'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎79v] (163/470)

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The Qadhi has had little work to do, as there are few Sunnis in this district.
Cases involving points of Shar‘ah law have been referred to Saiyid Muhammad Ali
Qazwini, whose decision is almost invariably respected by the parties. Saiyid
Muhammad ‘Ali has rendered valuable service in this respect, but he declines to
accept a salary.
Civil cases have nearly all been of a trivial nature. Applications by women
for maintenance orders, and suits for the recovery of small debts are the most
common. Suits relating to immovable property have been temporarily settled on
the basis of possession. " An increase in the number of civil cases will follow the
extension of trade on the return of Peace conditions.
Criminal .—The amount of crime in the town is extraordinarily small. The
streets are most inadequately lighted, there are no police patrols, and the only
protection of property at night is a body of ancient Dogberrys who slumber fitfully
in the market, and yet there have been practically no burglaries and few thefts.
I trust that this phenomenon is due rather to the natural tendencies of the people
than to a temporary fear of the new regime.
In the district, except for certain classes of cases, such as thefts of Government
grain from boats and highway robbery, the policy has been to leave the disposal
of criminals as much as possible in the hands of the Shaikhs. A complainant to
the A.P.O., if a tribesman, is required to go first to his own Shaikh and bring from
him a certificate that he believes the crime to have been committed. He then goes
with his petition to the Shaikh of the accused and demands justice. If he is not
satisfied he can complain to the A.P.O., or ask his own Shaikh to do so. A townsman
follows the same procedure, except that he goes direct from A.P.O. to the accused’s
Shaikh. This method has worked excellently. In a dispute between members
of the same tribe, the influence of the Shaikh may prevent a case of injustice from
reaching the ears of the A.P.O., but I do not think such cases are common by reason
of the rarity of appeals from members of other tribes or from townsmen, who have
no fear of incurring the enmity of the deciding Shaikh. The only drawback is the
difficulty of inducing Shaikhs to send the A.P.O. copies of their awards, for reference
in case of a recurrence of the quarrel. Some cases are never reported, being settled
by the Shaikh or by some chosen arbitrator. It has very seldom been necessary
to take action to enforce the order of a Shaikh. A certain number of important
cases have been decided by the A.P.O., generally with the assistance of one or
more Shaikhs.
I am strongly in favour if the continuance of this method. Politically, it
is one of the props of the tribal system and emphasises the authority of the Shaikh.
It is popular with the people, and it has secured as much justice, order, and freedom
from crime as could be obtained by any other means. The extension to the tribes
of European forms of criminal procedure would be most inadvisable, and I have
already received a nervous inquiry on this point from the chief Shaikh of the district.
Serious crime, for which the penalty under tribal law is inadequate, can always
be dealt with by the A.P.O.
Crime in the villages has been treated much as crime among the tribes, but
the circumstances of the villages and their connection with the surrounding tribes
vary so much that generalisation as to the action taken is impossible. A villager
would nearly always prefer that his case be decided according to tribal law, and
in most cases he willingly accepts the order of the neighbouring Shaikh.
The commonest offences have been those of highway robbery, murder, and
assault. Thefts among the tribes are generally committed not so much for gain
as in the course of an attempt to settle by the strong hand an outstanding claim
for “ fash” Except in special cases, where a more severe punishment was called
for, these have been settled under tribal law j but I am now issuing a notice that
in future offenders will be liable not only to pay damages to the aggrieved party,
but also to satisfy the claim of Government against them, either by paying a fine
or by suffering imprisonment.
General.—The people are remarkably willing to refer their disputes to arbitration,
and the decision of an arbitrator is almost invariably accepted without demur. ?
Saiyid Muhammad ‘Ali is the referee generally selected. Great respect is paid to
the sanctity of the oath, and almost every question can be settled if one party
will agree to swear at the tomb of ‘Abbas at Karbala. There is always a temptation
to have recourse to this facile method of dealing with a difficult case, but to preserve
the binding force of an oath it should be used sparingly. To require all witnesses