sanitary commissioner, and the chief engineer of public works, for the control of matters which are under provincial, as distinguished from central management. There may be also special officers in charge of such matters as experimental farms, botanical gardens, horse breeding, and the like, which require special qualifications but do not need a large staff. tion and The old distinction between regulation and non-regulation Regulaprovinces has become obsolete, but traces of it remain in nonthe nomenclature of the staff, and in the qualifications for regulation provinces. administrative posts. The corresponding distinction in modern practice is between the regions which are under ordinary law, and the more backward regions, known as scheduled districts, which are under regulations made in exercise of the summary powers conferred by the Government of India Act, 1870 (33 Vict. c. 3) 2. district. In each province the most important administrative unit The is the district. There are 249 districts in British India. They vary considerably in area and population, from the Simla district in the Punjab with 101 square miles to the Upper Khyndwin in Burma with approximately 19,000 square miles, and from the hill district of North Arakan with a population of 20,680 to Maimansingh with a population of 3,915,000. In the United Provinces the district has an average area of 1,500 or 2,000 square miles, with a population of 750,000 to 1,500,000. But in several provinces, and especially in Madras, the district is much larger. At the head of the district is the district magistrate, who The in the old regulation provinces is styled the collector and magiselsewhere the deputy commissioner. He is the local repre- his staff. sentative of the Government and his position corresponds more nearly to that of the French préfet than to that of any English functionary 3. 1 See above, pp. 101, 102. 2 See above, p. 105, and East India (Progress and Condition) Decennial Report (1904), pp. 56, 57. 3 See Strachey, 359. Report (1904), p. 57. East India (Progress and Condition) Decennial district trate and and dis trict He has assistants and deputies varying in number, title, and rank, and his district is sub-divided for administrative purposes into charges which bear different names in different parts of the country. In most parts of India, but not in Madras, districts are grouped into divisions, under commissioners, who stand between the district magistrate and his local government. If the district is, par excellence, the administrative unit of the Indian country, the village may be said to be the natural unit. It answers, very roughly, to the English civil parish or the continental commune, and it is employed as the unit for revenue and police purposes. Its organization differs much in different parts of India, but it tends to be a selfsufficing community of agriculturists. It has its headman, who in some provinces holds small police powers; its accountant, who keeps the record of the State dues and maintains the revenue and rent rolls of the village; and its watchman and other menials. In Bengal the village system is less developed than elsewhere. Municipal Under various Acts of the central and local Indian legislatures municipal and district councils have been estabcouncils. lished in the several provinces of India with limited powers of local taxation and administration. This system of local government received a considerable extension under the viceroyalty of Lord Ripon1. Judicial arrangements. Reference has been made above to the four chartered high courts. But the term 'high court,' as used in Indian legislation2, includes also the chief courts of those parts of British India which are outside the jurisdiction of the chartered high courts. These are the chief court of the Punjab, established in 1866, the chief court of Lower Burma, established in 1900, and the courts of the judicial commissioners for 1 See Government of India Acts I, XIV, XV, and XX of 1883, XIII and XVII of 1884; Bengal Act III of 1884; Bombay Acts I and II of 1884; Madras Acts IV and V of 1884. See s. 3 (24) of the Indian General Clauses Act (X of 1897). Oudh, the Central Provinces, Upper Burma, Berar and of the Calcutta high court. The new province of under the jurisdiction These non-chartered high courts exercise with respect to the courts subordinate to them the like appellate jurisdiction, and the like powers of revision and supervision, as are exercised by the chartered courts, and their decisions are subject to the like appeal to the judicial committee of the Privy Council. The procedure of the several civil courts is regulated by Civil juristhe general Code of Civil Procedure, but their nomenclature, diction. classification, and jurisdiction depend on Acts passed for the different provinces. There is usually a district judge for a district or group of districts, whose court is the chief civil tribunal for the district or group, and who usually exercises criminal jurisdiction also as a sessions judge. There are subordinate judges with lesser jurisdiction, and below them there are the courts of the munsif, or of some petty judge with a similar title. The right of appeal from these courts is regulated by the special Act, and by the provisions of s. 584 of the Code of Civil Procedure as to second appeals. In the presidency towns, and in some other places, there are also small cause courts exercising final jurisdiction in petty cases. The constitution, jurisdiction, and procedure of criminal Criminal juriscourts are regulated by the Code of Criminal Procedure, diction. which was last re-enacted in 1898 (Act V of 1898). In every province, besides the high court, there is a court of sessions for each sessional division, which consists of a district or group of districts. The judge of the court of sessions also, as has been seen, usually exercises civil jurisdiction as district judge. There may be additional, joint, and assistant sessions judges. There are magistrates of three classes, first, second, and third. For each district outside the presiding The Native States. towns there is a magistrate of the first class called the district magistrate, with subordinate magistrates under him. For the three presidency towns there are special presidency magistrates, and the sessions divisions arrangements do not apply to these towns. A high court may pass any sentence authorized by law. A sessions judge may pass any sentence authorized by law, but sentences of death must be confirmed by the high court. Trials before the high court are by a jury of nine. Trials before a court of sessions are either by a jury or with assessors according to orders of the local Government. Presidency magistrates and magistrates of the first class can pass sentences of imprisonment up to two years, and of fine up to 1,000 rupees. They can also commit for trial to the court of sessions or high court. Magistrates of the second class can pass sentences of imprisonment up to six months and of fine up to 200 rupees. Magistrates of the third class can pass sentences of imprisonment up to one month and of fine up to fifty rupees. In certain parts of British India the local Government can, under s. 30 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, invest magistrates of the first class with power to try all offences not punishable with death. In certain cases and under certain restrictions magistrates of the first class, or, if specially so empowered, magistrates of the second class, can pass sentences of whipping. A judge or magistrate cannot try a European British subject unless he is a justice of the peace. High court judges, sessions judges, district magistrates, and presidency magistrates are justices of the peace ex-officio. In other cases a justice of the peace must be a European British subject. If a European British subject is brought for trial before a magistrate he may claim to be tried by a mixed jury. India, as defined by the Interpretation Act, 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 63, s. 18), and by the Indian General Clauses Act (X of 1897, s. 3 (27)), includes not only the territories comprised in British India, that is to say, the territories under the direct sovereignty of the Crown, but also the territories of the dependent Native States. These are upwards of 600 in number. They cover an area of nearly 700,000 square miles, and contain a population of about 62,500,000. Their total revenues are estimated at nearly Rx. 20,000,0ro1. They differ from each other enormously in magnitude and importance. The Nizam of Hyderabad rules over an area of 83,000 square miles and a population of more than 11,000,000. There are petty chiefs in Kathiawar whose territory consists of a few acres 2. of sove The territory of these States is not British territory. Their Division subjects are not British subjects. The sovereignty over reignty. them is divided between the British Government and the ruler of the Native State in proportions which differ greatly according to the history and importance of the several States, and which are regulated partly by treaties or less formal engagements, partly by sanads or charters, and partly by usage. The maximum of sovereignty enjoyed by any of their rulers is represented by a prince like the Nizam of Hyderabad, who coins money, taxes his subjects, and inflicts capital punishment without appeal. The minimum of sovereignty is represented by the lord of a few acres in Kathiawar, who enjoys immunity from British taxation, and exercises some shadow of judicial authority. But in the case of every Native State the British Govern- General ment, as the paramount Power, (1) exercises exclusive control over the foreign relations of the State; (2) assumes a general, but limited, responsibility for the internal peace of the State; 1 Rx = tens of rupees. 2 For further details as to the Native States see East India, Moral and Material Progress, Decennial Report (1904), pp. 15-50; and on the general position of these States see :-Tupper, Our Indian Protectorate; Lee-Warner, Protected Princes of India; Strachey, India, ch. xxiv; Westlake, Chapters on Principles of International Law, ch. x; and below, chapter v. control by British Govern ment. |