Coll 28/39 ‘Persia: Printed Correspondence 1929-1936’ [‎416v] (843/1174)

companies, must be signed by authorised officials of the head office of the
company as being correct, and (ii) that these signatures must be duly Wa
lised. The Article provides for this legalisation to be effected either (a)h~
the competent authorities in the foreign country concerned and the Persian
diplomatic or consular officer, or (b) by the diplomatic or consular officer in
Persia of the foreign country concerned.
3. Procedure (a) presents no difficulties. I agree, however, that pro
cedure (b), which appears designed to provide a possible alternative for
territories where there are no Persian diplomatic or consular officers seems
less easily practicable, and the legalisation of the signatures of the com
pany’s officials, as proposed in the law, may not be within the regular scope
of the notarial duties of His Majesty’s Consular Officers. In any case a con
sular officer should not legalise a signature with which he is unacquainted
The signature to be legalised by him would probably have to be an inter
mediate signature, e.g., that of the Librarian at the Foreign Office with
which ho is familiar. It is probable however that procedure (b) will
seldom arise in practice, so far as His Majesty’s Consular Officers are con
cerned, and that the normal procedure under (a) will in most cases be fol
lowed.
(64)
Memo, from the British Legation, Tehran, No. 281, dated 28th August
1931.
Britannic Majesty s Representative presents his compliments to
the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India and has the honour to
transmit herewith copy of the document mentioned in the sub-joined Sche
dule, on the subject of Persian Law governing Marriage and Divorce.
To the Foreign Office, No. 470, August 28th, 1931.
Despatch from His Majesty s Minister, Tehran, to the Foreign Office,
London, No. 470, dated 28th August 1931.
I have the honour to transmit to Your Lordship herewith the trans-
? 10 I 1 ° Law governing Marriage and Divorce which was passed bv
. f J ] ldlclal Commission of the Mejless on August 13th and which will come
into force on September 24th.
2. Formerly marriage and divorce in Persia wure the concern of the
re igious authorities and the civil administration had no right of inter-
erence therein. The new law makes civil registration of marriage and
ivorce compulsory and lays down penalties for non-compliance.
3. Article 3 of the law as originally drafted fixed the minimum age of
marriage as eighteen for males and sixteen for females. This stipulation
nas now been made somewhat more vague but I understand that the regula
tions for the enforcement of the law foreseen in Article XIX will fix the
marriageable age as originally mentioned in the law itself.
4- An important and remarkable innovation is the right given to the
wi e in certain circumstances to demand a divorce from her husband. For
merly the husband alone enjoyed that privilege and the female victim of an
unhappy marriage had no recourse against her husband and could not free
erself of the bends of marriage unless the husband consented to divorce
her.
5. The new law also allows the wife to administer and dispose of her
without the consent of her husband. It confirms (Article
vv yd the previous interdiction of marriage of Moslem women with non-
Moslem men and now subordinates the marriage of Persian women with