891.041/4
The Minister in Persia (Philip) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 2.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that on the 26th ultimo, the Shah officiated at the opening of the new Judiciary Departments which have been reorganized by Mirza Ali Akbar Khan Davar, ex-Minister of Public Works, who was appointed Minister of Justice in the present Government under the leadership of Mostowfi-ol-Mamelek.
As previously reported to the Department, Mr. Davar has been vested with special powers by the Medjlis in order to enable him to reform and reconstitute the Ministry of Justice which has been up to the present in an unsatisfactory state of inefficiency and corruption. He appears to be strongly supported by the Shah in this work.
Mr. Davar has made strenuous efforts to procure the services of men of ability and integrity, but whether he has been entirely successful remains to be seen. The elderly Mirza Mehdi Gholi Khan Hedayat (Mokhber-os-Saltaneh), has resigned the portfolio of Public Works in the Mostowfi Cabinet and has been appointed by Davar as President of the Court of Cassation (the highest judicial office) at a salary of seven hundred and fifty Tomans a month. I understand that Davar made every effort to persuade Mr. Hassan Pirnia (Mushir-ed-Dowleh) to accept this office, and that he offered him a salary of one thousand Tomans a month if he would do so.
Other names published as newly appointed members of the Court of Cassation are the following: Mirza Mohammed Sadegh Tabatabai, Haji Charaf-ol-Molk, Abbas Ali Khan Chevkat, Nasser-ol-Islam, Hairi-Zadeh, Seyid Mohammed Ghomi, Nair-ol-Molk and Haji Seyid Nasrollah, etc.
One of the departures to be noted in the new judiciary establishment is the appointment of laymen to replace clerics in the various departments. Whereas the Mullah element was greatly in the majority in the previous judiciary, this has now been reduced to a minority of about one third in the total of the more responsible offices.
The Interpreter of this Legation, Mr. Allah Yar Saleh, was offered an appointment in the new Ministry of Justice, and has accepted it. His position is that [of] Court Interrogator (“Juge d’Instruction”), and the salary is about what he received from our Government.
[Page 572]The fact that he has been assured that, with others now appointed by Davar, he will be classified as a member of the regular Civil Service, for which he has passed the age limit under the existing laws, has greatly influenced his decision, I believe.
Under the powers now vested in Mr. Davar he has been free to make such appointments as he saw fit within a certain period of time, subject to final approval by the Medjlis six months hence. In the event of such approval, of which Davar represents himself as confident, all of these officials are destined to pass into the regular Civil Service, irrespective of age, etc.
Dr. A. C. Millspaugh28 has expressed himself to me as being in some doubt as to the successful outcome of Davar’s activities. Apart from the fact that the reconstitution of the judiciary is calling for largely increased appropriations, he is of the opinion that the majority of the new men appointed lack the experience and ability necessary for the institution of valuable and lasting reforms.
The Ceremony of the opening of the new Courts took place in the Golistan Palace, in the presence of the Shah and the Cabinet.
The Shah delivered a short address to the new judges and chiefs of various sections, to whom he handed their commissions.
The Shah said that he attached great importance to the reform of the Judiciary. He expressed the hope that the new officials would prove themselves worthy of the great responsibilities entrusted to them. One of his chief desires had been to abolish the capitulations. The formation of the new Judiciary was the first important step in that direction. He said he had issued an order to the Government (or to the Prime Minister) to prepare the ground for the abolition of the capitulations as soon as possible.
The Minister of the Court then read the instruction mentioned, a translation of which I have the honor to transmit with this.
This instruction was published in the Shafagh Sorkh of the 27th ultimo, presumably at the instance of the Prime Minister. I beg also to transmit herewith a translation of an article carried by that paper on the same date in reference to the Shah’s declared intentions with regard to the capitulations.29
I have [etc.]