Page 129 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

8

The present legal position of the Gulf States

THEIR STATUS IN THE LIGHT OF THEIR TREATIES
WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM
Muscat
The Sultanate of Muscat may be regarded, for all purposes of state­
hood, as an independent State in close treaty relations with the British
Government. An examination of the specific provisions of her treaties
with the British Government, to which reference has been made above,
will show that there is nothing in these treaties which subjects her,
either explicitly or implicitly, to a protectorate status.1 Moreover,
there are the following factors which show that Muscat always has,
and retains, for all practical purposes, her position as an independent
State:
1. The independence of Muscat was affirmed by the Anglo-French
Declaration of 10 March 1862. This independence was reaffirmed
later by the decision of The Hague Court of Arbitration, dated
8 August 1905.2
2. At present, Muscat maintains treaty relations not only with the
United Kingdom, but also with the United States, France and other
States. In all such treaties the sovereignty and independence of the
Sultan has been recognised by the foreign States concerned.3
3. In the international sphere, Muscat conducts her foreign policy
through her ‘External Affairs Department’ which reports directly to
the Sultan. Since, however, she does not, at present, maintain diplo­
matic relations with foreign States, she is being represented inter­
nationally by the British Government to which the Sultan has en­
trusted, through an ad hoc arrangement, ‘certain duties in respect of
external affairs’.4 However, the British representatives in foreign States
act on behalf of the Sultan ‘only when specifically requested by him
to do so’.s This shows that British representation of Muscat’s foreign
1 And the fact that Muscat is not a member of the United Nations should not
be regarded as in any way reflecting any limitation upon her independence.
3 See above, pp. 49, 51-2.
3 See above, pp. 55-7.
4 See House of Commons Debates, vol. 574, Written Answers, col. 32, 22 July
1957 (Statement made by the Foreign Secretary on the status of Muscat). And see
the Ad Hoc Committee on Oman, op. cit., p. 172 (Statement made by the Sultan of
Muscat).
6 Ibid. And see Hay, The Persian Gulf States (1959), p. 140.
67