British Supreme Court for China

The restored British Supreme Court for China and Japan building

The British Supreme Court for China and Japan was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement in 1865 to try cases against British subjects in China and Japan, and from 1883, Korea, under the principles of Extraterritoriality. The court also heard appeals from consular courts in China and Japan and from the British Court for Japan which was established in 1879.

Background

Britain had acquired extraterritorial rights in China under the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. The United States obtained further extraterritorial rights under the Treaty of Wanghsia which Britain was able to take advantage of under the Most Favoured Nation provision in a Supplemental Agreement to the Treaty of Nanking. Subsequently, under the Treaty of Tientsin signed in 1858 and ratified in 1860 these rights were provided for directly in a Sino-British Treaty. In 1858, Britain obtained extraterritorial rights in Japan under the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce. In Korea, Great Britain obtained extraterritorial rights in 1883 under a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce which was signed in Hanyang on 26 November 1883.

Court buildings

In Shanghai, the court was housed in the British Consulate compound. From 1865 to 1871 cases were heard using the rooms that had been used by the consular court. In 1871 a dedicated court building to stand at the back of the consulate building facing on to Yuanmingyuan Road was opened. In 1913 the building was expanded to add a Police Court (on the ground floor) and a second court (on the first floor) immediately south of the main court room. Rooms of similar size were built to the north for consular offices. The building still stands to this day and can be seen from Yuanmingyuan Road.

In Yokohama, the Court for Japan sat in the British Consulate building in Yokohama. The building was destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.

In other cities, when the judges of the court went on circuit to outlying cities they would generally sit in courts in British consulate buildings but on occasions would use other premises where important cases of great public interest were being heard.

Changes

Japan

In 1879, reflecting the growing British commercial interests in Japan and the inconvenience of bringing a first instance action in Shanghai, a Court for Japan was established in Kanagawa (Yokohama) with first instance jurisdiction in Japan. The Court for Japan also heard appeals from consular courts in Japan. Appeals from the Court for Japan were heard by the Chief Justice and Judge of the Supreme Court in Shanghai. Under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed in 1894, Britain gave up extraterritorial rights in Japan with effect from July 1899. The Court for Japan officially heard its last case, which had been filed before the end of July 1899, in early 1900. The Supreme Court was renamed the Supreme Court for China and Corea ('Corea' being the contemporary spelling for Korea) in 1900.

Korea

Under the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan and Britain automatically lost extraterritorial rights in Korea. The court then became the Supreme Court for China.

China

In the 1920s there were negotiations with China to give up extraterritorial rights. In 1930 and 1931, after the Kuomingtang consolidated their rule in China, Britain reached an agreement in principle with the Chinese Foreign Minister to give up extraterritorial rights. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and then Northern China in 1937 put the issue on the backburner. The Court effectively ceased to function on 8 December 1941 when the Japanese Navy occupied the court premises at the start of the Pacific War. After 9 months internship, either at home or in the Cathay Hotel (now the Peace Hotel), the judges and British staff of the court were evacuated to Britain aboard the SS. Narkunda.

It was, however, only in 1943 during World War II that Britain, under pressure from the United States, gave up extraterritorial rights in China under the British-Chinese Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China signed on 11 January 1943 and which came into force on 20 May 1943. The court therefore had had jurisdiction over British subjects in Korea for 27 years; in Japan for 34 years and in China for 78 years when the court was finally dissolved in 1943.

Cases

The court tried cases of all descriptions, all the time applying the laws of England in China, Japan and Korea, including murder trials before juries, divorce cases, commercial disputes, trademark and passing off claims, habeas corpus applications and cases of petty theft. Some of its cases are online at Macquarie University's Colonial Cases website. Official case reports can be found in the North China Herald which was also the Supreme Court and Consular Gazette. Cases from other consular courts in Shanghai were also published in the North China Herald.

Some famous cases included a defamation claim brought by Baron von Gumpach against Robert Hart, the Chief Inspector of Chinese Maritime Customs, which ultimately went to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, in 1873, under the name Hart v Gumpach; the trial in 1908 of Ernest Bethell, proprietor of the Korean Daily News for sedition against the Japanese Government of Korea as well as a defamation claim brought by Bethell, also in 1908, against the North China Herald; a habeas corpus application, in 1939, on behalf of 4 Chinese held by British officials in Tianjin but wanted by the Japanese authorities in China for murder; and, the trial, in 1897, in the Court for Japan of Edith Carew for the arsenic poisoning of her husband in Yokohama.

Judges of the Court

In its 78 years of existence from 1865 to 1943 the court had 15 full-time judges, including the first Chief Judge, Edmund Hornby, Egyptologist Charles Wycliffe Goodwin; Frederick Bourne, a recipient of thanks from the U.S. President for services rendered; an aristocrat, Havilland de Sausmarez for whom the baronetage of the De Sausmarez Baronets was created; and a recipient of a decoration from the King of Siam, Skinner Turner. The judges came from a variety of places, including from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the British Virgin Islands and South Africa.

Throughout it existence the court had two permanent judges at any one time. From 1865 to 1878 and 1905 to 1943 the senior judge was titled Judge and the junior judge's title was Assistant Judge. Between 1878 and 1905 the senior judge was titled Chief Justice and the junior judge's title was Judge.

List of Judges

• Edmund Grimani Hornby (Judge 1865–1876)
• Charles Wycliffe Goodwin (Asst Judge from 1865–1878)
• George French (Judge 1877) (Chief Justice 1878-1881)
• Robert Anderson Mowat (Judge 1878-1891) (also Judge for Japan 1891 to 1897)
• Richard Temple Rennie (Chief Justice 1881-1891) (also Judge for Japan 1879 to 1881)
• Nicholas John Hannen (Chief Justice 1891-1900) (also Consul General 1891-1897) (also Judge for Japan 1881 to 1891)
• George Jamieson (Judge 1891-1898) (also Consul 1891-1897)
• Frederick Samuel Augustus Bourne (Judge 1898-1905) (Asst Judge 1901-1916) (also Judge of the High Court for Weihaiwei 1903-1916)
• Hiram Shaw Wilkinson (Chief Justice 1900-1905) (also Judge for Japan 1897 to 1900)
• Havilland de Sausmarez (Judge 1905-1921) (also President Hong Kong Full Court 1912 to 1920)
• Skinner Turner (Asst Judge 1916–1921) (Judge 1921-1927)
• Peter Grain (Asst Judge 1921 -1927) (Judge 1927-1933) (also Judge of the High Court for Weihaiwei 1925-1930)
• Gilbert Walter King (Asst Judge 1927- 1931)
• Penrhyn Grant Jones (Asst Judge 1931-1943)
• Allan George Mossop (Judge 1933-1943)

Crown Advocates

From 1878, the position of Crown Advocate was created. This was similar to the position of an Attorney General in a colony. The Crown Advocate was not a full-time employee of the Foreign Office but received payment for acting as Crown Advocate. The Crown Advocate was allowed to accept cases from private clients that did not conflict with his role as Crown Advocate. The 6 gentlemen who served as Crown Advocate were:

• Nicholas John Hannen (1878-1881)
• Hiram Shaw Wilkinson (1881-1897)
• Hiram Parkes Wilkinson (1897-1925) (also Judge of the British High Court for Weihaiwei (1916-1925))
• Allan George Mossop (1925-1933)
• Victor Priestwood (1934-1939)
• John McNeill (1939-1942)

Hiram Parkes Wilkinson was the son of Hiram Shaw Wilkinson. Together they served as Crown Advocate for a total of 44 years.