"مراسلات ومذكرات تفاهم تتعلق بالسلطة القضائية للقنصلية في بلاد فارس، ١٨٧٣-٧٤" [و‎‎١‎٢‎٥] (٤٨/٧)

resulcnce in one 01 other of the many Lntish possessions scattered over the world, can
claim the lights of British subjects under circumstances which may render it extremely
difficult to ascertain how far the claim is well founded. Unless, therefore, good -round
he shown for doing otherwise, it would seem to the Governor-General in Council that if
on receipt of the report now called for, it he decided to push this matter farther, the
jurisdiction of the Courts to be established should be confined to persons born of wholly
British parentage.
Inclosure 3 in No. 1.
The Secretary to the Government of Bombay to the Secretary to the Government of India.
r aivt ;r ^ i i i,- n , Bombay Castle, October 2%, \S72.
AM dnectcd by his Excellency the Governor in Council to acquaint you that he
is now enabled by the receipt of Reports from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf,
to hansmit replies to the three questions propounded in your letter, No. 1808, of the
Jotn August, 1871.
.nniL 11 ! f ^ 4 f i ret q" est . ion .it may be stated, that when British subjects are
n mcd as defendants, the following is the course of proceeding :—
P iv (!) i [ U M . usca ] the / ^ ^ e ^ ]t under the Consular jurisdiction enjoyed by the
Political Agent under the High Court of Bombay.
Busrei?* ' ^ ()Se ^ ^ ur ^^ 1 territory come under the jurisdiction of the Vice-Consul at
jurisdiction^ 086 ^ (,oast bave not /equired the exercise of criminal
(4.) Those in the Persian ports have been dealt with by the Political Resident and
a T'' a !; ts ' " ( . 111 cnmina l and civil cases, in the exercise of an irregular jurisdiction
by tbe 1 parties^tfected™^ 1 aUtll0rity ' and which mi ^ ht at any time be called in question
(o,) A\ it!i regaid to the Biitish station of Bassadore, T am directed to call attention
o the correspondence ending with Mr. Seton Karr's letter, No. 1297, of the 6th
JNovember, 1868.
3. In answer to the second question, T am to state that the existing practice has
not up to this time been attended with any actual ill results, but that, looking to the
changing conditions o society m those regions, it would not be prudent to delay placing
matters on a sounder basis. ' 1 &
4. In the 12th paragraph of his letter of the 4th September last, Colonel Pelly has
explained his views as to the classes of British subjects to which the jurisdiction of the
pi oposed (. ourts should apply, but as the opinion of the Governor in Council on this
pom has been invited, his Excellency hopes he maybe permitted to question the
expediency or the^ limitation suggested in your letter, viz., "to persons born of wholly
British parentage. Such a restriction might easily deprive a bond fide British subject of
le puUection to which he had a lair claim. It may fairly be urged that the very fact
ot the existence of what is termed the " heterogeneous body of men," spread over the
globe as British subjects, affords strong ground for rendering the contemplated Order in
Council truly comprehensive and efficient. We have now in Australia, Canada, the
Cape, and . ew Zealand, great and increasing communities of undeniable British subjects
Germans and other foreigners are establishing themselves there and in India in large
numbers, and will undoubtedly intermarry with the resident population. It is hard to
t ibCo\ er any sound reason tor depriving the son of a British father and foreign mother of
the protectum of the ( and his Excellency is inclined to believe that the extension
of the jurisdiction of the Court to all British subjects would not in practice be found to
be so inconvenient as seems to be apprehended. The Court might be invested with
power to determine the status, for its own purposes, of any one claiming to be a British
su )ject. It might be a rule that, whenever a question on that point was raised, it should
be determined before entering upon the suit, and that the determination should be final.
1 h? Mini . km Ox I>ritish subjects of importance taking up their residence in Persian and
Arabian towns must be imited. Their arrival would generally be known to the British
authorities And it would not be difficult for the Court by rule to fix and declare the
iiatnio oi the pioots, documentary and others, ot British origin, which they would require
m support ot a claim to the protection of the Court.
With reference to the Secretary of State's despatch, JSTo. 67, of the 31st May, 1871,
I am to state that it will not be necessary to obtain the assent of the rulers of the
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