Persia Iran

The religious schools still subsist on their liberal endowments, but the Government pays the whole of the budget of the Govern ment schools and also makes grants to the public, private and foreign institutions. Apart from general education technical colleges or schools have been founded for the study of medicine, fine arts, pedagogy, engineering, and mechanical science and chemistry, law and political science, agriculture, and military subjects. The agricultural school has an American director, while the law, medical, and political schools are under the supervision of foreign experts of various nationalities. A scheme is understood to have been recently approved under which a number of promising young students will be sent to Europe annually to complete their studies; ioo in 1928, 200 in 1929, and so on until a maximum contingent of 600 is reached. An account of the educational position in Persia at the present epoch would be incomplete without reference to the educational work of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in southern Persia. At Masjid i-Sulaiman two elementary schools have been inaugurated, for the sons of employees; at Ahwaz the Company maintains a primary and a secondary school, and at Abadan an elementary school; these latter institutions offer education free to all suitable boys whether sons of employees or not.

Judicial System.

There exist at present in Persia two mutually contradictory judicial systems, that of the State, as expressed in legislation, and in decrees, and that of the Islamic law, as traditionally interpreted and administered in Persia. This dualism is an essential part of the fundamental laws of 1906 and 1907, by which the present constitutional system is regulated, and its abolition is an indispensable preliminary to any serious improvement in the judicial and legislative system, which is indisputably the least satisfactory branch of governmental activity in Persia, and that in which the least progress has been made.

Under the fundamental laws of 1906 and 1907, themselves contradictory and without logical structure, all legislation what ever passed by the Majlis must conform to Islamic law, and 5 doctors forming a committee of religious law (ulama) are em powered to veto any law or part of any law which in their view contravenes this principle. Though this veto has been seldom exercised, many laws have been enforced without submission to such a committee, and there is always a possibility that they may be declared unconstitutional by a judicial tribunal, or by the committee itself.

Apart from Islamic law, and from the fundamental laws above mentioned, the corpus of Persian legislation consists in the main of the following enactments:— I. Penal Code. This is based on French law, but is subject (under Act I) to Islamic law, which treats crimes dealt with therein on wholly different lines. This fundamental contradiction

inevitably renders the application of the law by the Courts in consistent and uncertain. The law itself leaves much to be desired.

2. Civil Code is still under preparation. It is understood to be based on Islamic law, with some adaptations from French and Egyptian legislation.

3. Code of Civil Procedure is based on the Russian law of 1910 and is now under revision, but no improvement seems possible so long as the dualism referred to above is maintained and enforced.

4. Code of Criminal Procedure. This is based on the Russian Code of 1910, and is likewise under revision.

5. Commercial Code is an incomplete adaptation of French law, which is considered by experts to be defective, especially as regards limited liability companies.

6. Civil Service Law. Under revision.

7. Registration of Lands and Documents. It is understood that it is intended to revise this law, which is in many respects highly defective.

Jurisdiction over Foreigners.

Until 1920 most foreigners resident in Persia were subject to the jurisdiction of their re spective Consular authorities in matters exclusively affecting them. Thus suits between foreigners of the same nation were heard and decided in a Consular Court, subject, in certain cases, to appeal to the Courts of the country concerned. Matrimonial and testamentary cases and similar matters were dealt with in like manner. This system of extraterritoriality, which is fre quently, but incorrectly, referred to as "the capitulations" on the analogy of Turkey, originated in a voluntary grant made by Shah Abbas in i600 to Sir Anthony Sherley, an English knight, as an inducement to British merchants to enter Persia for purposes of trade. These and cognate privileges were, in course of time, ex tended to other foreigners, but were not formally recognised until, as part of the settlement of Russia arising out of the disastrous war of 1827, they were embodied, with certain limitations, in the Treaty of Turkmanchai. Other nations, including Great Britain, were accorded, under later treaties, most favoured nation treat ment. In May 1928 extraterritorial jurisdiction over foreigners came to an end, but the Persian Government agreed to introduce certain safeguards in respect of British subjects, which may be briefly summarised as follows:— The rules of international law will be followed by the Persian Government in all its relations with foreigners.

In all civil or commercial cases to which one of the parties is a foreigner, only written evidence will be admitted. All judg rnents will be in writing and will contain the considerations of law and fact on which they are based. Copies of evidence and judgment will be obtainable.