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INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY 133
British protected States, there seems to be only one single case,
namely, Adolph G. Studer (1925), which would, probably, shed some
light upon the question under consideration. This case was in reality
a claim for the destruction by the Ruler of the State of Johore—of
the former protected States of Malay—of ‘concessionary and other
rights’ owned by an American citizen, Adolph G. Studer, in the terri­
tory of that State.1
In dismissing this claim, before the American and British Claims
Arbitration, the Tribunal, which gave its decision on 19 March 1925,
relied upon a communication, dated 28 April 1906, from the British
Foreign Office to the American Ambassador in which it was said:
It is therein again pointed out that no valid reason has yet been adduced
for the claimant’s refusal to submit his claims in a regular manner before
the proper court in Johore; and, as was stated . . . His Majesty’s Govern­
ment feel that until that step has been taken the Johore Government cannot
be pressed to recognize the claim in any way.2
This communication further dealt with the argument of the
claimant

that the reason why he did not present his claim, in the first place, to the
local courts of the Sultan of Johore was: ‘That some difficulty was thought
to exist in adopting this course, on the ground that ‘the immunity of the
Sovereign Power from suits at law within its territorial limits, unless by its
own consent and in the manner in which it ordains’, was a familiar principle
at law.’3
It answered this argument thus:
With a view of meeting this objection His Majesty’s Government have
thought it desirable to obtain a distinct assurance from the Sultan of Johore
on the subject; and His Highness has now formally expressed willingness
to waive all technical objections, and to agree to the case being tried by the
Principal Judicial Officer in Johore in the presence of a British officer. It
does not appear that any advantage was taken of this offer.4
The Tribunal, being satisfied with the assurances contained in the
above British Communication, recommended that advantage should
be taken of the British offer, and the claim should, thus, be referred
to the courts of the State of Johore.5
It may be deduced from the above case that in an international
claim of this nature against the Ruler of one of the Shaikhdoms, the
British Government would accept international responsibility for the
claim only after satisfying itself that all the legal remedies available

1 Nielsen, F. K., Report on American and British Claims Arbitration (1926),
p. 547.
* Ibid., p. 548.
* Ibid., p. 550. 4 Ibid. 6 Ibid., p. 553.