Coll 15/3(1) 'Egypt. Abolition of Capitulations in Montreux Conference and Convention 1937' [‎303r] (610/1220)

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that the inheritance of land in Egypt is not governed by the national law of a
deceased foreigner, but merely that a will or a foreign national law cannot
create, as regards land in Egypt, forms of tenure unknown to Egyptian real
property law.
83. Article 56 excepts from the jurisdiction of the Mixed Courts statut
personnel cases which have been duly reserved for consular courts in accordance
with article 9 of the convention.
84. (B) Article 9 of the convention provides a facultative power of
reserving statut personnel for any high contracting party who at present
possesses consular courts in Egypt. The remarks of the delegation of the Irish
Free State on this subject at the last plenary meeting have already been referred
to above. It has also been pointed out above that this article must be deemed to
be without prejudice to article 25, paragraph 4, of the R.O.J., and that the
reservation will not include suits affecting nationals who go before the religious
courts in Egypt in accordance with that paragraph. Although it is provided
that at the end of the transitional regime statut personnel cases pending before
consular courts must be transferred to the national tribunals at the state they
have then reached, it is made clear by the Drafting Committee's report that this
only means that the consular courts themselves must be closed at this date and
does not prevent appeals from decisions given by the consular courts being heard
after this date, for instance, in England by the Privy Council.
85. Article 10 makes applicable in order to determine the jurisdiction of
the consular courts for statut personnel the rules contained in articles 28, 29
and 30 of the R.O.J. Thus, if in accordance with these rules a statut personnel
case is one which falls within the domain of some form of British law, the British
consular court has jurisdiction. It will be necessary for His Majesty's Govern
ment in amending the Egypt Order in Council A regulation issued by the sovereign of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Privy Council. to make these rules applicable by
the British consular court for statut personnel in order to determine its juris
diction. It is, however, made clear in the Drafting Committee s report that
once it is determined that the British consular court has jurisdiction, nothing in
the convention prevents that court from applying to determine this suit any law
which it thinks appropriate in accordance with the system of private international
law laid down for it.
86 . (C) The declaration in the final Act, though not quite as explicit as
might have been desired, does commit the Egyptian Government to adopt
indefinitely the principle of the application of the foreign national law m statut
personnel cases. It does not, of course (nor could this be expected) commit the
Egyptian Government to adopt indefinitely the rules laid down in the K.O.J. tor
the determination of the national law. The second paragraph of the declara ion,
which was presented by the Egyptian delegation ensures that no Egyptian iu e o
procedure for foreign statut personnel cases will be applied to the piejudice o a
substantive provision of the foreign national law. . . , „ . , , ,
87. It is, in fact, made clear that the courts to which foreign statut
personnel cases are to go after the transitional regime are the Egyptian natioi a
civil courts, though this is not stated in the Egyptian declaration.
88 . The report of the Drafting Committee, however on article 9 ot tne
convention points out that this conclusion necessarily results from paiagiap
of article 9. . , , .
89. The Drafting Committee’s report further states, wit
declaration, as follows : “In regard to the text of this declara 10 f n • t r _
delegation explained that it understood the general tendency 0 P, na j
national law is oriented towards the suppression of therenioi o a dpclara-
law.” The explanation of this is that we pressed for the ^clusion^in the declam
U it we presseu iui ^ ,
fjon of a statement that the future Egyptian legislation app lca e a * De rsonal
fnrfiicm national law m matters ot peisonai
We were
as
the transitional regime in applying the foreign national • wp w
status would apply the foreign internal law and refect t e ; _ • j £ n j te i y CJj0
unable to persuade the Egyptian delegation to commit t ems n • •
this (the point was not dealt with in Document A), b f .‘^ ^ 0^0 this
Drafting Committee’s report indicates that their P ll > el .' J r uture if and when
and it is, at any rate, something upon which we can le }
the point arises. . , 07 nf the R.O.J.
90. The Drafting Committee’s report . on a y. ic e V rleleontion’s proposal
contains the following statement: “ The l nited King observations made
a Document C.C.M./C.R.O.J./2 was withdrawn following the observations
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