Tientsin Concession Case

• Jurisdiction: Japón
• Date: 01 January 1923
• Court: Supreme Court (Japan)
• Docket Number: 84

Japan, Supreme Court.

Case No. 84

Tientsin Concession Case.

Jurisdiction — Consular Jurisdiction in China Tientsin Concession — Basis and Extent — Extraterritorial Criminal Cases.

The Facts.—This was an appeal against the decision of the District Court of Nagasaki, in which the action of the appellants (Japanese subjects) in operating a gambling resort in the Japanese Settlement at Tientsin was held to be punishable under the Criminal Law of Japan. Article 22 of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and China of 1896 provided as follows: “Japanese subjects charged with the commission of any crimes or offences in China shall be tried and, if found guilty, punished by the Japanese authorities according to the laws of Japan. In like manner, Chinese subjects charged with the commission of any crimes or offences against Japanese subjects in China shall be tried and, if found guilty, punished by the Chinese authorities according to the laws of China.” It was contended on behalf of the appellants that the consular jurisdiction within the meaning of this Article extended only to cases in which the law of Japan had extraterritorial...