Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/1466

 1110 TURKEY AND TRIBUTARY STATES: — EGYPT

Justice and Crime.

In Egypt there are 4 judicial systems : that of the MeTchemehs or courts of the religious laAv, concerned mainly with questions of personal status of Mohammedans ; the mixed courts, instituted in 1875, dealing with civil actions between persons of different nationalities, and to some extent with criminal offences of foreigners ; the consular courts Avhere foreigners accused of crime are tried ; the native courts for civil actions between natives, or crimes by natives. The native courts, instituted 1884-89, with both foreign and native judges, now consist of 6 courts of first instance, an appeal court at Cairo, and 42 summary courts for cases of moderate importance. With special reference to these tribunals a British judicial adviser was appointed in 1891. A committee of judicial surveillance watches the working of the courts of first instance and the summary courts, and endeavours, by letters and discussion, to maintain purity and sound law.

There is an Egyptian Procureur General, who, with other duties, is entrusted with criminal prosecutions. The police service which has been subject to frequent modification was, in 1895, put under the orders of the Ministry of the Interior to which an English adviser and English inspectors are attached. The provincial police is under the direction of the local authorities the mvdirs or governors of provinces, and the omdcJis or village head-men. To the latter, who are responsible for the good order of the villages, a limited criminal jurisdiction has been entrusted.

Finance.

On April 5, 1 880, the Khedive issued a decree appointing an international commission of liquidation to examine the financial situation of Egypt, and to draft a law regulating the relations between Egypt and her creditors, and also between the Daira Sanieh and the Daira Xhassa and their creditors. That commission, in concert with the Egyptian Government, estimated the annual income of the country as follows : —

—

lSSO-81 18S2 and after

£E3,463,734 £E3,513,734

4,897,888 4,897,888

8,361,622 8,411,622

Revenues assigned to the Debt ^

,, ,, to the Government.

Total

- £E equals £1 0«. M.

The commissioners assigned (1) to the service of the rrivilegcd Del it the railway and telegraph income and the port dues of Alexandria ; and (2) to the service of tlic Unified Stock the customs revenue and the taxes of four pro- vinces. The charge for the Privileged Debt was a fixed annuity, la'oviding interest at 5 per cent., and sinking fund calculated to extinguish the debt by 1941. Should the revenues assigned to the Privileged Debt ])rove insufficient to meet the annuity, the deficit was to become a first charge on the revenues assigned to the Unified Debt. The interest of the latter debt was fixed at 4 percent., guaranteed by the Government in case the assigned revenues were insufficient. The sur])lus of the revenues assigned to the debt was to go to the redemption of the Unified by purchase of stock in the market. In September 1884 a portion of this surplus was a]>propriated by the Government.

Their estimate of the liabilities of Egvpt was : —

Government :— Tribute, 681,486/. ; Moukabalah annuity, 150,000/. ; In- terest to England on Suez Canal .shares, 193,858/. ; Daira Kha.s.sa, 34,000/. ; Administrative expenses, 3,641,544/.; Unforeseen expenditure, 197,000/.; total, 4,897,888/.