9. Persia.

THE PERSIAN ORDER IN COUNCIL, 1889.*

At the Court at Windsor, the 13th day of December, 1889.

Whereas by treaty, grant, usage, sufferance, and other lawful means, Her Majesty the Queen has power and jurisdiction in Persia:

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by virtue and in exercise of the powers by the Foreign Jurisdiction Acts, 1843 to 1878,† or otherwise in Her Majesty vested, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:1. This Order may be cited as "The Persia Order in Council, 1889."

2. This Order is divided into parts as follows:

3. In this Order, unless the subject or context otherwise requires

"Secretary of State" means one of Her Majesty's PrincipalSecretaries of State;

"Prescribed" means prescribed by any consular instructions or by any order or notification signed or authorised by a Secretary of State;

This Order is amended by The Persia (Judicial Fees) Order in Council, 1898, and The Persia (Regulation) Order in Council, 1901, printed respectively at pp. 688 and 689 below.

† 6 & 7 Vict. c. 94; 29 & 30 Vict. c. 87; 38 & 39 Vict. c. 85; 41 & 42 Vict. c. 67; now repealed and consolidated by the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c. 37).

Persia" means the dominions and territories of the Shah of
Persia within the limits of this Order;

Consul-General" means Her Majesty's Minister and Consul-
General in Persia, or the person for the time being acting
as such, with the authority or approval of a Secretary of
State;

"Consular officer" includes any person for the time being
acting by virtue of Her Majesty's Commission, or with
the authority or approval of a Secretary of State, as
Consul-General, Consul, or Vice-Consul, or Consular
Agent;
Treaty" includes any convention, agreement, or arrange-
ment made by or on behalf of Her Majesty, and any
regulation appended thereto;

“Court" means any Court or person exercising jurisdiction
under this Order;

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British subject" includes a person enjoying Her Majesty's protection in so far as Her Majesty has jurisdiction in respect of any such person, and includes, by virtue of 39 & 40 Vict. c. 46,* subjects of the several Princes and States in India in alliance with Her Majesty, residing and being in Persia ;

Foreigner" means a person, whether a native or subject of
Persia or not, who is not a British subject, as herein
defined;

"Native" means a native or subject of Persia, or of the limits
of the Persian coasts, not being a British subject;
'Native Indian subject" means a native of India, as defined
in the Act of Parliament of 1858, "for the better govern-
ment of India,"† not of European descent;

Person" includes a corporation or association of persons;
"Will" means will, codicil, or other testamentary instru-

ment;

Office copy" mean a copy, either made under direction of
the Court, or produced to the proper officer of the Court
for examination with the original, and examined by
him therewith, and in either case sealed with the seal
of the Court as evidence of correctness;
Oath" and "affidavit," and words referring thereto, or to
swearing, include affirmation and declaration, or to the
making of an affirmation or declaration, where an
affirmation or declaration is admissible in lieu of an oath
or affidavit ;

"Proved" means shown by evidence on oath, in the form of
affidavit, or other form to the satisfaction of the Court or
consular officer acting or having jurisdiction in the
matter;

*The Slave Trade Act, 1876. Section 4 of this Act is repealed and consolidated by the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c. 37), ss. 15, 18.

†The Government of India Act, 1858 (21 & 22 Vict. c. 106).

The plural includes the singular, and the singular the plural,
and the masculine the feminine.

Expressions referring to print or to writing include either
print or writing, or a combination of both.
Crime" includes offence.

4. For the purposes of this Order, the word "Persia," or any term or expression referring to Persia, does not (except as in this Order expressly provided) include or apply to any place for the time being included within the limits to which any other Order in Council for the time being in force relating to the Persian coasts and islands applies, which limits are in this Order referred to as the limits of the Persian coasts.

In case of dispute or doubt whether any place is within the limits of Persia for the purposes of this Order, or is within the limits of the Persian coasts, the Consul-General may provisionally determine such dispute or question in such manner as he thinks fit, and his determination, unless and until the Secretary of State otherwise directs, shall be conclusive in all causes and matters arising under this Order.

Any provision of this Order referring to a country or place out of Persia includes any place within the limits of the Persian coasts.

II.-General Provisions.

5. All Her Majesty's civil jurisdiction exercisable in Persia for the judicial hearing and determination of matters in difference, or for the administration or control of property or persons, and, all Her Majesty's criminal jurisdiction there exercisable for the repression or punishment of crimes or offences, or for the maintenance of order, shall be exercised under and according to the provisions of this Order, and not otherwise.

6. Subject to the other provisions of this Order, the civil and criminal jurisdiction aforesaid shall, as far as circumstances admit, be exercised on the principles of and in conformity with the common law, the doctrines of equity, the statute law, and other law for the time being in force in and for England, and with the powers vested in and according to the course of procedure and practice observed by and before Courts of Justice and Justices of the Peace in England, according to their respective jurisdictions and authorities.

7. Nothing in this Order shall deprive Her Majesty's consular officers of the right to observe and to enforce the observance of, or shall deprive any person of the benefit of, any reasonable custom existing in Persia, except where this Order contains some express and specific provision incompatible with the observance thereof.

8. In any case in the decision of which, under any treaty, any of Her Majesty's Consuls may or ought to concur, a consular officer

See the Persian Coasts and Islands Order in Council, 1889, printed at p. 667

below.

exercising jurisdiction under this Order shall alone act on the part and on behalf of Her Majesty.

9. Crimes, offences, wrongs, breaches of contract against or affecting the person, property, or rights of natives or other foreigners as herein defined, committed by persons subject to this Order, are punishable or otherwise cognisable under the provisions of this Order, with the consent of such natives or foreigners, in the same manner as if the same were committed against or affected the person, property, or rights of British subjects.

III.-Courts.

10. Courts for the purposes of this Order shall be held as follows:(1.) Courts of First Instance, in this Order called Provincial

Courts, shall be held by such consular officers in and
for such districts as the Secretary of State from time
to time directs.

(2.) The Consul-General shall at such place as the Secretary
of State directs hold a Court, in this Order called the
Court of the Consul-General, for the purposes of his
appellate and other jurisdiction under this Order.
(3.) The Provincial Court for the district in which the
Court of the Consul-General is held may be held either
by the Consul-General, or Vice-Consul, or by such
other consular officer as the Secretary of State or the
Consul-General directs.

If it be held by the Consul-General, the provisions of this Order relating to appeals from a Provincial Court to the Consul-General are inapplicable, and the provisions of this Order with respect to appeals to Her Majesty in Council shall have effect as if the judgment, order, decree, or sentence of the Consul-General were a judgment, order, decree, or sentence of a Provincial Court affirmed on appeal by the Consul General, and no other appeal shall lie.

11. In any matter, civil or criminal, a Court within whose district (in civil matters) the matter of complaint wholly or in part arose or happened, or the subject in dispute is wholly or partly situate, or the contract in question was wholly or partly made, or the breach thereof wholly or partly occurred, or the defendant resides or carries on business, or (in criminal matters) the crime was wholly or partly committed, or the accused person happens to be, shall have jurisdiction, and may deal with the case, as if every material fact or thing had happened, or was situate, within its district; but any such Court, if, in its opinion, justice or convenience so requires, may decline or suspend the exercise of jurisdiction, and may, if it thinks necessary or just, require security from the defendant or accused person for his appearance before some other Court having jurisdiction in the matter, and for obedience to any judgment or order of such other Court, and

further, in a criminal case, if necessary, may arrest and commit the accused person, and cause him to be removed under warrant and in custody, to be dealt with by such other Court.

IV.-Registration.

12. Every resident British subject (except a native Indian subject), being of the age of 21 years or upwards, or being married, or a widower or widow, though under that age, shall, in January in every year, register himself in a register to be kept at the Consulate of the consular district within which he resides, subject to this qualification, that the registration of a man shall be deemed to comprise the registration of his wife (unless she is living apart from him), and that the registration of the head of a family, whether male or female, shall be deemed to comprise the registration of all females being relatives of the head of the family (in whatever degree of relationship) living under the same roof with the head of the family at the time of his registration.

Every non-resident British subject (except a native Indian subject) arriving in Persia at a place where a consular office is maintained, unless borne on the muster-roll of a British vessel, shall, within one month after his arrival, register himself in a register to be kept at the consular office there, but so that no person shall be required to register himself more than once in any year, reckoned from the 1st January.

Any person failing so to register himself, and not excusing his failure to the satisfaction of the consular officer, shall be deemed guilty of an offence under this Order, and shall be liable to a fine. of not more than 51., and any Court or authority acting under this Order may, if it thinks fit, decline to recognise him as a British subject.

13. A native Indian subject resident in, or resorting to, Persia, may, if he thinks fit, register himself at the times and in manner aforesaid.

A native Indian subject not so registering himself shall not be entitled to sue in the Court, or to receive the support or protection of a consular officer with respect to any suit or proceeding to which he is a party in a Court or before a judicial officer of Persia, or in a Court or before a judicial officer in Persia of a State in amity with Her Majesty.

14. The Consular officer shall give to every person registered under this Order a certificate of registration under his hand and consular seal; and the name of a wife (unless she is living apart from her husband) shall be indorsed on her husband's certificate; and the names and descriptions of females whose registration is comprised in that of the head of the family shall be indorsed on the certificate of the head of the family.

15. Every person shall on every registration of himself be liable to pay a fee of 2s. 6d.