Page 334 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

270 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES
the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, with the main exception that the latter had
an autonomous government distinct from Egypt and Great Britain.1
The Neutral Zone, on the other hand, has no separate government
distinct from the Governments of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. It
forms an undivided part of the territories of both Governments.
Furthermore, it follows from the above principle regarding the
application of treaties to the Neutral Zone, that treaties, even if con­
cluded between the Governments of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, do
not apply to the said Zone, unless such intention is expressly provided
for in these treaties. This contention may find support in the Agree­
ment for Extradition of Offenders, concluded on 20 April 1942
between the Governments of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.2 Article 8
of this agreement expressly provides for its application to the Neutral
Zone in these terms:
The provisions of this Agreement shall apply to the area on the Nejd-
Koweit Frontier hereinafter termed the Neutral Zone, whose limits were
laid down in the Protocol of Uqair, dated the 2nd of December, 1922 . . .
As the provisions of the above agreement also have some bearing
on the exercise of jurisdiction in the Neutral Zone, it will be more
convenient to discuss them under the next heading.

(c) The exercise of jurisdiction
The above Extradition Agreement of 1942 sheds some light on the
manner in which jurisdiction in the Neutral Zone may be exercised
by both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. This agreement provides that
each country can exercise separate jurisdiction over its own nationals
in the Neutral Zone without affecting the rights of the other country.
(There seems to be no innovation in this arrangement, since the condo­
minium Agreement of the New Hebrides of 1914 provided for a
similar arrangement of separate jurisdiction.)3 The relevant terms of
the agreement, in so far as it affects jurisdiction over Kuwaiti and
Saudi offenders fleeing from or into the Neutral Zone, are as follows:
Art. 8 (1) Where an offence, as defined in Article 3 of this Agreement,
has been committed in either of the two territories and the offender has fled
to the Neutral Zone, the offender shall be deemed to be still within the
territory in which the offence was committed, and may be arrested and tried
by the Government thereof.
(2) Where an offence, as defined in Article 3 of this Agreement, has been
committed in the Neutral Zone and the offender escapes to the territory
1 As a result of the Treaty of 1899, the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan became ‘an auto­
nomous government absolutely distinct from’ the Governments of Britain an
Egypt. Thus the power to conclude treaties for the Sudan was vested, solely, witn
the Governor-General of the Government of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, bee
O’Rourke, op. cit., pp. 155-7.
2 For reference, see above, p. 103. 3 See above, p. 266, n. 2.