883.05/551: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Minister in Egypt ( Fish )

1. Your 105, December 2, 10 a.m.14 While the Department considers that reservations in the sense suggested in your despatch No. 320 of August 13, 1935,14 would be warranted as an express confirmation of the recognized principle that foreign judges shall constitute a majority of the judges of each of the mixed courts, the Department questions whether, as a practical matter, any reservation is necessary to insure the recognition of the principle in view of its general acceptance and the inclination and authority of the foreign judges to prevent its violation.

The Department is therefore disposed to accept the proposed amendment without reservation but before making a definite decision it desires to obtain your views and any additional information you may be able to furnish as to the Egyptian Government’s reaction to the French Government’s suggested amendment15 and the position taken or indicated by other interested Powers.

Hull
  1. Not printed.
  2. Not printed.
  3. The Minister in Egypt reported in despatch No. 425, November 20, 1935, that the French Government had accepted the Egyptian proposal on condition that a foreign judge must be chosen to preside over Chambers of only one judge and that Egyptian judges should not be appointed to more than one post as president of a Chamber in each of the three Courts, Cairo, Alexandria, and Mansurah, and of the Court of Appeals (883.05/549).