Sudan Archive

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The consular court's testimony from Egyptians will be in Arabic, and the consuls will translate their testimony. Therefore, for this reason, I have suggested appointing a few Egyptian judges alongside the European judges in criminal cases. Secondly, 90% of the European residents in Egypt speak either English, French, German, Greek, or Italian. The remaining ten percent all understand and speak one or more of these languages, with rare exceptions. There is no doubt that the criminal courts we are discussing will be adequately staffed with judges who speak English, French, German, Italian, and Greek, as the Egyptian government, under the auspices of the British government, will only present a project that avoids this issue and ensures the European Advisory Council does not approve a project that overlooks this matter.

In the preceding discussion, I have limited myself to the formation of courts that will replace the current consular courts. As for the substantive law that will govern these courts, it will be derived from the declaration I mentioned that I would officially recommend to the British and Egyptian courts, which is that the criminal legislation presented to the Council for approval will be based on the principles of "European laws, especially the laws of the Latin nations." While criminal laws among European nations may differ slightly from one another, the French, Germans, Italians, and others can operate under the existing laws and judicial procedures that govern the consular courts. Therefore, the situation will not change much for the European and American residents of Egypt, as the change will be significant for them because judicial procedures in their countries differ from those in Europe in many ways, as is evident. Thus, their situation will remain the same, with criminal jurisdiction remaining unified. However, I do not believe that British and American subjects will find strong grounds for complaint about the change I am requesting, as they will likely have to choose between one of two options: either the continuation of the current legislative system with its existing flaws and shortcomings, which are as significant as any others, or their submission to criminal laws and procedures based on the reasonable principles of European nations. The former is clearly more acceptable and does not involve blame. It is sufficient to mention that Americans, Germans, Italians, and others can operate under the existing laws and judicial procedures that govern the consular courts. Therefore, the situation will not change much for the British and American residents of Egypt, as the change will be significant for them because judicial procedures in their countries differ from those in Europe in many ways, as is evident. Thus, their situation will remain the same, with criminal jurisdiction remaining unified. However, I do not believe that British and American subjects will find strong grounds for complaint about the change I am requesting, as they will likely have to choose between one of two options: either the continuation of the current legislative system with its existing flaws and shortcomings, which are as significant as any others, or their submission to criminal laws and procedures based on the reasonable principles of European nations. The former is clearly more acceptable and does not involve blame. I have mentioned enough to allay the fears of Europeans residing in Egypt regarding the abolition of consular courts and their replacement by criminal courts, which the European Advisory Council will reform in terms of legislation and reliance. (1) An enumeration from 1867 shows that the number of United States subjects in Egypt was 392 individuals.

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