IOR/L/PS/12/2855

This volume is a continuation of IOR/L/PS/12/2854. It consists of extensive correspondence, memoranda and reports regarding date garden properties in Iraq owned by the Shaikh of Kuwait and the Shaikh of Mohammerah. The material concerns the ongoing lawsuits regarding the Shaikh of Kuwait's ownership of certain date garden properties, and the issue of compensating the Shaikhs of Kuwait and Mohammerah (and later their heirs) for revenue lost to the implementation of the Istihlak tax.

Regarding the issue of land ownership, the papers provide information on the proposals of HMG to convene a commission under the Iraqi Land Settlement Law of 23 May 1932, to formally delimit the boundaries of the Shaikh of Kuwait's lands and subsequently register them with the Tapu Department. This includes a discussion of the possibility of having to compensate the Shaikh for any land deemed barren or uncultivated as part of the process, which would possibly revert to the ownership of the Government of Iraq. Negotiations over the land-ownership issue are often discussed in the context of smuggling across the Kuwait-Iraq border, and the ongoing Saudi-Kuwait blockade.

The papers also document negotiations over the compensation for tax losses for the Shaikhs of Kuwait and Mohammerah. This primarily consists of correspondence between the Foreign Office, the India Office and the UK Treasury. The papers include correspondence with Arnold Talbot Wilson, Trustee for Chassib, son of the Shaikh of Mohammerah, regarding the settlement of the claim.

The file also contains the following reports, minutes and copies of legislation:

• English translation of the Land Settlement Law (No. 50) of 1932, ff 781-786.
• Minutes of a meeting held at the Foreign Office on 15 May 1936 regarding the issue of land settlement, ff 681-692, 725-745.
• Notes on an interview with the Iraqi PM regarding the land settlement, ff 580-583.
• Statement of losses suffered by the Shaikh of Mohammerah due to the Istihlak tax for the years 1934-1936, ff 517-519.
• Notes on the heirs to the estate of the Shaikh of Mohammerah, including English translations of Succession Certificates issued by the Peace Court of Tehran, ff 479-488.
• Report by HM Minister Tehran on the heirs of the Shaikh of Mohammerah and their competing claims, ff 462-466.
• Statements showing the Istihlak tax paid by the Shaikh of Kuwait for 19335, ff 383-388, 390-394.
• Copy memorandum 'Date Gardens in Iraq of the Sheikhs of Koweit and Mohammerah. Scope of undertakings given by HMG in 1914. Case for the Opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown, and Opinion thereon' (1933), ff 197-215.
• Minutes of a meeting held at the Foreign Office on 21 April 1938 regarding tax compensation, ff 157-174, 180-193.
• English translations of relevant legislation, comprising the Ottoman Land Code; Immovable Property (Consent to Alienation) Proclamation (1919); the Law giving Foreigners the Right to Possess Immovable Property in the Ottoman Empire, 7 safar 1284; and the Law Concerning the Personal Status Cases of Foreigners, No. 78 of 1931, ff 114-131.
• English translation of the new Iraqi Land Settlement Law (1938), ff 60-64.

The file continues with Collection 17/8 part 4, reference IOR/L/PS/12/2856.

The volume includes dividers which give lists of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. These are placed at the end of the correspondence (folios 1-2).