Legal jurisdiction in Persian Gulf states

This file relates to jurisdiction and criminal cases in the Gulf. It contains correspondence concerning:

• Unusual features and a survey of proceedings in the trial of Pakistani Muslim Pervais Iqbal for the murder of Indian Christian woman Antonella Gloria d'Silva in Doha, Qatar (61, 66)
• Bahrain murder case where the defence counsel wishes to delay the final decision until no later than 12 October 1963 (62)
• Suggestion that Britain issue a declaration of intention to retrocede jurisdiction in the Gulf States (63)
• HMG's intention to retrocede jurisdiction in Abu Dhabi when the time is right; J E H Boustead's suggestion that the Ruler Sheikh Shakhbut Bin Sultan Al Nahyan should replicate a working criminal code which has been in application for more than forty years in a Muslim country, such as Sudan; and the immediate suggestion to the Ruler that jurisdiction over traffic cases be transferred (64-65, 68, 72, 74, 78, 80)
• Possible methods of carrying out the death sentence if passed by Gulf courts for two murder trials under HMG jurisdiction in Bahrain and Qatar, including the possibility of transferring criminals to Aden for execution (67, 69, 73)
• Question of the Treasury providing a regular system of legal aid (70)
• Discussion between Sir John Whyatt and Bill Ballantyne about the payment of legal services undertaken by Ballantyne & Miller at HMG's request (71)
• Account to date, 7 November, 1963, of the murder trials in Bahrain and Doha (75)
• Sentencing to death of Pakistani Fadl Rahman (76)
• Assumption in Bahrain that subsistence may be paid to Crown Counsel (77)
• Appointment of the new Commercial Officer in Dubai Michael Logan Tait as Assistant Judge of Her Britannic Majesty's Court for the Trucial States (79)