IN THE COURTS OF THE NATIONS - DataSpace - Princeton ...

concerning the incident, which they sent to the British consulate in Essaouira as part of the
evidence against Jack. 40
The short-lived attempt at establishing a Mixed Court in 1871-2 serves as a poignant
example of the importance of sharī‘a courts as notary publics for foreign subjects and protégés.
As discussed in the previous chapter, the International Mixed Commission examined and
recorded the documentary evidence supporting the claims of creditors with foreign nationality or
protection. From October 1871 to January 1872, twenty-three foreign subjects and protégés
brought a total of 149 documents as evidence of the debts they were owed. The commission
carefully noted which documents were notarized by ‘udūl and countersigned by a qāḍī. 41 While
most of the documents complied with the standards of Islamic notarization, some documents
were informal bills of debt signed only by the debtor. 42 For instance, on October 12, Ysac
(Isaac) Benzacar (also spelled Ben Zacar and Bezacar), a Jew with American protection,
presented three bills of debt attesting a total of 11,400 napoleons and 36,000 “ducados morunos”
that he was owed by the qā’id Abd el Selam Ben Haman el-Abdi. 43 Although these bills of debt
were signed by the qā’id, none of the documents had been notarized by ‘udūl. Nonetheless, the
International Mixed Commission recorded the bills of debt with every indication that they
expected them to be honored alongside those that were notarized by ‘udūl and countersigned by
a qāḍī. 44
40
DAR, Marrakesh, 24082, al-Ṭayyib b. Hīma to Aḥmad Amālik, 29 Ramaḍān 1297.
41
In the description of the documents, the commission noted that a given contract was, for instance, a “Declaración
ante dos adules y legalizado por el Cadi” (AGA, Caja M 9, Exp. no. 1 (81/9), Diario de los Sesiones de la Comisión
Mixta Internacional, libro primero, p. 6, 19 October 1871).
42
This type of informal contract is also found in the Assarraf collection: see the discussion in Chapter Two.
43
AGA, Caja M 9, Exp. no. 1 (81/9), Diario de los Sesiones de la Comisión Mixta Internacional, libro primero, p. 5,
12 October 1871. In fact, Benzacar’s legal representative, Mesod Abecasis, presented these documents on
Benzacar’s behalf.
44
During the session which examined Benzacar’s documents, the claims of Paul Lambert (a French subject) were
presented first. Lambert’s documents, unlike Benzacar’s, were notarized by ‘udūl. Nonetheless, the commission
records treated them identically: “Todos los seis documentos examinados en esta sesión han sido devueltos
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