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TREATY RELATIONS OF MUSCAT 53
treaty, the latter, moreover, included provisions regarding the exercise
of British extra-territorial jurisdiction in Muscat. No such provisions
arc contained in the body of the present treaty itself. (The British
exercise of foreign jurisdiction in Muscat is based on separate ex­
change of letters attached to the treaty, as will be explained below.)
Article 15 contains an extension clause by virtue of which Britain may
apply the treaty to any territory for the international relations of which
she is responsible, with the exception of the British protected States
of the Arabian Gulf to which the treaty cannot be extended. In
addition, the treaty contains certain provisions imposing unilateral
obligations on the Sultan regarding the lifting of restrictions on goods
imported from the United Kingdom. Article 17 provides for the
termination of the treaty by one year’s notice after the lapse of fifteen
years from the time it entered into force. The treaty was registered by
the United Kingdom with the Secretariat of the United Nations, under
Article 102 of the Charter.1

(ii) The Exchange of Letters Agreement, attached to the treaty of
1951, concerning British extra-territorial jurisdiction in Muscat .2

It vests in the British Crown for a period of ten years from 1 January
1951, extra-territorial jurisdiction, exercised by the British Consular
Court for Muscat over British subjects in the following civil and
criminal cases:
(i) Proceedings against non-Muslim servants of the British Crown (with
certain exceptions relating to acts not on duty);
(ii) Proceedings between non-Muslim, United Kingdom or (with certain
exceptions) Commonwealth citizens or corporate bodies.

As pointed out earlier,3 this British jurisdiction, which expired on
31 December 1966, was finally relinquished on 1 January 1967.4
Consequently, the Sultan of Muscat now retains full jurisdictional
powers over all foreigners in his country.

1 U.N.T.S. vol. 149 (1952), p. 260
2 Ibid. This agreement is rightly seen ‘as evidence of the steady shrinking of the
extra-territorial jurisdiction once so widely exercised by Britain throughout the
Middle East’. See Young, R., ‘The United Kingdom-Muscat Treaty of 1951’,
A.J.I.L., 46 (1952), pp. 704-8.
* Sec above, p. 19, n. 1.
4 British jurisdiction in Muscat was renewed later in 1961, after the expiry of
its first ten years. It also became far more limited in its application to British
subjects after 1961. See Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Oman, 22 January
1965, p. 174 (U.N.G.A. A/5846).