The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan: a compendium prepared by officers of the Sudan government, Vol. 1 (of 2)

by Sudan. Wizarat al-Naql wa-al-Muwasalat

CUSTOMS DUTIES.

For the purpose of Customs duties, the Sudan is, in the main, considered as forming a part of Egypt. The Government has, however, concluded a Customs Convention with Eritrea,[11] and applies practically the same principles to the co-terminous countries of Uganda, the Congo Free State, the French Congo and Abyssinia.

Broadly, goods exported to these countries from the Sudan pay 1 per cent. ad valorem, and imports from those countries 5 to 8 per cent.; whilst goods in transit thence receive a drawback equal in amount to the duty paid on entering the country, i.e., they can pass free of duty through the Sudan.[11]

JUSTICE.

The main lines of judicial organisation in the Sudan date from 1899, at which time the whole country was under Egyptian Martial Law.

Under the code of Criminal Procedure of that year the criminal courts are directly under the Governor-General, who, however, has the benefit of the advice of a Legal Secretary. Under “The Civil Justice Ordinance, 1900,” the civil courts are subordinated to the Legal Secretary, in his capacity as Acting Judicial Commissioner.

Criminal justice in each province is administered by the Mudir’s Court (composed of the Mudir or Governor, or his representative, and two other magistrates), which has general competence; minor District Courts of three officers, with limited competence; and magistrates with powers similar to, but more limited than, those of Indian Magistrates. These magistrates are the members of the Provincial Administrative Staff, who are either picked officers of the army or civilian inspectors, who, unless they have had a legal training, are required to pass an examination in the Codes.

The procedure at the inquiry, and as to arrest, etc., is borrowed from the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure; that at the hearing is that of an Egyptian (or substantially, of a British) court-martial, with which the military officers are familiar.

Sentences passed by the Mudir’s Court are submitted to the Governor-General for confirmation. Those of the subordinate courts are either submitted to the Mudir for confirmation, or are open to appeal before him.

The Governor-General has, in all cases, revising powers similar to those of an Indian High Court.

The substantive criminal law is contained in the Sudan Penal Code, which is a copy of the Indian Penal Code, with such modifications as the circumstances of the country appeared to demand.

The civil courts in each province are those of the Mudir and of the subordinate magistrates. The procedure is borrowed in part from that in Indian provinces which do not possess a High Court, and in part from the Ottoman and African Orders in Council.

The parties appear before the judge, who settles the issues to be tried before trying the case. Every court has power to sit with assessors, who, in commercial cases, are frequently of considerable assistance. Appeals lie to the Mudir, or from the court of the Mudir to that of the Judicial Commissioner.

This system has been somewhat modified by the appointment of four civil judges who are trained lawyers. Wherever there is a civil judge, he has all the powers, civil and criminal, of the Mudir, and ordinarily takes all the civil and the more responsible criminal work of that officer. A civil judge has now sat continuously for the last three years at Khartoum, where all the principal merchants reside. A system of circuits will probably be shortly instituted in the outlying provinces; in the meantime provision is made for civil disputes of special importance or complexity in those provinces by a section which authorises their transfer, by consent of the parties, to the court of the Judicial Commissioner. It is very possible that the latter court may shortly be replaced by a bench of civil judges.

It was not thought advisable to create a body of substantive civil law at a time when all that was known of the customs of the people was that they probably differed from those of any country whose legislation could have been taken as a precedent. Section 3 of the Civil Justice Ordinance provides for the recognition of customary law, so far as applicable and not repugnant to good conscience, in matters of succession, etc.; and Section 4 provides for the administration of “justice, equity, and good conscience,” a phrase which has stereotyped custom in large parts of the east, and filled up the interstices with the principles of English Law.

In commercial matters in the Sudan the judges have inclined to interpret it as implying the obligation to recognise the principles of Egyptian Commercial Law in cases in which the law of civilised countries is not in agreement.

The above-mentioned Codes are applied wherever they may be put in force by the Governor-General, and they have been gradually extended to all parts of the Sudan, except the Bahr El Ghazal. In the more backward provinces in the south, where officers are scattered, advantage has to be taken of a provision that they shall be applied with such modifications, not affecting the substance, as the circumstances may require.[12]

Mehkema Sharia.There are special courts, Mehkema Sharia, for the trial in accordance with Mohammedan Law, of cases between Mohammedans, involving questions of personal status, such as succession, wills, gifts, marriage, divorce, family relations, and also the constitution of charitable endowments (wakf).

The judges of these courts are Mohammedan Sheikhs, either natives of the Sudan or Egyptians; of whom the latter have obtained their training in the Azhar Mosque at Cairo.

The Mehkema Sharia comprise District Courts, which have jurisdiction over one or more Districts, according to the extent and population of the Districts, Province Courts, which act as courts of appeal from the District Courts and have also an original jurisdiction over the district in which they are situated, and a Supreme Court of Appeal situated at Khartoum, consisting of the Grand Kadi of the Sudan, who acts as President, the Mufti, and two judges of appeal.

Though the majority of the inhabitants of the Sudan are followers of the Maliki School of Mohammedan Law, the courts generally, as in Egypt, adopt the jurisprudence of the Hanafi School.