There were other, lesser courts for non-nobles and non-Latins; the "Cour des Bourgeois" provided justice for non-noble Latins, dealing with minor criminal offences such as assault and theft, and provided rules for disputes between non-Latins, who had fewer legal rights. 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"). For criminal matters non-Latins were to be tried in the "Cour des Bourgeois" (or even the "Haute Cour" if the crime was sufficiently severe).