Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/102

74 Pasha of Mytilene presides; the Cadi, or representative of Mahommedan law, sits by him; the Greek Archbishop is also a member. In islands like Mytilene, where the Greeks are rich and powerful, the Christian members of the Mejhs have considerable influence, and make it impossible for the Pasha to commit the arbitrary acts which were formerly so common.

The Mejlis takes cognizance of a variety of cases, civil as well as criminal. There is also another court, called the Mekkemé, which deals only with real property. Sales of land are ratified in this court, in the presence of the Cadi. A commercial tribunal, the Tijaret Mejlis, has been recently intro- duced in many places.

All matters of dispute between Ottoman subjects and subjects of European powers resident in Turkey are referred to the Mejlis; and in every such case, whether civil or criminal, the foreigner is represented in court by his Consul, who acts for him as his counsel.

According to the treaties made between the Porte and the principal European nations, no foreigner can be arrested and tried without the knowledo-e of his Consul; and in criminal proceedings an English Consul always claims a voice in the ultimate decision of the court.

His presence at a trial is always a check upon great injustice, because he is a witness to the proceedings not to be intimidated or silenced; and if his protest is not attended to, he can always appeal to his Ambassador,—an appeal which, in the