Skip to item: of 6
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

'Administration of Mesopotamia. Fortnightly Report by the Civil Commissioner, No. 17 (1st - 15th July [1918]) [‎93r] (3/6)

The record is made up of 3 folios. It was created in Oct 1918. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

i^l. , o, o , ,nst ^ Ilce are avvaitiug hearing, and tlic constitution of a
second C liamber to the Baghdad Court of First [nstance will now supply the necessary
judges to enable a Court of Appeal to be formed to deal with these appeals.
<. i he Baghdad Peace Court, a Small Cause Court dealing with suits up to a
w o()0 » whlch w as opened on July 1917, under the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. of Abdul
W ahhab Lllendi, formerly Deputy Qadhi of the Baghdad Mohammedan Law Court
has accomplished much work. Between 1st January and the 30th June 1918
Rs. 10,518 was taken in fees.
I he Baghdad \ ilayet Peace Court Rules, which were issued on the 23rd March
provide that the procedure of the Court and of other Peace Courts should be that
piovided by the I urkish Peace Judges Law, subject to a few amendments.
A Court of First Instance was opened at lla'qubah in May with Mr. E. B. Norton,
I.C.S., as President and Saiyid Salih Effendi, late an assistant member of the Turkish
Court of Appeal, and Mulla Husain Effendi, the present Qadhi of the Ba'qubah
Mohammedan Law Court, as members. Mr. E. B. Norton and Saiyid Salih Effendi
also hold appointments as Peace Judges for the District.
The opening of a Court of First Instance has been approved for Hillah and will
take place on the arrival of the British lawyer who has been selected as President
of that Court.
8. In districts where no Court of First Instance has yet been established,
Political Officers exercise limited powers for the hearing of civil suits. Their
procedure has been now regulated by the Baghdad Vilayet Peace Court Pules, and,
subject to the consent oi the Senior Judicial Ollicer, their decisions may be referred
to the Court of Appeal for revision.
It is hoped that wherever the work is sufficient to employ the time of a whole
time judge, a native Judge of the Peace will be appointed, thus relieving Political
Officers of a class of work, which is necessarily laborious and for which few of them
have had previous training. A beginning has been made at Khaniqin, when
laiq Eftendi Alusi, a graduate of the Baghdad Law School who had been wofkiug
for several months in the Baghdad Court of First Instance, has been appointed Judge
of the Peace. • 6
9. Pursuant to the policy that cases regarding Shi'ah Mohammedans and relating
to questions of family law should he decided in accordance with Shiah Law, this class
of cases has been withdrawn from the Sunni Mohammedan Law Courts, and are now
instituted before the Civil Courts, who refer them or any points of Shi'ah Law arising
out of them to a Shi'ah Jurist, selected by the parties ; or if the parties do not agree,
to one nominated by the Courts. From the point of view of efficiency it is desirable
where the amount of work justifies it, that a special jurist should be selected for this
work, and should receive a regular salary, and in fact be a Government servant.
After consultation with the principal Shi'ah residents, this plan has been adopted at
Baghdad, and Shaikh Shukrallah, the Director of the Ja'fariyah School, has accepted
the appointment. The appointment has been received with satisfaction by the
Shi'ahs of Baghdad. If is a proof of the confidence with which Shaikh Shukrallah is
regarded by his co-religionists that no petitions of any sort have been received against
his decisions. A similar appointment has recently been made for Ba'qubah.
10. Under Turkish rule a Sunni Mohammedan Law Court was established in
each Qadha. The Qadhis were, so far as their judgments were concerned,
independent of local control, but their judgments were liable to revision by the
Ulama in Constantinople. Since the occupation of this Vilayet, appeal to
Constantinople has, of course, been impossible. It is obviously essential to provide a
means for the correction of erroneous judgments delivered by Qadhis. After
consultation with the principal Sunni authorities, it has been decided to form a Board
of Uevision at Baghdad, consisting of three or more Ulama. This has now been
approved, and the Board will commence sitting at an early date after Ramadhan.
11. To sum up, therefore, the results of the last six months' work has been : —
(1) To re-establish an organisation for the administration of Civil Justice for the
Baghdad Vilayet, based on the existing law of the land and permitting
the fullest use being made of native personnel.
s 2 A 2

About this item

Content

This printed memorandum is a fortnightly administrative report (No 17) submitted by Arnold Talbot Wilson, Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, covering the period 1 to 15 July 1918. The report is split into four sections: (I) Administrative, which includes District Organisation, Revenue Board, Irrigation and Agricultural Departments, Blockade and Customs; (II) Judicial Department; (III) Civil Police; and (IV) Finance Branch, which includes details of the Control of Expenditure, Separation of Sanctioning and Audit Functions, Organisation of a Cadre of Accountants, Pay of Officers, Revenue Accounts, Pensions Office, and Local Inpsection of Accounts. The report also includes an appendix (folio 94v) concerning the 'Organization of Civil Administration in Baghdad Vilayet', listing divisions and districts.

Extent and format
3 folios
Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at folio 92, and terminates at folio 94, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between folios 11-158; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence

Written in
English in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

'Administration of Mesopotamia. Fortnightly Report by the Civil Commissioner, No. 17 (1st - 15th July [1918]) [‎93r] (3/6), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B289, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023612448.0x000004> [accessed 28 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023612448.0x000004">'Administration of Mesopotamia. Fortnightly Report by the Civil Commissioner, No. 17 (1st - 15th July [1918]) [&lrm;93r] (3/6)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023612448.0x000004">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000833.0x0002b3/IOR_L_PS_18_B289_0003.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000833.0x0002b3/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image