Archive 01 - Royal Consular Court of Cairo. Civil matters (1861–1940)

The management of judicial proceedings, especially civil proceedings, by way of derogation from the general principle that jurisdiction derives from national sovereignty, created serious difficulties in the administration of litigation, considerably slowing it down.

Among the main drawbacks was the difficulty of handling proceedings involving individuals of different nationalities. Plaintiffs were required to initiate as many civil actions as there were defendants, before different courts applying different rules. There was no consolidation of related claims into a single proceeding, resulting in increased costs and substantial delays. Other issues included the impossibility for defendants to request seizure as security for payment against subjects of a nationality other than their own.

The need for reform of a system perceived as archaic was widely felt. The establishment of a mixed court capable of handling proceedings involving parties of different nationalities became a reality in 1875. Up to that date, the series of civil proceedings consists of a large number of often thin case files.

The approval of the reform marks a turning point: the volume of proceedings decreases, as they concern only litigation between nationals and matters of lesser complexity.