the arbitrators shall render based upon the facts and the question of law. Berlin, November 10, 1908. JULES CAMBON Procès-verbal by which the Governments of France and Germany mutually express their regrets for the acts occurring at Casablanca, which were charged against their respective agents by the Permanent Court of Arbitration on May 22, 1909.—Signed at Berlin, May 29, 1909.1 Whereas the Government of the Republic and the Imperial Government agreed, on November 10, last,2 to lay before a tribunal of arbitration assembled for the purpose, all the questions arising out of the occurrences which took place at Casablanca on September 25, preceding, and whereas both Governments undertook to express mutually their regret at the action of their officials in accordance with the decision on the question of fact and of law which should be reached by the arbitrators; And, whereas the tribunal of arbitration at The Hague, on May 22, 1909, recognized and announced the following: [Here follow the findings of the Hague tribunal.] The Government of the French Republic and the Imperial German Government declare therefore, each in so far as it is concerned, that they express their regret for the conduct for which their officials are blamed in the award of the tribunal of arbitration. Done at Berlin in duplicate. 1American Journal of International Law, vol. 3, p. 946. For the original French text, see Appendix, p. 485. 2 Ante, p. 119. THE GRISBADARNA CASE between NORWAY and SWEDEN Decided October 23, 1909 Syllabus By a compromis signed on March 14, 1908,1 Norway and Sweden agreed to arbitrate the question of the maritime boundary between the two countries in so far as it had not been regulated by the Royal Resolution of March 15, 1904.2 The arbitral tribunal was called upon to decide whether the boundary was fixed either in whole or in part by the boundary treaty of 1661, and, if not, to fix the boundary or parts thereof in accordance with the principles of international law. The tribunal consisted of a national from each of the two Governments and an umpire chosen from a neutral Power. As finally agreed upon, it was composed as follows: J. A. Loeff of Holland, F. V. N. Beichmann of Norway, and K. Hj. L. Hammarskjöld of Sweden. Only the lastnamed was a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. The tribunal held sessions from August 28 to October 18, 1909, in the course of which it visited the disputed zone. The decision was rendered on October 23, 1909. The tribunal found that the boundary line had not been fixed by the treaty of 1661 beyond a certain point, and that a portion of the line within that point was uncertain. The tribunal therefore fixed the boundary according to the principles in force and applied by Norway and Sweden when the original boundary treaty was made. The application of these principles resulted in a line which gave the Grisbadarna fishing banks to Sweden and the Skjöttegrunde to Norway. Such a division was also supported by the state of things which the tribunal found had actually existed for a long time, especially the use made of the banks by the fishermen of the two countries and the acts of possession and ownership exercised by the two Governments. 1Post, p. 133. 2Post, p. 136. AWARD OF THE TRIBUNAL Arbitral award in the question of the delimitation of a certain part of the maritime boundary between Norway and Sweden.-The Hague, October 23, 1909.1 Whereas, by convention dated March 14, 1908,2 Norway and Sweden agreed to submit to the final decision of a tribunal of arbitration, comprised of a president who shall neither be a subject of either of the contracting parties nor domiciled in either of the two countries, and of two other members of whom one shall be a Norwegian and the other a Swede, the question of the maritime boundary between Norway and Sweden as far as this boundary has not been determined by the Royal Resolution of March 15, 1904;3 Whereas, in pursuance to said convention, the two Governments have appointed respectively as president and arbitrators: Mr. J. A. Loeff, Doctor of Law and Political Sciences, former Minister of Justice, member of the Second Chamber of the StatesGeneral of the Netherlands; Mr. F. V. N. Beichmann, President of the Court of Appeals of Trondhjem, and Mr. K. Hj. L. Hammarskjöld, Doctor of Law, former Minister of Justice, former Minister of Public Worship and Public Construction, former Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Copenhagen, former President of the Court of Appeals of Jönköping, former professor in the Faculty of Law of Upsal, Governor of the Province of Upsal, member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration; Whereas, in accordance with the provisions of the convention, the memorials, counter-memorials, and replies have been duly exchanged between the parties and communicated to the arbitrators within the periods fixed by the president of the tribunal; Whereas, the two Governments have respectively appointed as agents, to wit: The Government of Norway, Mr. Kristen Johanssen, attorney at the Supreme Court of Norway; and the Government of Sweden, Mr. C. O. Montan, former member of the Court of Appeals of Svea, judge in the Mixed Court of Alexandria; 1American Journal of International Law, vol. 4, p. 226. For the original French text, see Appendix, p. 487. 2Post, p. 133. 3Post, p. 136. Whereas, it has been agreed by Article 2 of the convention: 1. That the tribunal of arbitration shall determine the boundary line in the waters from point 18 on the chart' annexed to the proposal of the Norwegian and Swedish commissioners of August 18, 1897, into the sea up to the limit of the territorial waters; 2. That the lines limiting the zone which is the subject of litigation in consequence of the conclusions of the parties and within which the boundary-line shall consequently be established, must not be traced in such a way as to comprise either islands, islets, or reefs which are not constantly under water; Whereas, it has likewise been agreed by Article 3 of the said convention: 1. That the tribunal of arbitration shall determine whether the boundary line is to be considered, either wholly or in part, as being fixed by the boundary treaty of 1661 together with the chart thereto annexed, and in what manner the line thus established should be traced. 2. That, as far as the boundary-line shall not be considered as established by said treaty and said chart, the tribunal shall determine this boundary-line, taking into account the circumstances of fact and the principles of international law; Whereas, the agents of the parties have presented the following conclusions to the tribunal: The agent of the Norwegian Government: That the boundary between Norway and Sweden within the zone which constitutes the object of the arbitral decision, shall be determined in accordance with the line indicated on the chart annexed, under No. 35, to the memorial presented in behalf of the Norwegian Government. And the agent of the Swedish Government: I. As regards the preliminary questions: May it please the tribunal of arbitration to declare that the boundary-line in dispute, as regards the space between point 18 as already fixed on the chart of the commissioners of 1897, and point A on the chart of the boundary treaty of 1661, is but incompletely established by the said treaty and the chart annexed thereto, for the reason that the exact situation of this point is not shown clearly therein, and, as regards the rest of the space, extending westward from the same 1Post, opposite p. 140. point A to the territorial boundary, that the boundary-line was not established at all by these documents. II. As regards these main questions: 1. May it please the tribunal to be guided by the treaty and chart of 1661, to take into account the circumstances of fact and the principles of the law of nations, and to determine the maritime boundary-line in dispute between Sweden and Norway from point 18 as already fixed, in such a manner that in the first place the boundaryline shall be traced in a straight line to a point which constitutes the middle point of a straight line, connecting the northernmost reef cf the Röskären, belonging to the Koster Islands, that is to say, the reef indicated on table 5 of the report of 1906 as being surrounded with depths 9, 10 and 10 [sic.], and the southernmost reef of the Svatskjär, belonging to the Tisler Islands, and which is furnished with a beacon, which point is indicated on the same table 5 as the point 19. 2. May it please the tribunal further to take account of the circumstances of fact and the principles of the law of nations and establish the rest of the disputed boundary in such a manner that— (a) Starting from the point fixed according to the conclusions of paragraph 1 and designated as point 19, the boundary-line shall be traced in a straight line to a point situated midway on a straight line connecting the northernmost of the reefs indicated under the name of Stora Drammen, on the Swedish side and the Hejeknub rock, situated to the southeast of Heja Island, on the Norwegian side, which point is indicated on the said table 5 as point 20; and (b) Starting from the point last-mentioned, the boundary shall be traced in a straight line due west as far into the sea as the maritime territories of the two nations are supposed to extend; Whereas, the line mentioned in the conclusions of the Norwegian agent is traced as follows: From point 18 as indicated on the chart of the commissioners of 1897, in a straight line to point 19 situated midway on a line drawn between the southernmost reef of the Svartskjär (the reef which is furnished with a beacon) and the northernmost reef of the Röskären; From this point 19 in a straight line to point 20, situated midway on a line drawn between the southernmost reef of the Heiefluer |