THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 8TH JANUARY, 1876.
GENERAL CONVENTION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENTS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND OF TUNIS.
Signed in the English and Arabic Languages, July 19, 1875.
13
The Government of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and His Most Serene Highness Mohammed Essaddock Bey, Lord of the Regency of Tunis, being desirous to maintain and improve the relations of friendship and commerce which have long subsisted between them and between British and Tunisian subjects, have resolved to proceed to a revision and improvement of the Treaties subsisting between the respective countries, in consequence of which the following stipulations have been entered into and concluded between His Most Serene Highness the Bey, and Richard Wood, Esquire, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Her Majesty's Agent and Consul-General, duly authorized to that effect.
ARTICLE I.
Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland may appoint, besides her Political Agent, such Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents in the Regency of Tunis as she may deer. necessary; and such Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents shall be at liberty to reside in any of the seaports or cities of His Highness the Bey, which they or the British Govern- ment may choose and find most convenient for the affairs and service of Her Majesty, and for the assistance of her subjects.
ARTICLE II.
Every mark of honour and respect shall at all times be paid, and every privilege and immunity allowed, to Her Majesty's Agent and Consul-General accredited to His Highness the Bey which is paid or allowed to the Representative of any other nation whatsoever; and respect and honour shall be shown to the British Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents, who shall reside in the Regency of Tunis. Their houses and families shall be safe and protected. No one shall interfere with them, or commit any act of oppression or disrespect towards them, either by word or deed; and if any one should do so, the Tunisian authorities shall take immediate measures for the punishment of the offender. The British Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents shall, moreover, continue to enjoy, in the most ample sense, all the privileges and immunities which are now or may be hereafter accorded to the Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents of the most favoured nation.
ARTICLE III.
The British Agent and Consul-General shall be at liberty to choose his own interpreters, brokers, guards, and servants, either from among the natives or others. His interpreters, brokers, guards, and servants shall be exempt from the conscription, and from payment of any poll-tax, forced contribution, or other similar or corresponding charge. In like manner, the Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents residing at the Tunisian ports, under the orders of the said Agent and Consul-General, shall be at liberty to choose, that is to say, the Consuls, each one interpreter, one broker, two guards, and three servants; the Vice-Consuls and Consular Agents, each one interpreter, one broker, and one guard, and two servants, not being in the military service, who shall likewise be exempt from the conscription, from the payment of any poll-tax, forced contribution, or other similar or corresponding charge. No prohibition nor tax shall be put upon the provisions, furniture, or any other articles which may come to the said Agent and Consul-General, Consuls, or Vice-Consuls, for their own use and for the use of their families, upon their delivering to the Officer of the Customs a note under their hand, specifying the number of articles which they shall require to be passed on that ground, but this privilege shall only be accorded to Consular Officers who are not engaged in trade. If the service of their Sovereign should require their attendance in their own country, no impediment shall be offered to their departure, and no hindrance shall be offered either to themselves or their servants, or in regard to their property, but they shall be at liberty to go and come, respected and honoured. If they should depute another person to act for them in their absence, they shall not be prevented in any way from so doing, nor shall the deputy be prevented from acting in that capacity.
ARTICLE IV.
There shall be reciprocal freedom of commerce between the dominions of Her Majesty the Queen and the Regency of Tunis. British merchants or their agents and brokers shall be permitted to purchase at all places within the Regency, whether for the purposes of internal trade or of exporta- tion, all articles, without any exception whatsoever, being the produce or manufacture of the said Regency; and the purchaser shall be free to remove his goods, when purchased, from one place to another, without any attempt being made on the part of the Local Governors to interfere with them.
ARTICLE V.
In accordance with the friendship which has at all times existed between the two Governments, His Highness the Bey engages to protect British subjects who may come to his country either for the purposes of trade or for travelling. They shall be free to travel or to reside in any part of the Regency
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.