Signed at Madrid, July 3 ,1880. 

[Translation.]

His excellency the President of the United States of America; his majesty the Emperor of
Germany, King of Prussia; his majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary; his majesty the
King of the Belgians; his majesty the King of Denmark; his majesty the King of Spain; his
excellency the President of the French Republic; her majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland; his majesty the King of Italy; his majesty the Sultan of Morocco; his
majesty the King of the Netherlands; his majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves; his
majesty the King of Sweden and Norway; 
     Having recognized the necessity of establishing on fixed and uniform bases, the exercise of
the right of protection in Morocco, and of settling certain questions connected therewith, have
appointed as their plenipotentiaries at the conference assembled for that purpose at Madrid, to
wit: 

     His excellency the President of the United States of America, General Lucius Fairchild,
envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States near his Catholic majesty; 
     His majesty the Emporer [sic] of Germany, King of Prussia, Count Eberhardt de
Solms-Sonnewalde, knight commander of the first class of his Order of the Red Eagle with oak
leaves, knight of the Iron Cross, etc., etc., his envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary
near his Catholic majesty; 
     His majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Count Emanuel Ludolf, his privy
councillor in actual service, grand cross the Imperial Order of Leopold, knight of the first class of
the Order of the Iron Crown, etc., etc., his envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary near
his Catholic majesty; 
     His majesty the King of the Belgians, Mr. Edward Anspach, officer of his Order of
Leopold, etc., etc., his envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary near his Catholic majesty; 
     His majesty the King of Spain, Don Antonio Canovas del Castillo, knight of the
distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece, etc., etc., president of his Council of Ministers; 
     His excellency the President of the French Republic, Vice-Admiral JaurŠs, Senator, knight
commander of the Legion of Honor, etc., etc., ambassador of the French Republic near his
Catholic majesty; 
     Her majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Honorable
Lionel Sackville West, her envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary near his Catholic
majesty who is likewise authorized to represent his majesty the King of Denmark; 
     His majesty the King of Italy, Count Joseph Greppi, grand officer of the Order of Saint
Maurice and Saint Lazarus, of that of the Crown of Italy, etc., etc., his envoy extraordinary and
minister plenipitentiary [sic] near his Catholic majesty; 
     His majesty the Sultan of Morocco, the Taleb Sid Mohammed Vargas, his minister of
foreign affairs and ambassador extraordinary; 
     His majesty the King of the Netherlands, Jonkheer Maurice de Heldewier, commander of
the Royal Order of the Lion of the Netherlands, knight of the Order of the Oaken Crown of
Luxemburg, etc., his minister resident near his Catholic majesty; 
     His majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves, Count de Casal Ribeiro, peer of the
realm grand cross of the Order of Christ, etc., etc., his envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary near his Catholic majesty; 
     His majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, Mr. Henry Akerman knight commander of
the first class of the Order of Wasa, etc., etc., his minister resident near his Catholic majesty; 
     Who, in virtue of their full powers, recognized as being in good and due form, have agreed
upon the following articles:

ARTICLE I. The conditions under which protection may be conceded are those established in the
British and Spanish treaties with the Government of Morocco, and in the convention made
between that government, France and other Powers in 1863, with the modifications introduced by
the present convention.

ARTICLE II. Foreign representatives at the head of a legation may select their interpreters and
employees from among the subjects of Morocco or others. 
     These protected persons shall be subject to no duty, impost or tax whatever, other than
those stipulated in Articles 1 and 13. 

ARTICLE III. Consuls, vice consuls or consular agents having charge of a post, and residing
within the territory of the Sultan of Morocco, shall be allowed to select but one interpreter, one
soldier and two servants from among the subjects of the Sultan, unless they may require a native
secretary. These protected persons shall, in like manner, be subject to no duty, impost or tax
whatever, other than those stipulated in Articles 12 and 13. 

ARTICLE IV. If a representative shall appoint a subject of the Sultan to the office of consular
agent in a town on the coast, such agent shall be respected and honored, as shall the members of
his family occupying the same dwelling with him, and they, like him shall be subject to no duty,
impost or tax whatever, other than those stipulated in Articles 12 and 13; but he shall not have the
right to protect any subjects of the Sultan other than the members of his own family. 
     He may, however, for the exercise of his functions, have a protected soldier. 
     Officers in active charge of vice consulates being subjects of the Sultan shall, during the
exercise of their functions, enjoy the same rights as consular agents who are subjects of the
Sultan. 

ARTICLE V.  The Government of Morocco recognizes the right of ministers, charg‚s d'affaires
and other representatives, which is granted to them by treaties, to select the persons whom they
employ, either in their own service or that of their governments, unless such persons shall be
sheiks or other employees of the Government of Morocco, such as soldiers of the line or of the
cavalry, in addition to the Maghaznias in command of their guard. In like manner they shall not be
permitted to employ any subject of Morocco who is under prosecution. 
     It is understood that civil suits commenced before protection, shall be terminated before
the courts which have instituted such proceedings. The execution of the sentence shall suffer no
hindrance. Nevertheless, the local authorities of Morocco shall take care to communicate, without
delay, the sentence pronounced, to the legation, consulate or consular agency upon which the
protected person is dependent. 
     As to those persons formerly protected, who may have a suit which was commenced
before protection was withdrawn from them, their case shall he tried by the court before which it
was originally brought.
 The right of protection shall not be exercised towards persons under a prosecution for an offense
or crime, before they have been tried by the authorities of the country, or before their sentence, if
any has been pronounced, has been executed. 

ARTICLE VI. 
Protection shall extend to the family of the person protected. His dwelling shall be respected. 
     It is understood that the family is to consist only of the wife, the children and the minor
relatives dwelling under the same roof. 
     Protection shall not be hereditary. A single exception, which was established by the
convention of 1863, but which is not to create a precedent, shall be maintained in favor of the
Benchimol family. 
     Nevertheless, if the Sultan of Morocco shall grant another exception each of the
contracting Powers shall be entitled to claim a similar concession. 

ARTICLE VII
Foreign representatives shall inform the Sultan's minister of foreign affairs, in writing, of any
selections of an employee made by them. 
     They shall furnish annually to the said minister a list of the names of the persons protected
by them or by their agents throughout the states of the Sultan of Morocco. 
     This list shall be transmitted to the local authorities, who shall consider as persons
enjoying protection only those whose names are contained therein. 

ARTICLE VIII. Consular officers shall transmit each year to the authorities of the district in
which they reside a list, bearing their seal, of the persons protected by them. These authorities
shall transmit it to the minister of foreign affairs, to the end that, if it be not conformable to the
regulations, the representatives at Tangier may be informed of the fact. 
     A consular officer shall be required to give immediate information of any changes that may
have taken place among the persons protected by his consulate. 

ARTICLE IX. Servants, farmers and other native employees of native secretaries and interpreters
shall not enjoy protection. The same shall be the case with Moorish employees or servants of
foreign subjects. 
     Nevertheless, the local authorities shall not arrest an employee or servant of a native
officer in the service of a legation or consulate, or of a foreign subject or protected person,
without having notified the authority  upon which he is dependent. 
     If a subject or Morocco in the service of a foreign subject shall kill or wound any person,
or violate his domicile, he shall be arrested immediately, but the diplomatic or consular authority
under which he is shall be notified without delay. 
 

ARTICLE X.
Nothing is changed with regard to the situation of brokers, as established by the treaties and by
the convention of 1863, except what is stipulated, relative to taxes, in the following articles.

ARTICLE XI.
The right to hold property is recognized in Morocco as belonging to all foreigners. 
     The purchase of property must take place with the previous consent of the government,
and the title of such property shall be subject to the forms prescribed by the laws of the country.
     Any question that may arise concerning this right shall be decided according to the same
laws, with the privilege of appeal to the minister of foreign affairs stipulated in the treaties. 

ARTICLE XII. 
Foreigners and protected persons who are the owners or tenants of cultivated land, as well as
brokers engaged in agriculture, shall pay the agricultural tax. They shall send to their consul
annually, an exact statement of what they possess delivering into his hands the amount of the tax. 
     He who shall make a false statement, shall be fined double the amount of the tax that he
would regularly have been obliged to pay for the property not declared. In case of repeated
offense this fine shall be doubled. 
     The nature, method, date and apportionment of this tax shall form the subject of a special
regulation between the representatives of the Powers and the minister of foreign affairs of his
Shereefian majesty.

ARTICLE XIII. Foreigners, protected persons and brokers owning beasts of burden shall pay
what is called the gate-tax. The apportionment and the manner of collecting this tax which is paid
alike by foreigners and natives, shall likewise form the subject of a special regulation between the
representatives of the Powers and the minister of foreign affairs of his Shereefian majesty.
     The said tax shall not he increased without a new agreement with the representatives of
the Powers. 

ARTICLE XIV. The mediation of interpreters, native secretaries or soldiers of the different
legations or consulates, when persons who are not under protection of the legation or consulate
are concerned shall be admitted only when they are the bearers of a document signed by the head
of a mission or by the consular authority. 

ARTICLE XV. Any subject of Morocco who has been naturalized in a foreign country, and who
shall return to Morocco, shall after having remained for a length of time equal to that which shall
have been regularly necessary for him to obtain such naturalization, choose between entire
submission to the laws of the Empire and the obligation to quit Morocco, unless it shall be proved
that his naturalization in a foreign country was obtained with the consent of the government of
Morocco. 
     Foreign naturalization heretofore acquired by subjects of Morocco according to the rules
established by the laws of each country, shall be continued to them as regards all its effects,
without any restriction. 

ARTICLE XVI. No irregular or unofficial protection shall be granted in future. The authorities of
Morocco will recognize no protection, of any kind whatever, save such as is expressly provided
for in this convention. 
     Nevertheless, the exercise by the customary right of protection shall be reserved for those
cases only in which it may be desired to reward signal services rendered by a native of Morocco
to a foreign Power, or for other altogether exceptional reasons. 
     The minister of foreign affairs at Tangier shall be previously informed of the nature of the
services, and notified of the intention to reward them, in order that he may, if need be, present his
observations thereon; yet the final decision shall be reserved for the government to which the
service shall have been rendered. 
     The number of persons thus protected shall not exceed twelve for each Power, and this
number is fixed as the maximum unless the consent of the Sultan shall be obtained. The status of
persons who have obtained protection in virtue of the custom which is henceforth to be regulated
by this stipulation shall be without limitation of the number of persons belonging to this class and
now so protected, the same for themselves and their families as that which is established for other
protected persons. 

ARTICLE XVII.
The right to the treatment of the most favored nation is recognized by Morocco as belonging to
all the Powers represented at the Madrid conference. 

ARTICLE XVIII. The convention shall be ratified. The ratifications shall be exchanged at Tangier
with as little delay as possible. 
     By exceptional consent of the high contracting parties the stipulations of this convention
shall take effect on the day on which it is signed at Madrid. 
     In faith whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed this convention, and have
thereunto affixed the seals of their arms. 

Done at Madrid, in thirteen originals, this third day of July, one thousand eight hundred and
eighty. 

[SEAL.] LUCIUS FAIRCHILD. 
[SEAL.] E. DE SOLMS. 
[SEAL.] E. LUDOLF. 
[SEAL.] ANSPACH. 
[SEAL.] A. C NOVAS DEL CASTILLO. 
[SEAL.] JAUR S.
[SEAL.] L. S. SACKVILLE WEST.
[SEAL ] J. GREPPI. 
[SEAL.] MOHAMMED VARGAS. (In Arabic characters.) 
[SEAL.] HELDEWIER. 
[SEAL.] CASAL RIBIERO. 
[SEAL.] AKERMAN

Regulations relative to protection adopted by common consent by the Legation of France and
the Government of Morocco, August 19,1863, referred to in Article 10. 

Protection is individual and temporary. 
     It consequently does not in general apply to the relatives of the person protected. 
     It may apply to his family, that is to say, to his wife and children living under the same
roof. It lasts at the longest for a person's lifetime and is never hereditary, with the single exception
of the Benchimol family, which has furnished for several generations and still furnishes  persons
who act in the capacity of brokers and interpreters for the post at Tangier.
     Protected persons are divided into two classes.
     The first class comprises natives employed by the Legation and by the   various French
consular officers. 
     The second class consists of native factors, brokers, or agents, employed by French
Merchants for their business affairs. It is proper here to refer to the fact that the term merchant is
only applied to a person carrying on the import or export trade on a large scale, either in his own
name or as the agent of others.
     The number of native brokers enjoying French protection is limited to two for each
commercial house. 
     By way of exception commercial firms having establishments in different ports may have
two brokers attached to each of these establishments, who may as such enjoy French protection.
     French protection is not extended to natives employed by French citizens in agricultural
occupations. 
     Nevertheless, in consideration of the existing state of things, and by agreement with the
authorities of Morocco, the benefit of the protection  which has hitherto been granted to the
persons referred to in the foregoing paragraph shall be extended to the said persons for two
months from the first of September next.
     It is moreover, understood that agricultural laborers, herdsmen, or other native peasants,
in the service of French citizens shall not be legally prosecuted without immediate information
thereof being communicated to the competent consular officer, in order that the latter may protect
the interests of his countrymen. 
     The list of all protected persons shall be delivered by the proper consulate to the
competent magistrate of the place, who shall likewise be informed of any changes that may
subsequently be made in the said list.
     Each protected person shall be furnished with a card in French and in Arabic, mentioning
his name and stating the services which secure this privilege to him.
     All these cards shall be issued by the legation of France at Tangier. 

TANGIER, Aug. 19, 1863.

*********************************************************
TEXT FROM
Supplement to American Journal of International Law, 6, 1912, 18-26
Also in
US Compilation of Treaties in Force, 1904, p. 561. 
 

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