The Closing of the Mixed Courts of Egypt

Abstract

The Mixed Courts of Egypt closed their doors on October 15th, 1949. At their inauguration in 1875, the Khedive Ismail had used these words: “This day, gentlemen, will mark the commencement of a new era of civilisation in the history of Egypt.“ This was a bold prophecy to make for an institution to whom the Powers had given only five years of life. The event, however, amply justified the Khedive's prediction, and proved once more the truth of the Egyptian proverb, “Only the provisional endures.” The institution survived every test. Twenty times its life was successively renewed for periods varying from two to five years. The well-known words of Sir Maurice Amos, spoken in 1925, when the Courts were rounding the half-century mark, might still challenge contradiction a quarter of a century later, as they reached the end of their life: “I have often taken occasion to remark that next to the Church, the Mixed Courts are the most successful institution in history.”