The attempt by the Kiangsu Provincial Government to paralyse the powers of the Provincial Court as described by us yesterday is the most serious attack on the Rendition Agreement and on the security of jurisdiction in Shanghai that has yet occurred. There has been cause enough in the past for complaint of the inese official attitude towards the Court. But hitherto the chief visible ground of offence has been inequitable sentences, absurdly tight or reprehensibly severe; and refusal to confirm tences of execution upon criminals whom it was apparently to the interest of someone in high place to keep alive.
We say "visible" ground offence because the strongest suspicion exists of frequent irregularities of a sort unfortun-not unknown in oriental courts. These can scaregly be proved and are only mentioned because the suspicion of their existence is so very strong that issued ax a supplement to "The Illustrated us by Messrs, Kelly sk Wal it cannot be ignored. But the present policy of the Kiangsu Provincial Government and Ministry of Justice is more dangerous than anything previously reported. It is a deliberate move to reduce the Provisional court to a mere instrument for the framing of cases which superior courts would try. For the moment only Chinese civil cases are involved, but it may well be believed that, if this move succeeded, criminal cases would quickly be brought under the same order, The Chinese judice al organization into which it is sought to bring the Provincial Court is complicated. But, briefly we may say there are four courts: the bottom a court of first instance, permitted only to take cognizance of cases involving sums of under $1,000; above this a district court, to hear appeals from the first court and have jurisdiction in cases of over $1,000; a step higher up is the provincial court, sitting in Soochow, whose judgment is final in respect of appeals from the court of first instance. Above I is the Supreme Court of Nanking, which would deal with cases appealed to it through the provincial court from the court of second instance.
This court j is to be created out of the present Provisional Court which is relegated to the unimportant position: of a court of first instance. The Appeal Court created under the Rendition Agreement with the Provisional Court simply obliterated while the latter is stripped of all powers of final decision. Under the Rendition Agreement no changes can be made in the status of the Provisional Court until Januai 1930, and notice of the desire for revision must be given six months beforehand, that is to say next July, So that we have not yet even arrived at the date when alterations can be _proposed. And it will be noticed that no intimation has been given to the Consular Body of the order which has now actually been issued.
The Chinese official.attitude can easily be-guessed. Chinese, they would say, do not acquire extraterritorial rights by living in Shanghai and in respect of civil cases we can do as we please. There is a grain of plausibility -in. this. "But as
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.