The origins of the Foreign Jurisdiction Act and the extension of British sovereignty

Abstract

The passing of the Foreign Jurisdiction Act of 1843 has been described as an early stage in the extension of British hegemony over the Ottoman empire and a 'juridical simulation of "conquest"'. This article argues that it was really designed to extend British jurisdiction over disorderly individuals, not over territory. It was part of an effort to enforce sovereignty over detached subjects that began in the early modern period, and became more urgent as the empire and economic hegemony increased. It was also not an entirely British process -French governments engaged in the same policies at the same time -and was extended beyond the boundaries of the Middle East to take in a world compass.An extensive literature describes the role played by the capitulations in advancing European economic and political penetration of the Ottoman empire, and of Morocco. 1 It shows how, in Morocco, foreign jurisdiction undermined the Makhzan by allowing unscrupulous men to seek shelter alongside perfectly upright merchants and traders. 2 It demonstrates how, in the Ottoman empire, the capitulations cut state revenue by limiting the tariffs on European goods and, by protecting European individuals and companies from legal jurisdiction, allowed legally immune railway companies to spearhead the European economic penetration of the Anatolian interior. 3 Once the right to hold land was extended (in 1867) to Europeans, the capitulations allowed them to develop large real estate in the Ottoman empire. 4 Consequently, by the second half of the century the Ottoman elite saw the capitulations as the symbol of Ottoman inferiority compared with Europe. 5 As foreign penetration of the economy deepened, this view became generalized and after the 1908 revolution, spilled over into the general population. 6 Positions hardened on the western side, too, typified by the blunt assertion of Lord Hardinge, the permanent under-secretary at the foreign office, that 'The time will come when we and the French will have to tell the Sultan that it is not a privilege we are seeking but our right'. 7 Europeans in Morocco arrogated to themselves the same 'rights', which they considered the decadent Muslim state owed to them. 8 The capitulations and their role in advancing European hegemony in the Middle East and North Africa are a major 1 E. Burke, III, Prelude to Protectorate in