforms did address long-contested legal issues surrounding the summary jurisdiction of colonial magistrates and the local application of English transportation law. The backstory to the Act reveals the remarkably complicated and truly disordered state of the law in New South Wales, but this article also shows how the implementation of legal reform was seasoned with confusion and caution.

中文翻译：

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“地方法官每天通过的非法判决”：新南威尔士州州长理查德·伯克 (Richard Bourke) 1832 年《惩罚和简易审判法》的背景故事

摘要 最近的文献将大英帝国的历史改写为一项干预和重新安排殖民地法律管理的庞大计划。然而，仔细观察当地法律改革的时刻，会发现该项目存在大量的复杂性和矛盾。本文重新考虑了 1832 年理查德·伯克州长的惩罚和简易管辖权法案，这是新南威尔士州“罪犯殖民地”历史上最著名的法律干预，由一位州长的自由主义和人道主义体现了帝国改革议程的精神。伯克所谓的“五十鞭法”的性质和目标被广泛误解。这篇文章表明，虽然伯克将他的法案定位为法律紧急事项，但其核心目标是使对罪犯的惩罚更加有用和经济。而且，伯克的改革没有人们普遍认为的那样具有创新性，主要是为了重申和完善被忽视的现有法律。尽管如此，伯克的改革确实解决了围绕殖民地地方法官的简易管辖权和英国交通法在当地的适用等长期存在争议的法律问题。该法案的背景故事揭示了新南威尔士州非常复杂和真正无序的法律状态，但本文也显示了法律改革的实施是如何充满混乱和谨慎的。改革确实解决了围绕殖民地地方法官的简易管辖权和英国交通法在当地的应用等长期存在争议的法律问题。该法案的背景故事揭示了新南威尔士州非常复杂和真正无序的法律状态，但本文也显示了法律改革的实施是如何充满混乱和谨慎的。改革确实解决了围绕殖民地地方法官的简易管辖权和英国交通法在当地的应用等长期存在争议的法律问题。该法案的背景故事揭示了新南威尔士州非常复杂和真正无序的法律状态，但本文也显示了法律改革的实施是如何充满混乱和谨慎的。