 Special courts such as the "Cour de la Fond" (for commercial disputes in the markets) and the "Cour de la Mer" (an admiralty court) existed in the coastal cities.The extent to which native Islamic and Eastern Christian courts continued to function is unknown, but the "ra'is" probably exercised some legal authority on a local level.The "Cour des Syriens" judged non-criminal matters among the native Christians (the "Syriacs").