CO129-562-26 China- extra-territoriality 16-6-1937 - 9-7-1937 — Page 22

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His Majesty. In all legal proceedings and in all matters relating to the administration of justice by the courts subjects of His Majesty shall enjoy treatment not less favourable than that accorded to Chinese citizens.

3. Except as provided in paragraph 4 of this article, subjects of His Majesty shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of the police courts; nor shall they be subject to the jurisdiction of any other tribunals than the modern Chinese courts of justice.

4. Subjects of His Majesty shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the modern police courts in case of offences under the police offences code or under municipal regulations, but in each of such cases the penalty imposed by the court shall not exceed a fine of 15 yuan (dollars) or, in the event of such fine not being paid, detention at the rate of one day's detention for each yuan (dollar) of the fine imposed up to a maximum of fifteen days.

ARTICLE 2.

In the district courts in Harbin, Shenyang (Mukden), Tientsin, Tsingtao, Shanghai, Hankow, Chungking, Canton, Foochow, and Kunmin (Yunnanfu), and in the high courts having appellate jurisdiction over such district courts, with the exception of the Supreme Court, special chambers shall be established for dealing with cases involving subjects of His Majesty as defendants or accused. All cases involving subjects of His Majesty, wherever resident, as defendants or accused, except when they may be taken to the Supreme Court on final appeal, or when a subject of His Majesty concerned may elect, in writing, to submit himself to the jurisdiction of the local modern court having jurisdiction over purely Chinese cases of a similar nature, shall be tried only before these special chambers. Any case involving a subject of His Majesty as defendant or accused, which originates within the ordinary jurisdiction of a court other than one of those mentioned above, will (unless the subject of His Majesty concerned elects other- wise, as provided above) be transferred for trial to the special chamber most accessible to the court within whose jurisdiction the case originates.

ARTICLE 3.

1. To each of the special chambers provided in the preceding article there shall be attached foreign legal counsellors who shall be selected and appointed as officials of China by the Chinese Government from among foreign legal experts of high moral character who possess the training, qualifications and practical experience necessary for appointment to judicial offices.

2. The names, and the amount and conditions of payment of salaries, of the legal counsellors will be communicated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Government to His Majesty's Diplomatic Representative in China, and their terms of service will be governed by contracts in accordance with the attached. declaration by the Chinese Government. They shall remain in office for a specified term, unless dismissed for cause duly shown, and shall otherwise receive the consideration and respect due to the dignity of their office.

3. A legal counsellor need not permanently reside at the place in which the special chamber of the court to which he is assigned is established and there shall be a flexible and practicable system of administration of assignments in order to ensure efficiency in the employment of the said legal counsellors.

4. The legal counsellors shall serve under the Minister of Justice, and shall be deputed by the Minister of Justice for serving during the hearing of cases involving subjects of His Majesty as defendants or accused in the special chambers provided in the preceding article. It shall be the duty of the legal counsellors in these cases to observe the workings of the special chambers. They shall have access to the files of the proceedings, and may present their views in writing to the judges, who shall give due consideration to the views thus expressed by the legal counsellors. Adequate arrangements will be made for interpretation in order to enable the legal counsellors to follow and observe the proceedings in court. The legal counsellors shall forward to the Minister of Justice such reports as they may consider necessary, and copies of these reports in cases involving subjects of His Majesty as defendants or accused will immediately be furnished by them to His Majesty's Diplomatic Representative in China upon request.