§ Mr. JOHN ROBERTSONasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the bar practising before the British consular court at Cairo has repeatedly petitioned the British Consul-General there for the appointment of a permanent English judge; whether he is aware that there are three such judges at Constantinople, where British commercial interests are much less important than in 381W Egypt; and whether any reason can be assigned for the refusal to appoint a permanent Consular judge at Cairo?
§ Sir E. GREYIn December, 1907, the Members of the British Bar in Egypt submitted, through the Judge of the Supreme Consular Court for the Ottoman Dominions, a request that one of the two Supreme Court Judges should reside permanently in Egypt.
This request, which is the only one of the kind which has been brought to my notice, was carefully considered at the time, but it was decided, after consultation with His Majesty's Consular Officers at Cairo, Alexandria, and Port Said, that the case in favour of the proposed change was not sufficiently established to warrant its adoption, at any rate, for the present.
With regard to the second part of the hon. Member's question, there are only two, and not three, Judges of the Supreme Court for the Ottoman Dominions. Their headquarters are at Constantinople, but one or other of them is, under the present arrangements, occupied for a considerable part of each year in hearing cases in Egypt.