Ilbert Bill

The Ilbert Bill was a bill introduced to the Imperial Legislative Council of India on 9 February 1883 governing the jurisdiction of Magistrates or Sessions Judges to try charges against "European British subjects" if they were themselves not European. The bill was drafted by Sir Courtenay Peregine Ilbert, the legal member of the Council of the Governor-General of India, during the Viceroyship of the Marquess of Ripon.

It is named after Courtenay Ilbert, who had originally proposed it for a revision of the previous Indian Criminal Procedure Act from 1861. Within this act, British subjects were not allowed to be tried under a court presided over by an Indian magistrate. The changes presented in the Ilbert Bill reduced the limitations for these officials, allowing British subjects to be tried by Indian magistrates who had reached seniority within the civil service. The bill was promoted by Lord Ripon who had been instructed by prime minister William Gladstone to reserve some of the law's more restrictive policies over native Indian magistrates.

However, the introduction of the bill led to intense opposition in Britain and from Britons living in India that ultimately played on ethnic tensions. The bill was ultimately enacted in 1884, but in a severely compromised state. The bitter controversy deepened antagonism between the British and Indians and was a prelude to the formation of the Indian National Congress one year later.