881.01/84: Telegram
The Ambassador in Spain ( Weddell ) to the Secretary of State
[Received 4:45 p.m.]
692. My 676, November 26, noon. There follows in translation the text of a decree law of the Chief of State “establishing the Juridical [Page 794] Regime of the Zone of Tangier” dated November 23, 1940, and published in the Boletín Oficial of December 1, 1940. The legislative organs of the Zone of Tangier having been suppressed and incorporated in that of the Protectorate of Spain in Morocco it is necessary to establish a juridical regime for that territory in order to avoid litigation and misinterpretation. In consequence thereof:
- Article I. From the date of publication of the present law in the official Bulletin of State, the legislation which may be issued with application to the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco shall also have effect in the Zone of Tangier.
- Article II. From the first of January 1941 all Spanish and “Hispano-Jalifiono” law antedating the publication of the present law in effect in the Protectorate shall be applied to the Zone of Tangier. The Minister for Foreign Affairs may place in effect even before that date that part of the said law which he deems suitable.
- Article III. Without prejudice to the general principles established in article I of this law and with regard to the special circumstances of the Zone of Tangier there will be issued to the extent that this may be indispensable the corresponding special legislation with temporary or indefinite application to this Zone of the Spanish Protectorate.
- Article IV. The Minister for Foreign Affairs may issue the necessary measures for the execution of the preceding and especially such temporary norms of law as may be necessary.