Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/420



In virtue of the capitulation of Algiers, the French Government is bound to permit the free exercise of the native laws and usages. Nevertheless, the local French magistrates have naturally endeavoured gradually to restrict the jurisdiction of the Mussulman courts. The kadis soon felt the rivalry of the French tribunals, to which appeal could always be made. At present the kadis, to the

number of about one hundred and fifty, constitute with the adels, or assistant judges, a mahakma, or court of justice, which in every circumscription is attached to the tribunals of first instance. Their forensic practice, while regulated by the Koran, must still adapt itself to the exigencies of the French law. The instruction given in the Medersa, or law school of Algiers, becomes daily more assimilated to that of the French legal schools; while Mussulman society is itself brought more within the reach of the French courts by the appointment of justices of the peace with a wide jurisdiction over Europeans and natives alike. Assize courts are held in the four cities of Algiers, Oran, Constantine, and Bona; and in Algiers is, seated court of appeal, the highest tribunal in Algeria.