File 959/1914 Pt 2 'Abyssinia: Order in Council. Recovery of maintenance charges of prisoners convicted in Abyssinia and confined in Aden District Prison.' [‎125r] (175/878)

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No. 79.
J 1500/1500/1]
Mr. Austen C hamberlain to Mr. Bent inch (Addis Ababa).
No. 103.)
Foreign Office, June 10, 1925.
I HAVE to inform you that your predecessor has called my attention to certain
onsiderations in relation to the working of exterritorial jurisdiction in Abyssinia
aider the Order in Council A regulation issued by the sovereign of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Privy Council. of 1913.
9 .. The nresent position, at any rate as regards important criminal cases, does not
tppear to be'wholly satisfactory, seeing that the officers holding the courts are naturally
lot trained lawyers, and that there is no body of English lawyers in ^Addis Ababa to
•epresent the litigants and assist the court by their arguments. The judge has not
wen the advantage of a jury, and, moreover, is empowered to disregard the opinion of
he assessors who sit with him in serious cases. .
3. These facts were, of course, realised at the time when the Order m Council was
ssued, but it was not anticipated that the court would be called on to hear any but
jomparatively minor matters. Eecent experience, however, has shown that cases ot
very serious crimes mav not infrequently have to be tried by. the court, and that it is
lifficult to make use in practice of the provisions under which such cases can be tried
it Bombay or Aden. From the court of the consul-general, which is alone competent
:o try serious criminal cases, there is at present no appeal except by special leave ot the
Privy Council, which, as is well known, that court is very slow to g^ ve -_ ® re ? U f>
diat a man who has not been defended by counsel may be convicted ot murder before
i judge with no legal training, without a jury and without any appeal, buch a situation
.s obviously not satisfactory. . .
4. It has been suggested that the record of the proceedings in important cases
should be sent to this Department and the whole case examined by the Legal Aaviseis
out I do not consider that this would be a satisfactory solution. It is very ditticuit
form a useful opinion on cases of this sort merely from reading a paper recoi o
trial, and the less complete such record is, owing to the absence of counsel on each s_
and consequently of full examination and cross-examination, tie giea ei 18 .
is. Further, the only action which could be taken, if . such an mvest gation were
considered to show that action was required, would be mitiga ion or lemis
sentence under article 57, or the exercise, of the prerogative o par on, w •
by article 58. Neither of these remedies is really adequate in a case w . er . ^
ought never to have been convicted at all. Murder cases w ere . e P i
sentenced to death would, in any case, be examined m the Foreign Office u
article 52.
5 . It seems to me that the best course would be to g 1 ^ 6 an appe • j s w h ere
from the court of the consul-general to a court composed o pro essimr J a court can
the case could be argued by competent lawyers on each side, an( ^ o r Her in
be found in the Full Court at Alexandria established under the E yp ^ aud
Council. This court is composed of the Chief Justice of the u a = There is newer
the judge of the consular court, and there is an adequate ai aval a . lifHculties
to provide such an appeal under section 9 of the Fonng 11 ^'L^ibjkve ; ’one difficulty
of communication, though considerable, are, I understan , P (Wrt does
is that, owing to the distance between Khartum and Affixandna the Ful Court do^
not sit very often, and a considerable period might some imes e ap doubt be
could be heard, but if this difficulty proved serious in practice it could no douffibe
remedied. An appeal might be given as of “n questions of fact or of
leave of the court of the consul-general, or of the r ul i
mixed law and fact, or against the sentence passed. ^ ^
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