'ملف رقم '18/66 (سلسلة B 18/10) التقارير السنوية الخاصة بتطبيق المرسوم الملكي البريطاني لمسقط بتاريخ ١٩١٥' [و‎‎١‎٠] (١٨٨/١٩)

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Page -;2:- , ..j
Settled by Court ..11
Psnding os .. ... •• •• .. «« 19
Out of these 19 perxUng ca^es 7 remain unsettled from 1918.
In 2 of these cases the deceased owned property in India and
the heirs concerned have filed suits in Indian Courts whose
decisions are awaited.
In the remaining 5 cases the letters of administration have
"been granted and on receipt of the final reportp from the admin
istrators thepe will be settled, 0
The Sur case referred to in the last ?r«xz3c year^ report
has been settled.
6. Claims &• Complaints of British subjects against -Arab
subjects.
Pending from last year 27
Total claims 170
Settled by Local Government . .. 136
P e nd i n^f .. ... *. .. ... .. .. •« 61
7. Arab Suits against British subject s.
Pending from last year 17
Total claims .. 43
Settled by Court in favour of Plaintiff . 47
Settled by Court in favour of Defendant . 7
Pendi.. .. .. . .. .. .. . • 6
The working of the ^ahkumah *yhich has been recently estab
lished has not been particularly satisfactory as is shown by
the large number of pending cases, 61. There are continual com
plaints of delays and many suits are dropped out of sheer despair
of any result. His Highness the Sultan has been repeatedly
urged to expedite Justice. A considerable improvement is ex
pected when the English adviser arrives. If it was not for the
unremitting efforts of the Agency Dragoman it is doubtful if
any cases would ever be finished.
I^future it will be advisable to hear certain special
cases in iiuttrah to avoid the delay and expence caused by
bringing over lar^e numbers of witnesses to Muscat.
The services of an Arabic clerk, as has been urged in my
2082 of let November 1919 are absolutely necessary to enable
the Dragoman not only to cope with the Judicial work but to
attend to his Political work which is infinitely more important.
At present he is immobilised by a mass of petitions, registering