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The Origins and Development of International Fluvial Law in Africa: A Study of the International Legal Regimes of the Congo and Niger Rivers From 1885 to 1960

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2009

T. Maluwa
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Extract

The importance of the role that rivers have played in man's social and economic advancement cannot be overemphasised. The earliest civilizations originated and flourished around what are still some of the world's most important river systems. These rivers were not only essential for the growth and improvement of agriculture, but they also provided possible channels of communication, thereby enabling the most ancient forms of contact and trade among the early riparian communities.

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Articles
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Netherlands International Law Review , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , December 1982 , pp. 368 - 400
Copyright
Copyright © T.M.C. Asser Press 1982

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References

1. Africa Research Bulletin (1979) p. 4981.

2. 2 B.F.S.P. p. 52.

3. Martens, , N.R.G. vol. 9, p. 252Google Scholar.

4. Ibid. Vol. 16, part 2 p. 75.

5. Ibid. 2nd Ser. Vol. 1, p. 117.

6. Ibid. 3rd Ser. Vol. 1, p. 44.

7. Ibid. 3rd Ser. Vol. 4, p. 208.

8. 24 Annuaire de L'Inst. 347 (1911) at p. 366Google Scholar.

9. 7 L.N.T.S. p. 35

10. For full text of treaty see, Hertslet, , Commercial Treaties, Vol. 17, p. 62 et seqGoogle Scholar.

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13. Martens, Ibid. Vol. 17, p. 143.

14. Ibid. 2nd Ser. Vol. 10, pp. 294–295.

15. The obvious exceptions here were the two states of Ethiopia and Liberia which, though acknowledged as “European-style” sovereign States, were nevertheless not invited to take part in the Berlin West Africa Conference, nor had they ever been regarded and accepted as legitimate participants in the existing international legal order. As to the forceful argument regarding the international legal personality of the pre-colonial, “traditional” African States, see Elias, , “African Law”, in Larson, et al. (Eds.) Sovereignty within the Law, (1965) p. 220Google Scholar; See also, Okoye, , op. cit. pp. 4–5Google Scholar and Alexandrowicz, , The European-African Confrontation, (1973) pp. 9–13Google Scholar.

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20. 7 Annuaire de L'Inst. (1883–1885) p. 278; pp. 237–272.

21. Ibid. p. 275.

22. Granville to Petre, 23 June 1884, Conf. 5000 pp. 136–137; Granville to Lumley, 3 July 1884, Conf. 5019, p. 4.

23. By this time France and Germany had formed an alliance as a reaction against the conclusion of the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty.

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36. This was a significant change of attitude considering that Italy had scornfully dismissed Moynier's original proposals for the internationalisation of the Congo in 1878. See note 19 supra.

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38. See Article 1 of the General Act of Berlin.

39. See note 14 supra.

40. Britain, for example, had suggested that coal be treated as an article of contraband but this was strongly opposed by Russia and was later rejected by the drafting Committee.

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45. Reid and Lockwood to Earl of Kimberley, 7 June 1895, L.O.R. 1895 (Conf. 6796)

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53. Parl. Papers, Africa No. 8A (1890); translations of the Protocols and the General Act of the Slave Trade Conference held at Brussels, 1889–1890, with Annexed Declarations.

54. For text of General Act and Declaration, see 82 B.F.S.P. p. 55.

55. 8 L.N.T.S. p. 26.

56. P.C.1 J. Ser. A/B No. 63 (1934).

57. Ibid. p. 87.

58. Ibid. p. 80.

59. Ibid. p. 135.

60. Ibid. p. 150.

61. Verzijl, , International Law in Historical Perspective, Vol. 1 (1968) pp. 79–80Google Scholar, see also same author's Jurisprudence of the World Court, Vol. 1. (1965) p. 395 et seqGoogle Scholar.

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63. 130 B.F.S.P. p. 265.

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66. 8 Int. Leg. Materials (1969) p. 679; See also, 63 Am. J. Int. L. (1969) p. 875.

67. Although this is generally thought to be the first treaty relating to the issue of freedom of navigation on international rivers, it may be noted that the idea had earlier been invoked by the Prince-Elector of Mainz who, in signing a customs agreement in 1506, declared that all shipping on the Rhine would be free. See, Fortuin, , “The Regime of Navigable Waterways of International Concern and the Statute of Barcelona,” 7 Neth. Int. L. Rev. 125 (1960)Google Scholar.