Month: April 2021

CHAPTER 2—CONSULAR COURTS

§§141 to 143. Repealed. Aug. 1, 1956, ch. 807, 70 Stat. 774

Act Aug. 1, 1956, repealed sections 141 to 143 effective upon the date which the President determined to be appropriate for the relinquishment of jurisdiction of the United States in Morocco. Jurisdiction of the United States in Morocco was relinquished by memorandum of President Eisenhower dated Sept. 15, 1956. Notice was given to Morocco on Oct. 6, 1956, and all pending cases were disposed of by 1960. See Bulletin of the State Department Vol. 35:909, page 844.

Section 141, R.S. §§4083, 4125, 4126, 4127; act June 14, 1878, ch. 193, 20 Stat. 131, related to judicial authority generally of ministers and consuls of United States in China, Siam, Turkey, Morocco, Muscat, Abyssinia, Persia, and territories formerly part of Ottoman Empire including Egypt.

Section 142, R.S. §4084, related to general criminal jurisdiction of ministers and consuls of United States.

Section 143, R.S. §4085, related to general jurisdiction of ministers and consuls of United States and venue in civil cases.

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter2&edition=prelim

Consular court

Consular courts were law courts established by foreign powers in countries where they had extraterritorial rights. They were presided over by consular officers.

Extraterritoriality[edit]

Trying a divorce suit in the United States Consular Court at Constantinople, 1922

Western powers when establishing diplomatic relations with countries they considered to have underdeveloped legal systems would demand extraterritorial rights. Treaty provisions provided that the laws of the local country did not apply to citizens of the treaty powers and that local courts did not have jurisdiction over them. Consular courts were established to handle civil and criminal cases against citizens and subjects of the subjects of the country.[1] The British had the widest system of consular courts run by the Foreign Office. British consular courts could be found in Africa, the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, China, Japan, Korea and Siam.[2]

Ottoman Empire = Moor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consular_court

writ (n.)

Old English writ “something written, piece of writing,” from the past participle stem of writan (see write). Used of legal documents or instruments at least since 1121.

Protocol: Averment of Jurisdiction
Truth & The Divine Truth
Judicial Action in Propria Persona Su Juris

  1. Personum
  2. Subject Matter
  3. Territorial

Pro se

Latin for “for oneself, on one’s own behalf.” When a litigant proceeds without legal counsel, they are said to be proceeding “pro se.”  See, e.g. Rivera v. Florida Department of Corrections, 526 U.S. 135 (1999).

The Sixth Amendment guarantees criminal defendants the right to representation by counsel.  In 1975, the Supreme Court held that the structure of the Sixth Amendment necessarily implies that a defendant in a state criminal trial has a constitutional right to proceed without counsel when he voluntarily and intelligently elects to do so. See Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975).  Thus, an unwilling defendant may not be compelled by the State to accept the assistance of a lawyer.  A defendant’s right to self-represenatation in federal criminal proceedings is codified in 28 U.S.C. § 1654. 

Any waiver of the right to counsel must be knowing, voluntary, and intelligent.  The Faretta court stated that “a defendant need not have the skill and experience of a lawyer, but should be made aware of the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation, so that the record will establish that he knows what he is doing and “the choice is made with eyes open.”  See Faretta.  In 2004, the Court acknowledged that it has not prescribed any formula regarding the information a defendant must possess in order to make an intelligent choice.  See Iowa v. Tovar, 541 U.S. 77 (2004).  According to the Court, determining whether a waiver of counsel is intelligent depends on “a range of case-specific factors, including the defendant’s education or sophistication, the complex or easily grasped nature of the charge, and the stage of the proceeding.”