4457.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
EPLENIC.O. 8
פייווווווווווזן
885
10 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
No. 176.
(BAHAMAS.)
LAW OFFICERS to FOREIGN OFFICE.
MY LORD,
Temple, May 1, 1863. WE are honoured with your Lordship's commands, signified in Mr. Hammond's letter of the 21st March last, stating that he was directed to transmit to us a letter from the Admiralty, and a correspondence with the Colonial Office on a question asked by Vice-Admiral Milne as to the limits of the territorial jurisdiction of Great Britain over the Bahama Banks, and to request that we would take the same into consideration with reference to our Reports of the 31st of October and 3rd of December last on a similar question in regard to the reefs at Bermuda, and furnish your Lordship with our opinion as to the answer which should be returned to Vice-Admiral Milne.
In obedience to your Lordship's commands, we have taken this correspondence into consideration, and have the honour to
Report
That it is not easy, even with the aid of the charts which have been furnished us, to answer precisely the questions raised by Admiral Milne and his Grace the Duke of Newcastle.
In other words, though we have no doubt as to the general principles of the law which govern these questions, the application of them requires, to a certain extent at least, a practical knowledge of the locality which we do not possess.
In answering the questions, moreover, we assume, 1st, that the Great Banks referred to have not been heretofore claimed, or in any sense occupied as British territory, and 2ndly, that (if in any part capable of being occupied or inhabited which we do not suppose to be the case) they are uninhabited in fact.
Upon these assumptions we are of opinion that as a general rule British jurisdiction would not extend beyond the distance of three marine miles from an inhabited island or cay. This general proposition, however, must be subject to exceptions, for instance, any part of the great banks which may be enclosed within inhabited cays though beyond the distance of three miles from each cay might be considered within British jurisdiction.
Any part of the Great Banks capable of sustaining a fort, which, if built, would command the entrance or threaten the security of an inhabited cay, might also be considered to be within British jurisdiction. In fact, having regard to the peculiar formation and position of these cays, we incline to adopt the expressions of Sir F. Rogers in his letter to Mr. Hammond that "the conditions of contiguity and depen-
dence must be considered separately in each case or group of cases.'
The Earl Russell.
We have, &c. (Signed)
WM. ATHERTON. ROUNDELL PALMER. ROBERT PHILLIMORE.
مرم
o 16278-859.
15.-2/66.
Nos. 142 and 146. ·