Coll 25/27 'Orders-in-Council: Trucial Coast: Jurisdiction over foreigners in the Trucial Coast Sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf; Revision of Persian Gulf Orders in Council' [‎282v] (586/694)

Please see the Political Residents telegram No*287
of the 8th February below.
The position as regards H.M.G’s relationship to the
Trucial Sheikhs is that they are bound not to enter into any
agreement or correspondence with any power other than the
British Government, not to consent to the residence in their
territory of the agent of any other government, and not to
cede, sell, mortgage or otherwise give ^occupation 4^-any
part of their territories, save to the British Government*
They have not, however, ceded jurisdiction over either
foreigners or British subjects as Bahrein, Koweit and Qatar
have done.
The question of securing jurisdiction and introducing
an Order-in-Council covering the Trucial Sheikhdoms was considered
just before the war but was not pursued. What we then had
chiefly in mind was the securing of adequate powers to deal
with possible activities in the Sheikhdoms by enen^r agents,etc.
in time of war. Sir T.Fowle (the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. of the time)
took the line that an Order-in-Council was not necessary at the
present stage. If drilling by P.C.L. began, involving the
presence of large numbers of foreigners,or if oil was found and
oilfields developed, then an Order-in-Council would no doubt
be necessary, but not until then. As the means for the preventing
of activities by enemy agents, it was not necessary.
It appears that the Sheikhs are at present under the
impression that we have jurisdiction over British subjects and
non-Moslem foreigners, though this is not, in fact, the case.
It would probably be impossible to get the Sheikh to cede tissr
jurisdiction over Moslem foreigners (there are a number of
Persians and also, I imagine, Saudi Arabs involved).
Sir G.Prior’s present recommendation is on two grounds -
(a) anticipated early exploration by P.C.L* (b) possible post-war
attempts at penetration by foreigners*
As regards (a), we have recently heard that P.C.L. have it
in mind to send a geological survey party to the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ,
hinterland (including in particular Abu DhabiV territory) next
winter and that the party will probably include a number of American
experts. There is no possibility of P.C.L. developing oilfields
in the Trucial Sheikhdoms for two or three years at the earliest
and probably not for some time after that, but in the event of such
development an Order-in-Council will certainly be necessary.
As regards (b), the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. presumably has the
Americans in mind. The Sheikhs already bound not to admit into
fhia^ territories the agents of any other governments and we have the
safeguard provided by our power to issue or with-hold visas to
visit the Sheikhdoms. An Order-in-Council would, however, give
us additional power to control the behaviour of Americans or other
foreigners.
The Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. 's present proposal is, as a first
stage, to secure the formal exchange of letters with the Trucial
Sheikhs* ceding to H.M.G. jurisdiction over British subjects,
British protected persons (this would include the subjects of the
other Arab Sheikhdoms) and non-Moslem foreigners. This is
presumably intended as a preliminary to the issue of an Order-in-
Council (the usual formula at the beginning of a Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
States Order-in-Council is: "Whereas by treaty, capitulation, grant,
usuage, sufferance and other lawful means His Majesty the King
has jurisdiction in Now, therefore, His Majesty by
virtue and in exercise of the powers in this behalf by the following
Jurisdiction Act, 1890, etc."J There is, of course, no need to
bring the Order-in-Council into force immediately upon the securing
of agreement by the rulers to cede jurisdiction. In the case of
Bahrein (see printed memorandum below, particularly paragraphs
7 and 11) the Sheikh in 1909 addressed to the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. a
/letter
7 ^
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