When I was in Bahrain last month the question of legal education for young men in the Persian Gulf was raised by Mr. Jardine of the British Council, Bagdad, who said that he was often consulted on the subject by Arabs in the Persian Gulf. We agreed that it was very desirable to get young men, who may later have to exercise judicial functions in the Persian Gulf, introduced to an organised system of law and procedure and various methods of attaining this end were considered. The most attractive method from our point of view would be for them to take a law degree at one of the Universities in the United Kingdom, but few of them will have a sufficient command of English and the general impression we have got from talking to possible candidates is that few of them are prepared to give much more than a year to study. We considered that it would be unwise to suggest Egypt. The distractions of Beirut are not very conducive to study. It would be possible for them to take a law course at Bagdad but again few of them would be prepared to spend the three or four years necessary to complete the course. NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN. We then considered the possibility of using Jordan. The law and procedure there is based on that which was used in Palestine during the Mandate and is very like that which we intend to adopt in the Gulf. For this reason Jordan would be a very suitable place and it is reasonably near all the Persian Gulf States. I understand from Mr. Hijazi that there is a Law School in Arman but he does not know any details. I think that this suggestion is worth further consideration and Mr. Thompson of the Levant Department has offered to make enquiries through the Legal Adviser of the Jordan Embassy. If you have no objection perhaps Mr. Thompson will be good enough to make those enquiries. We should be interested to know (1) What courses in law are available and whether short courses could be arranged. 10/52 A. & E.W.LTD. GP.686 (2) Whether accommodation for Persian Gulf students is available. (3) Whether it is possible to let students see the Jordan Courts in action. 17/92) (46688) WT.27801/271 200.000 (C.H. Haines). 1 January 14, 1954. Eastery Dept.
