REVIEWS OF RECENT BOOKS. 



British Jurisdiction in China. (Orders in Council, 1904 to 1915 ; Rules 



of Court, 1905 to 1916; edited by Mr. W. B. Kennett.) 

 It is probable that every reader of the Journal knows that, by 

 "Treaty, grant, usage, sufferance and other lawful means," His 

 Britannic Majesty has jurisdiction in China over British subjects and 

 their property, and that this jurisdiction is exercised through Orders 

 in Council. It may not be equally well-known that the principal Order 

 in Council now in force was made in 1904, and that since that date 

 numerous amending and supplementary Orders have been made. 



Article 119 of the principal Order confers upon the Judge of the 

 supreme Court power to make rules of Court, for regulating certain 

 matters of practice and detail, subject to the approval of the Secretary 

 of State, and under this article a collection of 320 rules were made in 

 1905, which have since been frequently amended. 



The principal Order of 1904 and the rules of 1905 are bound 

 together in a volume which is sold officially. The volume includes a 

 separate index to the Order and a separate index to the rules. The 

 amending and supplementary Orders are all separately printed, and 

 are not indexed : The rules are bound with annual volumes of King's 

 Regulations, which are not indexed ; all of which, Orders and annual 

 volumes, are sold officially. 



The subjects dealt with in the Orders and in the rules are much 

 the same subjects, and it is often not easy to say whether any particular 

 provision can be found in an Order or in a rule. Unless one has a 

 good historical knowledge of the subject, extending over the last 15 

 years, it is not easy to say on what date any particular provision was 

 made. What was sadly wanted was an index, covering all the Orders 

 and rules ; a bound volume containing them all would also be a con- 

 venience, particularly to those who have frequent occasion to refer to 

 them. 



Mr. Kennett has supplied, not precisely what was wanted, but a 

 substantial advance towards it. The Orders are all bound together, 

 up to the year 1915, and are covered by a single index. A separate 

 volume contains all the rules, up to 1916, with a single index covering 

 them. An improvement has been made on the official indexes, in that 

 the sub headings are arranged alphabetically, instead of the official 

 plan of arranging them according to the number of the article or rule. 



