Page 166 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

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104 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES
As the terms of the above-mentioned agreements arc of a technical
nature, they, therefore, do not require any comment at this point.
Suffice it to say, however, that they were concluded with Saudi Arabia
by the British Minister Plenipotentiary in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia. Their titles show clearly that the British Government in
signing them was acting on behalf, and with the consent, of the Ruler
i
of Kuwait.
It is worthy of note that an article is inserted in the agreements
under discussion respecting their ratifications which reads:
;
Instruments of ratification shall be exchanged by the two contracting
parties as soon as possible. It shall come into force as from the date of the
exchange of instruments of ratification and shall be valid for a period of
.1
- live years from that date.1
■
It is not clear whether this provision refers to ratification by the
British Government in the United Kingdom, or by the Ruler of
Kuwait himself. If the provision refers to ratification by the United
Kingdom Government, the question arises whether a Ruler can decline
to recognise an agreement so ratified if he is not satisfied with its
h:! terms. It is submitted that if the interests of the Rulers are considered
i to be paramount in every single agreement concluded for them, it may,
therefore, be reasonable to assume that a Ruler cannot be forced to
accept an agreement the terms of which do not meet with his approval.
. It is probably equally true to say that the United Kingdom would be
unwilling to ratify an agreement concluded on behalf of a Ruler with­
out first consulting him and satisfying herself that the agreement as a
whole was accepted by him.2
3. Sea-Boundary Agreement between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, 22
February 19583
This agreement defines the respective rights of Bahrain and Saudi
Arabia in the off-shore areas lying between their territories. A sum­
mary of the contents of this agreement is to be found in chapter 17
below. The significance of the reference to this agreement in this
context lies in the fact that it represents what appears to be a major

1 See Articles 12 and 10 of the above Agreements.
2 But sec above, pp. 88-9 regarding the controversy o\cr the Anglo-Ethiopian
treaty of 1897, concluded by the British Government in the name of the Somaliland
Protectorate without the consent of the people of the Protectorate. This case is,
however, not analogous to the position of the Shaikhdoms. Thus, where in the
case of the Somaliland Protectorate (a colonial Protectorate) sovereignty lies in
the British Crown, in the case of the Shaikhdoms (sovereign protected States)
sovereignty is inherent in the Rulers themselves.
3 For text, sec Appendix X, and Map 4 at p. 262 below. For Arabic text, sec
Bahrain Government’s Gazette: Al-Jaridah al-Rusmiyah, 15 Sha'ban 1377 (cor­
responding to 6 March 1958).