ALTNEULAND
Organ of the Zionist Commission for the Exploration of Palestine
PUBLISHED BY
OUTLINES OF TURKISH ADMINISTRATIVE LAW.*)
Since Aristotle one has distinguished three functions of the State, for the performance of which the organs of the State exist, namely legislation, justice, and administration. The two latter functions have of late been comprehended in one (administration in the wider sense), so that only two functions of the State are now distinguished, of which the one creates the laws and the other carries them out.
With regard to legislation, a formal distinction is made in the Ottoman Empire between laws (qānūn) and *[Translator's note: at this point the printed original repeats the preceding line of type in place of the true one; the missing line evidently introduced the imperial enactments, which fall into chaṭṭ-i-humājūn (imperial]* autograph rescripts), fermān-i-humājun (imperial commands), irāde-i-senije (imperial decrees), and berāt-i-ʻālī (imperial diplomas). Between these, however, no material difference exists; they create law in like manner and demand the obedience of the citizens of the State.
The making of law is effected to-day, since the Turkish constitution is suspended, solely and exclusively by the Sultan. He also publishes the laws, amends them, and abolishes them.
In the administration of justice five kinds of courts are to be distinguished:**)
1. The spiritual (Mohammedan) courts are competent, according to the ordinance of the 15th of September 1859,