RULES FOR JOINT INVESTIGATION IN CASES OF CONFISCATION AND FINE BY THE CUSTOM HOUSE AUTHORITIES.*
Agreed to and Promulgated by the British Minister at Peking, 31st May, 1868.
RULE I.-It shall be the Rule for all business connected with the Custom House Department to be in the first instance transacted between the Commissioner of Customs and the Consul, personally or by letter; and procedure in deciding cases shall be taken in accordance with the following Regulations.
RULE II.-Whenever a ship or goods belonging to a foreign merchant is seized in a port in China by the Custom House officers, the seizure shall be reported without delay to the Kien-tub, or Chinese Superintendent of Customs. If he considers the seizure justifiable, he will depute the Shwui-wu-sze, or foreign Commissioner of Customs, to give notice to the party to whom the ship or goods are declared to belong, that they have been seized because such or such an irregularity has been committed, and that they will be confiscated, unless, before noon on a certain day, being the sixth day from the delivery of the notice, the Custom House authorities receive from the Consul an official application to have the case fully investigated.
The merchant to whom the ship or goods belong, if prepared to maintain that the alleged irregularity has not been committed, is free to appeal, within the limited time, directly to the Commissioner, who is to inform the Superintendent. If satisfied with his explanations, the Superintendent will direct the release of the ship or goods; otherwise, if the merchant elect not to appeal to the Customs, or if, after receiving his explanations, the Superintendent still decline to release the ship or goods, he may appeal to his Consul, who will inform the Superintendent of the particulars of this appeal, and request bim to name a day for them both to investigate and try the case publicly.
RULE III.-The Superintendent, on receipt of the Consul's communication, will name a day for meeting at the Custom House; and the Consul will direct the merchant to appear with his witnesses there on the day named, and will himself on that day proceed to the Custom House. The Superintendent will invite the Consul to take his seat with him on the bench; the Commissioner of Customs will also be seated to assist the Superintendent.
Proceedings will be opened by the Superintendent, who will call on the Customs' employés who seized the ship or goods to state the circumstances which occasioned the seizure, and will question them as to their evidence. Whatever the merchant may have to advance in contradiction of their evidence he will state to the Consul, who will cross-examine them for him. Such will be the proceedings in the interest of truth and equity. The Consul and Superintendent may, if they see fit, appoint deputies to meet at the Custom House in their stead, in which case the order of proceeding will be the same as if they were present in person.
RULE IV.-Notes will be taken of the statements of all parties examined, a copy of which will be signed and sealed by the Consul and Superintendent. The room will then be cleared, and the Superintendent will inform the Consul of the cour-e he proposes to pursue. If he proposes to confiscate the vessel or goods, and the Consul dissents, the merchant may appeal and the Consul, having given notice of the appeal to the Superintendent, they will forward certified copies of the above notes to Peking, -the former to his Minister, and the latter to the Foreign Office for their decision.
If the Consul agrees with the Superintendent that the ship or goods ought to bɔ ponfiscated, the merchant will not have the right of appeal; and in no case will the release of ship or goods entitle him to claim indemnity for their seizure, whether they be released after the investigation at the Custom House, or after the appeal to the high authorities of both nations at Peking.
RULE V. The case having been referred to superior authority, the merchant Interested shall be at liberty to give a bond, binding himself to pay the full value of
• Substituted for the Rules agreed upon in 1885 between the Chinese Government and Her Britannic
Majesty's Plenipotentiary.
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