HIGHLIGHTED VERSION The highlighted versions of Qatar's Memorial and Counter- Memorial are designed to assist the Court in determining which passages of those pleadings are no longer relied upon by Qatar because they depend solely upon documentary annexes which Qatar has pledged itself to disregard (See Qatar's Reply, para. 1.12) MEMORIAL SUBMITTED BY THE STATE OF QATAR (MERITS) VOLUME 1 30 SEPTEMBER 1996 PART I - INTRODUCTION Table of Contents Chapter I Background to the Present Proceedings PART II - THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO THE DISPUTE Chapter II Description of the General Area of the Dispute Chapter III Historical Background PART III - THE HAWAR ISLANDS AND OTHER TERRITORIAL QUESTIONS Chapter IV The Geography of the Hawar Islands Chapter V The Territorial Integrity of Qatar and Qatar's Sovereignty over the Hawar Islands Chapter VI The Defective Nature of the British Decision of 1939 Chapter VII Janan Island Chapter VIII The Question of Zubarah PART IV - MARITIME DELIMITATION Chapter IX General Presentation of the Relevant Maritime Area Chapter X The 1947 British Decision Concerning the Delimitation Chapter XI The Single Maritime Boundary and the 1947 Line Chapter XII The Single Maritime Boundary in the Northern Sector PART V - SUBMISSIONS LIST OF MAPS AND ANNEXES __________ CASE CONCERNING MARITIME DELIMITATION AND TERRITORIAL QUESTIONS BETWEEN QATAR AND BAHRAIN (QATAR V. BAHRAIN) MEMORIAL OF THE STATE OF QATAR - - - - - - - - - - - PART I INTRODUCTION This Memorial is filed in accordance with the Order of the Court dated 1 February 1996 which extended until 30 September 1996 the time-limit for the filing of Memorials by the State of Qatar ("Qatar") and the State of Bahrain ("Bahrain"). CHAPTER I BACKGROUND TO THE PRESENT PROCEEDINGS 1.1 For a long time - several decades - Qatar has been seeking justice in the face of what it regards as the illegal occupation by Bahrain of part of the territory of Qatar. The solution of this long-standing dispute with Bahrain is of vital importance for the two States and their people as well as for the restoration of peace and the development of friendly relations between them. Qatar has always refrained from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, and has always sought to settle this dispute in accordance with Article 2(3) of the Charter, and therefore "by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered". Section 1. The Case submitted to the Court 1.2 A solution to the dispute was eventually sought, with the agreement of the Amirs of Bahrain and Qatar, in the context of a mediation, sometimes referred to as "good offices", by the King of Saudi Arabia. That mediation began in 1976 and has lasted for two decades. A set of "Principles for the Framework for Reaching a Settlement" (hereinafter referred to as the "Framework") was approved during a tripartite meeting in May 19831. 1.3 For the next few years, there was no progress towards the settlement of the dispute. The King of Saudi Arabia then sent to the Amirs of Qatar and Bahrain letters in identical terms dated 19 December 1987, in which he put forward new proposals for settlement of the dispute by the International Court of Justice. Those proposals were accepted by letters from the two Amirs, dated respectively 21 and 26 December 1987. These exchanges of letters are hereinafter referred to as the "1987 Agreement". In addition, on 21 December 1987 an announcement was issued by Saudi Arabia, the terms of which had been approved by the two Parties2. 1.4 During the work of the Tripartite Committee established by the 1987 Agreement, and following an initiative by Saudi Arabia, on 26 October 1988 the Heir Apparent of Bahrain, when on a visit to Qatar, transmitted to the Heir Apparent of Qatar a text (subsequently known as the "Bahraini formula") which reads as follows: "Question The Parties request the Court to decide any matter of territorial right or other title or interest which may be a matter of difference between them; and to draw a single maritime boundary between their respective maritime areas of seabed, subsoil and superjacent waters3." The work of the Tripartite Committee came to an end in December 1988. 1.5 On the occasion of the annual meeting of the Co-operation Council of Arab States of the Gulf at Doha in December 1990, Qatar let it be known that it was ready to accept the Bahraini formula. On the sidelines of that meeting, the Foreign Ministers of Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia signed on 25 December 1990 Minutes placing on record the fact that Qatar had accepted the Bahraini formula and that the dispute could be referred to the Court if it was not resolved through the good offices of King Fahd by May 19914. Those Minutes are hereinafter referred to as the "Doha Agreement". Both Parties thus accepted that the Court, once seised, should decide: "... 'any matter of territorial right or other title or interest which may be a matter of difference between [the Parties]'; and should 'draw a single maritime boundary between their respective maritime areas of seabed, subsoil and superjacent waters'5". The formula thus adopted determined the limits of the dispute with which the Court would be asked to deal. It was devised to circumscribe that dispute while leaving open the possibility for each of the Parties to present its own claims to the Court, within the framework thus fixed. 1.6 The continuation of the good offices of King Fahd as envisaged in the Doha Agreement did not lead to the desired outcome within the time-limit fixed in that Agreement, and on 8 July 1991 Qatar instituted proceedings before the Court against Bahrain by filing an Application: "... 'in respect of certain existing disputes between them relating to sovereignty over the Hawar islands, sovereign rights over the shoals of Dibal and Qit'at Jaradah, and the delimitation of the maritime areas of the two States'6." 1.7 Qatar's requests as contained in that Application were as follows: "'Reserving its right to supplement or amend its requests, the State of Qatar requests the Court: I. To adjudge and declare in accordance with international law (A) that the State of Qatar has sovereignty over the Hawar islands; and, (B) that the State of Qatar has sovereign rights over Dibal and Qit'at Jaradah shoals; and II. With due regard to the line dividing the sea-bed of the two States as described in the British decision of 23 December 1947, to draw in accordance with international law a single maritime boundary between the maritime areas of sea-bed, subsoil and superjacent waters appertaining respectively to the State of Qatar and the State of Bahrain'7." 1.8 The President of the Court, having consulted the Parties, and taking into account the agreement reached between them concerning procedure, decided by an Order of 11 October 1991 that the written pleadings should first be addressed to the questions of the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain the dispute and of the admissibility of the Application. 1.9 In its Judgment of 1 July 1994, the Court: "... decided to afford the Parties the opportunity to ensure the submission to the Court of the entire dispute as it is comprehended within the 1990 Minutes and the Bahraini formula, to which they have both agreed. Such submission of the entire dispute could be effected by a joint act by both Parties ... or by separate acts. Whichever of these methods is chosen, the result should be that the Court has before it 'any matter of territorial right or other title or interest which may be a matter of difference between' the Parties, and a request that it 'draw a single maritime boundary between their respective maritime areas of seabed, subsoil and superjacent waters'8". The Court then fixed 30 November 1994 as the time-limit within which the Parties were, jointly or separately, to take action to submit to the Court the whole of the dispute9. 1.10 On 30 November 1994, Qatar filed in the Registry a document entitled "Act to comply with paragraphs 3) and 4) of operative paragraph 41 of the Judgment of the Court dated 1 July 1994". It referred to "the absence of an agreement between the Parties to act jointly" and declared that it was thereby submitting to the Court "the whole of the dispute between Qatar and Bahrain, as circumscribed by the text ... referred to in the 1990 Doha Minutes as the 'Bahraini formula'". It continued thus: "The matters which would be referred to the Court were exhaustively defined in the Tripartite Committee (see paragraph 18 of the Court's Judgment of 1 July 1994). The subject matters of the dispute were described in identical terms in Bahrain's written pleadings and in a draft special agreement proposed by Bahrain on 20 June 1992 (see Bahrain's Rejoinder, Annex 1.3, p. 113). The following subjects fall within the jurisdiction of the Court by virtue of the rights and obligations created by the international agreements of December 1987 and 25 December 1990 and are, by virtue of Qatar's Application dated 5 July 1991 and the present Act, submitted to the Court: 1. The Hawar Islands, including the island of Janan; 2. Fasht al Dibal and Qit'at Jaradah; 3. The archipelagic baselines; 4. Zubarah; 5. The areas for fishing for pearls and for fishing for swimming fish and any other matters connected with maritime boundaries. It is understood by Qatar that Bahrain defines its claim concerning Zubarah as a claim of sovereignty.