Egyptian Criminal Procedure Comparatively Treated
| Published date | 01 January 1930 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3000300104 |
| Author | John Percival |
| Date | 01 January 1930 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Egyptian
Criminal Procedure
Comparatively
Treated
By
SIR
JOHN
PERCIVAL, K.B.E.
Late
Vice-President of the Native
Court
of Appeal
and
Judicial Adviser
to the Egyptian
Government
IN describing the criminal procedure system in Egypt it
should at the outset be pointed out that it is the ' native '
system that is being dealt with, i.e, the procedure applicable to
offences committed by Egyptians and tried in the Native
Courts. As is well known, there is a great variety of jurisdic-
tions in Egypt, for in addition to the Native Courts there exist
the Mixed Courts, the Consular Courts of some fifteen nations,
the Shariah Courts and the Patriarchal Courts. Of these the
Native and the Consular Courts alone have criminal jurisdic-
tion, except for a restricted power possessed by the Mixed
Courts to try certain specially defined offences.
When there is reason to suppose that a crime or mis-
demeanour has been committed by a foreigner, the Egyptian
Police can in certain cases arrest the suspected offender, though
frequently it is necessary to call in at the outset the assistance
of the Consular authorities;
but
in any case after the pre-
liminary investigation has been made the prisoner must be
handed over to the Consul of his nation, and from this point
the procedure of investigation and trial is carried out by his
nationals and in accordance with his own local
law:
British,
French, Italian, Greek, etc., as the case may be.
To
compare all these systems would of course be outside
the scope of this article, which is confined to a description of
the Egyptian native criminal procedure. When the British
Occupation commenced, the system in
existence-such
as it
was-was
based directly on French procedure, the penal and
procedure codes being practically shortened editions of the
3°
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