Coll 15/3(1) 'Egypt. Abolition of Capitulations in Montreux Conference and Convention 1937' [‎301r] (606/1220)

article 8 is made in the body of Document A. The conference was faced with a
demand by the Egyptian delegation for one of two things in this matter: either
the adoption of this Egyptian proposal, or, alternatively, the abolition of third
party actions altogether as a special source of jurisdiction for both sets of
tribunals. (At present the Mixed Courts possess this jurisdiction, but not the
national courts.) The conference wisely chose the latter alternative and article 37
of the R.O.J. gives effect to this conclusion (which gave Bedawi Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. distress)
with a purely facultative power in the Mixed Courts to send a third party action
to the national courts, and vice versa, if it was deemed in the interests of justice to
do so. Article 5 of the convention obliges the Egyptian Government to introduce
the same rule for the national courts.
(5) Use of Arabic in the Mixed Courts.
66 . The judicial languages employed in the courts will be (as heretofore)
Arabic, English, French and Italian. The operative part of judgments will be
pronounced at the hearing in two of the judicial languages, of which one must be
Arabic. (The translation of the few lines of which the “ dispositif ” consists can
be done in a few minutes on the spot.) After the pronouncement, judgments in
a foreign language will be translated in their entirety into Arabic, and those in
Arabic will be translated in their entirety into a foreign language. In the event
of divergence between the original text and the translation, the former will be
authentic (article 12 of the R.O.J.). It is thought that the manner in which the
question has been solved avoids all the practical difficulties which were
anticipated.
( 6 ) Judicial Personnel.
67. The Court of Appeal will be composed (as before) of eighteen conseillers,
of which eleven are foreigners. If required, two additional conseillers, of which
one will be a foreigner, will be appointed. (These additional appointments are
not provided for in Document A, and this is a useful Egyptian concession going
beyond that document.) Foreign vacancies in the Court of Appeal will be filled
by the promotion of foreign judges of the tribunals of first instance (article 2 of
the R.O.J.). The Drafting Committee’s report records that—
“ The Egyptian Government will as far as possible continue the practice
now followed in regard to the replacing of a judge of the Court of Appeal of
a given nationality by a judge of the same nationality.”
Document A provides that seven additional judges shall be added to the existing
number of judges for the tribunals of first instance, and that of these, four shall
be foreign and three Egyptian. However, of the fifty-five existing Mixed Doui
judges, one foreign judge is supernumerary; only six new judges, therefore, wi
be appointed, namely, three foreign and three Egyptian. This brings the o a
in the courts of first instance to sixty-one judges, of which forty are foieigneis.
Foreign vacancies in the tribunals of first instance will be filled by Egyp mn
judges, subject to the proviso that the number of foreign judges shall no a
below one-third of the total number of judges in the tribunals of first instance
(article 3). . , .
68 . No distinction based on the nationality of judges will be ma e ei in
the composition of the Chambers or in the appointments to the various posts ox me
judicial organisation, including the presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. of tribunals and c am ers.
president of the Court of Appeal will be of foreign nationality, and the uce-
president of Egyptian nationality. Should the president of a ^ i
Egyptian nationality, the vice-president will be of foreign na i J ’
rice versa favtiolp • • i
69. the protocol of the convention states that the selection of foreign judges
a matter for the Egyptian Government, but that, m order e s Y
fbe persons whom it may select, the Government will approac • , j
Ministers of Justice of the foreign countries concerned and will appo ^
persons of whom their respective Governments approve. This w P reQues t
contained in Document A, but agreed to by the Egyptian delegation at the^uest
of the United Kingdom delegation. It continues the exis i & P
Was important to preserve.