British Courts and Extra-Territoriality in Japan, 1859-1899
Publisher: BRILL
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 476
ISBN-13: 9789004258556
Subjects: Courts, great britain; Exterritoriality; Consular jurisdiction; Great britain, foreign relations, japan; Japan, foreign relations, great britain; Great britain, commerce; Japan, commerce
Description: In 'The British Courts and extra-territoriality in Japan, 1859-1899', Christopher Roberts reviews the Courts' day-to-day workings and examines the nature of, and fluctuations in, their case-load. By examining the Courts' case-load, it shows that, whilst some complaints that earlier commentators have made about the system's structure and the Consuls' lack of legal training and poor judgments may have been justified initially, the British authorities responded to them so that, over time, the Courts-and the practitioners within the system-came to reflect an increasing professionalism andsophistication. Using both a quantitative and a qualitative analysis of the reported cases, the author concludes that accusations of an anti-Japanese, pro-British bias on the part of the Courts are overstated.