The formal ottoman documents in the state of Baghdad or as were known as "Salanamat", did not mention the state's organizational structure until 1892 AD, as the courts back then used to issue their sentences according to the Hanafi school of thought as it was the official doctrine of the Ottoman state, or according to Ottoman "Kanoun Nama" law, and local customs.
The Ottoman Sharia court was looking then into lawsuits pertaining to personal status such as lawsuits for divorce, marriage, alimony, custody, slavery, retribution, will, and inheritance.
As for the administrative structure of the Sharia court in the Karbala district, it was very small compared to the districts in other Iraqi states, such as Mosul, because the vast majority of the district’s residents are Shiite Muslims who rely on the Jaafari doctrine to solve their legal cases, so the Sharia court's structure was confined to the clerk department, which was headed in 1907 AD by chief clerk "Hafiz Effendi."
In 1911 AD, the functional cadre for the court's clerk department included the head of the department, "Hafiz Effendi," and a draft writer, which was "Ahmad Effendi," as well as two registrants, "Sayyid Umar Irfan Effendi" and "Nuri Effendi."
Source:
Mawsueat Karbala Al-Hadharia "Karbala Civilizational Encyclopedia".
A publication of Karbala Center for Studies and Research
Department of Modern and Contemporary History, Ottoman Documents.
[Vol. 7, Pg. 186-187].
