Madrid Protocol of 1885

The Madrid Protocol in 1885 making North Borneo under the control of British North Borneo Company while the Sulu Archipelago and the rest of the Philippines islands were under the control of Spanish East Indies.

The Madrid Protocol of 1885 was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain to recognize the sovereignty of Spain over the Sulu Archipelago as well as the limit of Spanish influence in the region.[1] Under the agreement, Spain relinquishes all claim to Borneo.

The Spanish Government renounces, as far as regards the British Government, all claims of sovereignty over the

territories of the continent of Borneo, which belong, or which have belonged in the past to the Sultan of Sulu (Jolo), and which comprise the neighbouring islands of Balambangan, Banguey, and Malawali, as well as all those comprised within

a zone of three maritime leagues from the coast, and which form part of the territories administered by the Company styled the "British North Borneo Company".

— Article III, Madrid Protocol of 1885

Another important point regarding the agreement relates to Article IV which guaranteed no restriction on trade to the parties of the protocol within the Archipelago and North Borneo.

North Borneo dispute

The North Borneo dispute is the territorial dispute between Malaysia and the Philippines over much of the eastern part of the state of Sabah, a territory known as North Borneo prior to the formation of the Malaysian federation. The Philippines, presenting itself as the successor state of the Sultanate of Sulu, retains a "dormant claim" on Sabah on the basis that the territory was only leased to the British North Borneo Company in 1878, with the sovereignty of the Sultanate (and subsequently the Republic) over the territory having never been relinquished.[2] However, Malaysia considers this dispute as a "non-issue" as it interprets the 1878 agreement as that of cession[3] and that it deems that the residents of Sabah had exercised their right to self-determination when they joined to form the Malaysian federation in 1963.[4]

Sulu heirs

Besides the Philippines, the Sabah region has also been claimed by the purported heirs of the last Sultan of Sulu.[5] In 2019, the self-proclaimed heirs of the Sulu empire filed an arbitration appeal in Spain based on the 1878 agreement.[6] Malaysia refused to be part of the arbitration process insisting that the proper venue to resolve the dispute was within its own legal system.

The Madrid High Court appointed Gonzalo Stampa the sole commercial arbitrator on the matter, a move which Malaysia challenged in the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid. The appointment was annulled, however, Stampa moved the case to High Court of Paris.[7] On 28 February 2022, Stampa ruled in favor of the alleged descendants of sultan and ordered Malaysia to pay US$14.92 billion in settlement to the litigants.[8] The award was eventually struck down by the Hague Court of Appeal on June 27, 2023.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ Tregonning, H.G. (1970). The Philippine Claim to Sabah (PDF). The Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
  2. ^ "East and Southeast Asia: the Philippines". CIA Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  3. ^ Campbell, Charlie (26 February 2013). "Sabah Standoff: Diplomatic Drama After Filipino Militants Storm Malaysia". TIME. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  4. ^ James W. Gould (1969). The United States and Malaysia. Harvard University Press. pp. 106–. ISBN 978-0-674-92615-8.
  5. ^ "Explaining the Sulu claim". The Star. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  6. ^ Byrnes, Sholto (20 July 2022). "The heirs of a sultanate are using international law to make Malaysia pay". The National. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  7. ^ Alerion_03 (26 July 2022). "UPDATE - Paris Court of Appeal granted Malaysia a stay of the enforcement of multi-billion award in France while its enforcement is pursued in Luxembourg". Alerion Avocats Paris. Retrieved 21 February 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Vidal, Desiré (16 February 2022). "Sultan of Sulu: the story of Spain´s largest arbitration". Legal Dealmaker. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Hague Court Dismisses Sulu Heirs US$15 Billon Claim, A Landmark Victory For Malaysia". Business Today. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2024.

Further reading

  • Leigh R. Wright. Historical Notes on the North Borneo Dispute. The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 25, No. 3 (May 1966), pp. 471–484.
  • Leigh R. Wright. The Origins of British Borneo. Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 10, No. 1 (1976), pp. 149–154
  • Leigh R. Wright. The Anglo-Spanish-German Treaty of 1885: A Step in the Development of British Hegemony in North Borneo. Australian Journal of Politics & History 18 (1), 62–75

External links

  • British North Borneo, 1885 Sabah Law
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