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foreigners, is a matter whicb "affects "the foreign authorities responsible for the control of the Settlement. This principle is recognized as regards smaller offences by the presence of a foreign Assessor at the Mixed Court; much more, then, as regards serious offences is the punishment of the offenders a matter which "affects " foreign interests.
It is therefore with no desire to introduce unreasonable innovations, but rather with a view to employing Treaty provisions to the mutual advantage of Chinese and foreign interests, that the Undersigned have the honour to request you to give the necessary instructions to the Mixed Court and Shanghae District Magistrates to secure that in future, when offenders charged with the commission of serious crimes within the Settle- ment are sent from the Mixed Court to the Shangbae District Magistrate for trial, the Assessor concerned in the case shall be free to be present at the investigation and shall be duly informed of the time and date of hearing by the said District Magistrate for this purpose.
Approved:
(Signed) W. P. BOYD,
Approved:
(Signed) DR. HEINTGES.
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My American colleague, whom I have consulted on the subject, pointed out that these amendments were merely of an experimental character, intended to last for two years, and that their acceptance would not debar us from taking up immediately afterwards the question you and your colleagues have raised. He shared generally the views I have expressed above, and expressed his readiness to co-operate, but gave me to understand that he could not authorize the Consul-General at Shanghae to join in the note to the Taotai until the amendments were accepted.
As the new German Minister has just arrived, we agreed that it would be premature to approach him on the subject.
I am, &c.
(Signed)
J. N. JORDAN.
Approved:
(Signed)
PELHAM WARREN.
(No. 111.) Sir,
Inclosure 10 in No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Consul-General Sir P. Warren.
Peking, December 17, 1906.
I HAVE received and carefully considered your despatches Nos. 167 and 169 of the 16th and 19th November last.
In the first you cite cases of the improper transfer of certain Chinese from the Mixed Court to the yamên of the City Magistrate, and you ask me to confirm the position you have taken up in maintaining that the Mixed Court Magistrate is the ouly official with judicial powers over native residents in the Settlement, except in the limited class of cases specially provided for by the Regulations of 1869 in which the District Magistrate is competent.
I agree with you in holding that the Regulations of 1869 provided for the establishment of a Court for the hearing of all criminal and civil cases arising within the Settlement, except those which were specially reserved by clause 4 for trial by the District Magistrate of Shanghae; and I think that the Taotai's contention that the Magistrate, as the territorial authority having jurisdiction over the district in which the Settlement is situated, should bear such Settlement cases, civil and criminal, as he thinks it must be resisted, and that his powers in this respect should be strictly limited to the class of cases specially assigned to him by section 4 of the 1860 Regulations.
In your despatch No. 169 you inclose a draft, approved by yourself and the Acting Consuls-General of the United States and Germany, of a despatch which it is proposed to send to the Taotal respecting prisoners who are brought up in the first instance before the Mixed Court, but who, by reason of the gravity of their offences, have to be sent, under section 1 of the Rules of 1869, to the Shanghae District Magistrate for trial and punishment.
it is proposed that the procedure provided for by section 1 (iii) of the Chefoo Agreement of 1876 should be made applicable to these cases, and that the Assessor before whom the preliminary hearing took place at the Mixed Court should be present to watch the subsequent proceedings in the Court of the Shanghae City Magistrate.
It appears to me to be an arguable question as to how far the Chefoo Convention was intended to apply to cases of this kind, and the proposal could not, of course, be enforced without the consent of the Chinese authorities. But, as it is evidently intended to facilitate the ends of justice, its adoption could, I think, be reasonably urged upon the attention of the Wai-wu Pu.
No action, however, can be taken in the matter pending a decision on the question of the Mixed Court amendments, which were sent to you in my despatch No. 103 of
the 23rd ultimo.
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