The Department has given thorough consideration to the various
proposals set forth in the memoranda and comments and accepts
certain of them as indicated below. The Department commends Vice
Consul Daniel Gaudin, Jr., on the thorough and elaborate study he
prepared.
Article IV, paragraph 1, line 8: After the word “other” the
description, “articles for personal use, including automobiles,
spare parts and equipment for automobiles and fuels consumed in
operating automobiles,” has been substituted in place of “personal
property”.
Article V, paragraph 1, line 4: After the words “coat of arms” the
words “and fly the flag” have been inserted.
The words “and air” have been struck out of Article XIII; “and” has
been placed between “land” and “water”; and “or” has been
substituted in place of “and” between “claim” and “exercise”.
Article XIV: At the end of first paragraph a proviso has been added
as follows:
Two copies of the draft convention as thus revised are herewith
enclosed. You are instructed to present this draft to the Egyptian
authorities as a basis for negotiation, mentioning, moreover, that
this Government will understand that it has the privilege of making
changes in its proposals during the negotiations, if it so
desires.
[Enclosure]
Draft of a Consular Convention Between the
United States and Egypt
The President of the United States of America and His Majesty the
King of Egypt, being desirous of defining the duties, rights,
prerogatives and immunities of consular officers of each country
in the territory of the other country:
Have decided to conclude a convention to that end and have
appointed the following plenipotentiaries; that is to say: the
President of the United States of America,
. . . . . . ., and His Majesty the King of
Egypt, . . . . . . .; who after having communicated to each
other their respective powers, found in good and due form, have
agreed upon the following articles:
Article I
Each of the High Contracting Parties agrees to receive from the
other, consular officers in those of its ports, places, and
cities, where it may be convenient and which are open to
consular representatives of any foreign country.
Consular officers of each of the High Contracting Parties shall,
after entering upon their duties, enjoy reciprocally in the
territories of the other all the rights, privileges, exemptions
and immunities which are enjoyed by officers of the same grade
of the most favored nation. As official agents, such officers
shall be entitled to the high consideration of all officials,
national or local, with whom they have official intercourse in
the State which receives them.
[Page 479]
The Government of each of the High Contracting Parties shall
furnish free of charge the necessary exequatur of such consular
officers of the other as present a regular commission signed by
the chief executive of the appointing State and under its great
seal; and they shall issue to a subordinate or substitute
consular officer duly appointed by an accepted superior consular
officer with the approbation of his Government, or by any other
competent officer of that Government, such documents as
according to the laws of the respective countries shall be
requisite for the exercise by the appointee of the consular
function. On the exhibition of an exequatur, or other document
issued in lieu thereof to such subordinate, such consular
officer shall be permitted to enter upon his duties and to enjoy
the rights, privileges and immunities granted by this
Convention.
Article II
Consular officers, nationals of the State by which they are
appointed, and not engaged in any profession, business or trade,
shall be exempt from arrest except when charged with the
commission of offenses locally designated as crimes other than
misdemeanors and subjecting the individual guilty thereof to
punishment. Such officers shall be exempt from military
billetings, and from service of any military or naval,
administrative or police character whatsoever.
In criminal cases the attendance at court by a consular officer
as a witness may be demanded by the prosecution or defense, or
by the court. The demand shall be made with all possible regard
for the consular dignity and the duties of the office; and there
shall be compliance on the part of the consular officer.
When the testimony of a consular officer who is a national of the
State which appoints him and is engaged in no private occupation
for gain is taken in civil cases, it shall be taken orally or in
writing at his residence or office and with due regard for his
convenience. The officer should, however, voluntarily give his
testimony at the trial whenever it is possible to do so without
serious interference with his official duties.
No consular officer shall be required to testify in either
criminal or civil cases regarding acts performed by him in his
official capacity.
Article III
Consular officers, including employees in a consulate, nationals
of the State by which they are appointed, other than those
engaged in private occupations for gain within the State where
they exercise their functions, shall be exempt from all taxes,
National, State, Provincial and Municipal, except taxes levied
on account of the possession or ownership of immovable property
situated in, or income derived [Page 480] from property of any kind situated or
belonging within the territories of the State within which they
exercise their functions. All consular officers and employees,
nationals of the State appointing them, shall be exempt from the
payment of taxes on the salary, fees or wages received by them
in compensation for their consular services.
The exemptions of the foregoing paragraph shall apply equally to
officials who are duly appointed by one of the High Contracting
Parties to exercise essential governmental functions in the
territory of the other High Contracting Party, provided that
such officials shall be nationals of the state appointing them
and shall not be engaged in private occupations for gain within
the country to which they are accredited. The state appointing
them shall communicate to the other state satisfactory evidence
of the appointment and shall indicate the character of the
service of the officials to whom the exemptions of this Article
are intended to apply.
The Government of each High Contracting Party shall have the
right to acquire and own land and buildings required for
diplomatic or consular premises in the territory of the other
High Contracting Party and also to erect buildings in such
territory for the purposes stated subject to local building
regulations.
Lands and buildings situated in the territory of either High
Contracting Party, of which the other High Contracting Party is
the legal or equitable owner and which are used exclusively for
governmental purposes by that owner, shall be exempt from
taxation of every kind, National, State, Provincial and
Municipal, other than assessments levied for services or local
public improvements by which the premises are benefited.
Article IV
Each of the High Contracting Parties agrees to permit the entry
free of all duty and without examination of any kind, of all
furniture, equipment and supplies intended for official use in
the consular offices of the other, and to extend to such
consular officers of the other and their families and suites as
are its nationals, the privilege of entry free of duty of their
baggage and all other articles for personal use, including
automobiles, spare parts and equipment for automobiles and fuels
consumed in operating automobiles, whether accompanying the
officer, his family or suite, to his post or imported at any
time during his incumbency thereof; provided, nevertheless, that
no article, the importation of which is prohibited by the law of
either of the High Contracting Parties, may be brought into its
territories.
The exemptions of the foregoing paragraph shall apply equally to
officials who are duly appointed by one of the High Contracting
Parties to exercise essential governmental functions in the
territory of the other High Contracting Party, provided that
such officials shall be [Page 481] nationals of the state appointing them and shall not be
engaged in private occupations for gain within the country to
which they are accredited. The state appointing them shall
communicate to the other satisfactory evidence of the
appointment and shall indicate the character of the service of
the officials to whom the exemptions of this Article are
intended to apply.
It is understood, however, that this privilege shall not be
extended to officers who are engaged in any private occupation
for gain in the countries to which they are accredited, save
with respect to Governmental supplies.
Article V
Consular officers may place over the outer door of their
respective offices the arms of their State with an appropriate
inscription designating the official office, and they may place
the coat of arms and fly the flag of their State on automobiles
employed by them in the exercise of their consular functions.
Such officers may also fly the flag of their country on their
offices including those situated in the capitals of the two
countries. They may likewise fly such flag over any boat or
vessel employed in the exercise of the consular function.
The quarters where consular business is conducted and the
archives of the consulates shall at all times be inviolable, and
under no pretext shall any authorities of any character within
the country make any examination or seizure of papers or other
property deposited with the archives. When consular officers are
engaged in business within the territory of the State where they
are exercising their duties, the files and documents of the
consulate shall be kept in a place entirely separate from the
one where private or business papers are kept. Consular offices
shall not be used as places of asylum. No consular officers
shall be required to produce official archives in court or
testify as to their contents.
Upon the death, incapacity, or absence of a consular officer
having no subordinate consular officer at his post, secretaries
or chancellors, whose official character may have previously
been made known to the Government of the State where the
consular function was exercised, may temporarily exercise the
consular function of the deceased or incapacitated or absent
consular officer; and while so acting shall enjoy all the
rights, prerogatives and immunities that were granted to the
consular officer.
Article VI
Consular officers of either High Contracting Party, nationals of
the State by which they are appointed, may, within their
respective consular districts, address the authorities
concerned, National, State, Provincial or Municipal, for the
purpose of protecting their countrymen [Page 482] in the enjoyment of their rights accruing
by treaty or otherwise. Complaint may be made for the infraction
of those rights. Failure upon the part of the proper authorities
to grant redress or to accord protection may justify
interposition through the diplomatic channel, and in the absence
of a diplomatic representative, a consul general or the consular
officer stationed at the capital may apply directly to the
Government of the country.
Consular officers shall have the right to interview, to
communicate with, and to advise their countrymen within their
consular district; to visit any of their countrymen who are
imprisoned or detained by authorities of the State in which they
exercise their consular functions; to assist them in proceedings
before or relations with such authorities; and to inquire into
any incidents which have occurred within the consular district
affecting the interests of their countrymen.
Nationals of either of the High Contracting Parties shall have
the right at all times to communicate with the consular officers
of their country.
Article VII
Consular officers, in pursuance of the laws of their own country
may (a) take, at any appropriate place
within their respective districts, the depositions of any
occupants of vessels of their own country, or of any national
of, or of any person having permanent residence within the
territory of, their own country; (b) draw
up, attest, certify and authenticate unilateral acts,
translations, deeds, and testamentary dispositions of their
countrymen, and also contracts to which a countryman is a party;
(c) authenticate signatures; (d) draw up, attest, certify and
authenticate written instruments of any kind purporting to
express or embody the conveyance or encumbrance of property of
any kind within the territory of the State by which such
officers are appointed, and unilateral acts, deeds, testamentary
dispositions and contracts relating to property situated, or
business to be transacted, within the territories of the State
by which they are appointed, embracing unilateral acts, deeds,
testamentary dispositions or agreements executed solely by
nationals of the State within which such officers exercise their
functions.
Instruments and documents thus executed and copies and
translations thereof, when duly authenticated by the consular
officer, under his official seal, shall be received as evidence
in the territories of the High Contracting Parties as original
documents or authenticated copies, as the case may be, and shall
have the same force and effect as if drawn by and executed
before a notary or other public officer duly authorized in the
country by which the consular officer was appointed; provided,
always, that such documents shall have been [Page 483] drawn and executed in conformity
to the laws and regulations of the country where they are
designed to take effect.
Article VIII
In case of the death of a national of either High Contracting
Party in the territory of the other without having in the
locality of his decease any known heirs or testamentary
executors by him appointed, the competent local authorities
shall at once inform the nearest consular officer of the State
of which the deceased was a national of the fact of his death,
in order that necessary information may be forwarded to the
parties interested.
In case of the death of a national of either of the High
Contracting Parties without will or testament whereby he has
appointed testamentary executors, in the territory of the other
High Contracting Party, the consular officer of the State of
which the deceased was a national and within whose district the
deceased made his home at the time of death, shall, so far as
the laws of the country permit and pending the appointment of an
administrator and until letters of administration have been
granted, be deemed qualified to take charge of the property left
by the decedent for the preservation and protection of the same.
Such consular officer shall have the right to be appointed as
administrator within the discretion of a tribunal or other
agency controlling the administration of estates provided the
laws of the place where the estate is administered so
permit.
Whenever a consular officer accepts the office of administrator
of the estate of a deceased countryman, he subjects himself as
such to the jurisdiction of the tribunal or other agency making
the appointment for all necessary purposes to the same extent as
a national of the country where he was appointed.
Article IX
A consular officer of either High Contracting Party shall within
his district have the right to appear personally or by delegate
in all matters concerning the administration and distribution of
the estate of a deceased person under the jurisdiction of the
local authorities for all such heirs or legatees in said estate,
either minors or adults, as may be non-residents and nationals
of the country represented by the said consular officer, with
the same effect as if he held their power of attorney to
represent them, unless such heirs or legatees themselves have
appeared, either in person or by duly authorized
representative.
A consular officer of either High Contracting Party may on behalf
on his non-resident countrymen collect and receipt for their
distributive shares derived from estates in process of probate
or accruing under the provisions of so-called Workmen’s
Compensation Laws or [Page 484]
other like statutes, for transmission through channels
prescribed by his Government to the proper distributees.
Article X
A consular officer shall have exclusive jurisdiction over
controversies arising out of the internal order of private
vessels of his country, and shall alone exercise jurisdiction in
cases, wherever arising, between officers and crews, pertaining
to the enforcement of discipline on board, provided the vessel
and the persons charged with wrongdoing shall have entered a
port within his consular district. Such an officer shall also
have jurisdiction over issues concerning the adjustment of wages
and the execution of contracts relating thereto provided,
however, that such jurisdiction shall not exclude the
jurisdiction conferred on local authorities under existing or
future laws.
When an act committed on board of a private vessel under the flag
of the State by which the consular officer has been appointed
and within the territorial waters of the State to which he has
been appointed constitutes a crime according to the laws of that
State, subjecting the person guilty thereof to punishment as a
criminal, the consular officer shall not exercise jurisdiction
except in so far as he is permitted to do so by the local
law.
A consular officer may freely invoke the assistance of the local
police authorities in any matter pertaining to the maintenance
of internal order on board of a vessel under the flag of his
country within the territorial waters of the State to which he
is appointed, and upon such a request the requisite assistance
shall be given.
A consular officer may appear with the officers and crews of
vessels under the flag of his country before the judicial
authorities of the State to which he is appointed for the
purpose of observing the proceedings or of rendering assistance
as an interpreter or agent.
Article XI
A consular officer of either High Contracting Party shall have
the right to inspect within the ports of the other High
Contracting Party within his consular district, the private
vessels of any flag destined or about to clear for ports of the
country appointing him in order to observe the sanitary
conditions and measures taken on board such vessels, and to be
enabled thereby to execute intelligently bills of health and
other documents required by the laws of his country, and to
inform his Government concerning the extent to which its
sanitary regulations have been observed at ports of departure by
vessels destined to its ports, with a view to facilitating entry
of such vessels therein.
[Page 485]
In exercising the right conferred upon them by this Article,
consular officers shall act with all possible despatch and
without unnecessary delay.
Article XII
All proceedings relative to the salvage of vessels of either High
Contracting Party wrecked upon the coasts of the other shall be
directed by the consular officer of the country to which the
vessel belongs and within whose district the wreck may have
occurred. Pending the arrival of such officer, who shall be
informed immediately of the occurrence, the local authorities
shall take all necessary measures for the protection of persons
and the preservation of wrecked property. The local authorities
shall not otherwise interfere than for the maintenance of order,
the protection of the interests of the salvors, if these do not
belong to the crews that have been wrecked and to carry into
effect the arrangements made for the entry and exportation of
the merchandise saved. It is understood that such merchandise is
not to be subjected to any customhouse charges, unless it be
intended for consumption in the country where the wreck may have
taken place.
The intervention of the local authorities in these different
cases shall occasion no expense of any kind, except such as may
be caused by the operations of salvage and the preservation of
the goods saved, together with such as would be incurred under
similar circumstances by vessels of the nation.
Article XIII
The territories of the High Contracting Parties to which the
provisions of this Convention extend shall be understood to
comprise all areas of land and water over which the Parties
respectively claim or exercise dominion as sovereign thereof,
except the Panama Canal Zone.
Article XIV
The present Convention shall be ratified and the ratifications
thereof shall be exchanged . . . . . . . The Convention shall
take effect in all its provisions thirty days after the day of
the exchange of ratifications and shall remain in full force for
the term of ten years thereafter; provided, however, that
Articles VIII and IX shall not enter into force with respect to
the United States of America until the United States of America
shall relinquish all jurisdiction in Egypt in matters of
personal status in accordance with Article IX of the Convention
regarding the abolition of the capitulations in Egypt signed at
Montreux May 8, 1937.
If within six months before the expiration of the aforesaid
period of ten years neither High Contracting Party notifies to
the other an intention of modifying, by change or omission, any
of the provisions [Page 486] of
any of the Articles in this Convention or of terminating it upon
the expiration of the aforesaid period, the Convention shall
remain in full force and effect after the aforesaid period and
until six months from such a time as either of the High
Contracting Parties shall have notified to the other an
intention of modifying or terminating the Convention.
In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed
this Convention and have affixed their seals thereto.
Done in duplicate, at . . . . . . ., this . . . . . day of . . .
. . . . in the year one thousand nine hundred and
thirty-nine.
