ʿAdliyya courts of justice (also called niẓāmiyya courts) were created in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in most states in the Muslim world. This article focuses on developments in Muslim states in the Middle East, but analogous developments occurred in other regions of the Muslim world. The ʿadliyya courts possessed general jurisdiction, operating on the basis of legislated texts and codes in a hierarchal manner (generally with one or two levels of appeal), and were thoroughly professionalised and bureaucratised, with judges salaried by the state and clients represented by licensed