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80 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES

Slates? 11 is clear that although the Shaikhdoms, in fact, possess the
rights and duties which have been described above, they nevertheless
; still lack some important marks of independence, namely, they are not
fully independent of external control. For example, they still have no
right to go to war independently of the British Government.1 Nor have
they the right to enter, without the agreement of the British Govern­
1 ment, into political treaties which have the effect of altering their
present status quo. In these circumstances, it may be suggested that the
; i Shaikhdoms do not enjoy full international personality similar, in all
: respects, to that enjoyed by independent sovereign States. But they,
or more accurately some of them, enjoy a considerable measure of
international personality.

:
POSITION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF
BRITISH CONSTITUTIONAL LAW:
COMPARISON WITH BRITISH PROTECTORATES

Tl Under British Constitutional Law, protectorates differ from colonies
a in that they do not constitute part of the British Dominions. In all
British Protectorates foreign relations are controlled by the British
Crown.2 However, the extent of power reserved by each protectorate
internally is the basis on which British Protectorates may be legally
classified as follows:
(a) Colonial Protectorates: In protectorates falling under this group
the amount of power exercised by the Crown does not very much
differ from that exercised in colonies. In general, the Crown reserves
in these protectorates most powers of legislation and administration.
However, in contradistinction to colonies, these protectorates arc
regarded as foreign territories.3 Powers of the Crown in them were
acquired in the past by virtue of agreements with tribal chiefs who
\ agreed to place themselves under the sovereignty of the Queen.1 The

1 For Ihcir position during war, see below, p. 114 et seq.
2 Under British constitutional law, the so-called dependent territories of the
Crown comprise colonies, protectorates, protected States, and trust territories
(formerly known as mandated territories). Colonies, whether self-governing or not,
are British possessions, while the rest are not. The United Kingdom Government is
responsible for the international affairs of all of these territories. Sec Stewart,
Robert B., Treaty Relations of the British Commonwealth of Nations (1939), pp.
23-6; Fawcett, J. E. S., ‘Treaty-Relations of British Overseas Territories’, B. Y.I.L.,
3^Kcith,*A. B., The Governments of the British Empire (1935), pp. 497-500;
Keith, A. B., Constitutional Law, 7th ed. (1935), p. 353.
4 Keith, Governments, op. cit., p. 464. These agreements in fact amount to cession
of sovereignty by the tribal chief. For interesting examples of such agreements,
sec Hcrtslct, Sir E., The Map of Africa by Treaty, 3rd cd., vol. 1 (1909), pp. 290,
et seq.