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