Consular Jurisdiction

On the History of the Judicial Functions of Consulates (12th–20th Century)

Series: 

Volume Editors:
Lars Regula
and
Jörg Ulbert
For today’s practitioners, the history of the judicial functions of consulates is far more colourful and obscure than modern consular law might suggest. Take, for instance, Consul Annibale de Rossetti in Egypt, who had to arbitrate a lawsuit between two German merchants and was completely overwhelmed. De Rossetti neither knew German nor was he familiar with the law he was expected to apply. Modern consuls often react with disbelief at the fact that their predecessors acted not only as judges, but also as regulatory authorities and bailiffs. This volume brings together contributions on the history of the legal roles and functions of consulates, spanning from America to China and from their origins in the Middle Ages to the modern consulate.

Contributors are: Marcella Aglietti, Eleonora Angella, Arnaud Bartolomei, Thibault Bechini, Giorgio Ennas, Ana Belem Fernández Castro, Juliette Françoise, Laura Galoppini, Sacha Gauthier Olssy, Thomas Gidney, Berna Kamay-Ulusay, Jessica Marglin, Cédric Quertier, Lars Regula, Victor Simon, Jörg Ulbert, and Dominique Valérian.

L’histoire des fonctions judiciaires des consulats est bien plus riche et obscure pour les praticiens d’aujourd’hui que ne le laisse penser le droit consulaire moderne. Par exemple, lorsque le consul Annibale de Rossetti, en Égypte, dut trancher un litige entre deux commerçants allemands, il fut dépassé par la situation. De Rossetti ne connaissait ni l’allemand, ni le droit qu’il était censé appliquer. Les consuls modernes réagissent souvent avec incrédulité en apprenant que leurs prédécesseurs exerçaient à la fois les fonctions de juges, d’autorités réglementaires et d’huissiers de justice. De volume réunit des contributions portant sur l’histoire des rôles et fonctions juridiques des consulats, de l’Amérique à la Chine, depuis leurs origins au Moyen Âge jusqu’au consulat moderne.
Copyright Year:
2026
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ISBN:
978-90-04-75519-2
Publication:
08 Apr 2026
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ISBN:
978-90-04-75518-5
Publication:
07 May 2026
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Lars Regula, University of Hamburg, is a Ph.D. student at the Chair for Legal History. His research deals with German consular jurisdiction in the Ottoman Empire.

Jörg Ulbert, Ph.D. (2001), Université de Bretagne-Sud, is maître de conférences at the same university. He has published monographs and many articles on diplomatic and consular history, including Consul et services consulaires au XIXe siècle (2010) with Lukian Prijac.
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Maps, Figures, and Tables
Notes on Contributors
Glossary

Introduction
  Regula

PART 1
In Christian Lands

1 The Consuls of the Lucchese Community in Bruges (1377–1404)
 Galoppini

2 La justice des consuls d’après les statuts des nations florentines (finxiiie–début xive siècle)
  Quertier

3 Jurisdiction and Foreign Consuls in Sixteenth-Century Valencia
 Ana Belem Fernández Castro

4 Les fonctions judiciaires des consuls de France en pays de Chrétienté sous l’Ancien Régime
 Jörg Ulbert

5 The Consular Jurisdiction in the Eighteenth Century
  Aglietti

6 Juridiction contentieuse des étrangers et fonctions judiciaires des consuls français dans les mondes hispaniques (xviiie–xixe siècle)
  Bartolomeil

7 Les actions judiciaires des consulats d’Italie aux États-Unis (1890–1915)
  BechiniOttoman Empire and North Africa

PART 2
The Ottoman Empire and North Africa

8 Les juridictions consulaires des nations latines dans les ports musulmans (xiiie–xve siècle)
  Valérian

9 Juridiction ou police ?
  Simon

10 Italian Consular Jurisdiction
 Eleonora Angella

11 Protecting the Swiss
 Giorgio Ennas

12 Capitulations “in a Box”
 Berna Kamay-Ulusay

13 Consular Jurisdiction in Nineteenth-Century Legal Thinking
 Lars Regula

14 Nationalizing Consular Jurisdiction in the Nineteenth-Century Middle East and North Africa
 Jessica M. Marglin

PART 3
Asia and Africa
15 Trade, Law, and Empire
 Juliette Françoise

16 Une Juridiction Consulaire Territoriale en Chine?
 Sacha Gauthier Olssy

17 The End of Extraterritoriality
 Thomas Gidney

Index

This volume is particularly relevant for specialists in the subject areas of history, law, international relations, and orientalist studies.
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Publisher:
Brill | Nijhoff
Language:
English
Pages:
xvi, 360 pp.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004755192

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