Executive Agreement Series No. 37
Agreement Relating to the Chinese Courts in the International Settlement at Shanghai, Signed February 17, 1930 4
Article I
From the date on which the present Agreement comes into force, all former rules, agreements, exchanges of notes et cetera having special reference to the establishment of a Chinese court in the International Settlement at Shanghai shall be abolished.
[Page 334]Article II
The Chinese Government shall, in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations relating to the judiciary and subject to the terms of the present Agreement, establish in the International Settlement at Shanghai a District Court (Ti Fang Fa Yuan) and a Branch High Court (Kao Teng Fa Yuan Fen Yuan). All Chinese laws and regulations, substantive as well as procedural, which are now in force, or which may hereafter be duly enacted and promulgated shall be applicable in the Courts, due account being taken of the Land Regulations and Bye-Laws of the International Settlement, which are applicable pending their adoption and promulgation by the Chinese Government, and of the terms of the present Agreement.
Judgments, decisions and rulings of the Branch High Court are subject to appeal, according to Chinese law, to the Supreme Court of China.
Article III
The former practice of Consular deputies or Consular officials appearing to watch proceedings or to sit jointly in the Chinese court now functioning in the International Settlement shall be discontinued in the Courts established under the present Agreement.
Article IV
When any person is arrested by the municipal or judicial police, he shall, within twenty-four hours, exclusive of holidays, be sent to the Courts established under the present Agreement to be dealt with, failing which he shall be released.
Article V
The Courts established under the present Agreement shall each have a certain number of procurators to be appointed by the Chinese Government, who shall hold inquests and autopsies (Chien Yen) within the jurisdiction of these Courts and shall otherwise perform their functions in accordance with Chinese law in all cases involving the application of Articles 103 to 186 of the Chinese Criminal Code, except where the Municipal Police of the International Settlement or the party concerned has already initiated prosecution, provided that all preliminary investigations conducted by the procurator shall be held publicly and counsel for the accused shall have the right to be present and heard.
In other cases arising within the jurisdiction of the Courts, the Municipal Police or the party concerned shall prosecute. The procurator shall have the right to express his views in court in all criminal [Page 335] cases in which the prosecution is initiated by the Municipal Police or the party concerned.
Article VI
All judicial processes, such as summonses, warrants, orders, et cetera, shall be valid only after they have been signed by a judge of the Courts established under the present Agreement, whereupon they shall be served or executed by the judicial police or, as provided below, by the process-servers thereof.
No person found in the International Settlement shall be handed over to the extra-Settlement authorities without a preliminary investigation in court at which counsel for the accused shall have the right to be present and heard, except in the case of requests emanating from other modern law courts when the accused may be handed over after his identity has been established by the Court.
All judgments, decisions and rulings of the Courts shall be executed as soon as they become final as a result of the judicial procedure in force in the said Courts. Whenever necessary, the Municipal Police shall render any assistance within their power as may be requested of them.
The process-servers of the Courts shall be appointed by the Presidents of the Courts respectively and their duties shall be to serve all summonses and deliver other documents of the Courts in connection with civil cases. For the execution of judgments in civil cases, the process-servers shall be accompanied by the judicial police. The officers and members of the judicial police of the Courts shall be appointed by the President of the Branch High Court upon the recommendation of the Municipal Council and shall be subject to dismissal by the President of that Court upon cause shown. Their services will also be terminated by the President at the request of the Municipal Council upon cause shown. They shall wear the uniform designed by the Chinese judicial authorities, and shall be subject to the orders and direction of the Courts and faithful to their duties.
Article VII
The House of Detention for civil cases and the Women’s Prison attached to the Chinese court now functioning in the International Settlement at Shanghai shall be transferred from that court to the Courts established under the present Agreement and shall be supervised and administered by the Chinese authorities.
All prisoners now serving sentences in the prisons attached to the Chinese court now functioning in the International Settlement and those sentenced by the Courts established under the present Agreement shall, at the discretion of the said Courts, serve their sentences either [Page 336] in such prisons in the Settlement or in Chinese prisons outside the Settlement, except that offenders against the Police Offences Code and the Land Regulations and Bye-Laws and persons under arrest awaiting trial shall serve their periods of detention in the Settlement. The prisons in the Settlement shall be operated, as far as practicable, in conformity with Chinese prison regulations and shall be subject to inspection, from time to time, by officers appointed by the Chinese judicial authorities.
Persons sentenced to death by the Courts established under the present Agreement shall be sent to the Chinese authorities outside of the Settlement for execution of such sentence.
Article VIII
Foreign lawyers duly qualified will be admitted to practice in the Courts established under the present Agreement in all cases in which a foreigner is a party, provided such foreign lawyer can only represent the foreign party concerned. The Municipal Council may also be represented in the same manner by duly qualified lawyers, Chinese or foreign, in any proceedings in which the Council is complainant or plaintiff or the Municipal Police is the prosecutor.
In other cases or proceedings in which the Council considers the interests of the Settlement to be involved, it may be represented by a duly qualified lawyer, Chinese or foreign, who may submit to the Court his views in writing during the proceedings and who may, if he deems necessary, file a petition in intervention in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Foreign lawyers who are entitled to practice under this Article in the above-mentioned Courts shall apply to the Ministry of Justice for lawyers’ certificates and shall be subject to Chinese laws and regulations applicable to lawyers, including those governing their disciplinary punishment.
Article IX
Four permanent representatives shall be appointed, two by the Chinese Government and two by the Governments of the other Powers signatory to the present Agreement, who together shall seek to reconcile such differences of opinion regarding the interpretation or application of the present Agreement as may be referred to them by the President of the Branch High Court or by the authorities of the signatory foreign Powers, provided that their Report shall have no binding force upon either party except by mutual consent, it being understood that no judgments, decisions, rulings or orders of the Courts, as such, shall be referred to the aforesaid representatives for consideration.
[Page 337]Article X
The present Agreement and the attached Notes5 shall enter into effect on April 1st, 1930 and shall continue in force for a period of three years from that date, provided that they may be extended for an additional period upon mutual consent of the parties thereto.
on behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs
on behalf of the Brazilian Chargé d’Affaires
In the name of the American Minister,
on behalf of His Britannic Majesty’s Minister
on behalf of the Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires
on behalf of the Netherlands charge d’affaires
In the name of the French Minister:
[seal of the ministry of foreign affairs]