World Court Digest

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I.	Substantive International Law - First Part
7.	LAW OF TREATIES
7.1.	General Questions

¤ Case Concerning Maritime
Delimitation and Territorial
Question between Qatar and
Bahrain (Qatar v. Bahrain)
Judgment of 16 March 2001

[p. 68] 88. Both Parties agree that the 1913 Anglo-Ottoman Convention was never ratified (see paragraphs 46 and 47 above); they differ on the other hand as to its value as evidence of Qatar's sovereignty over the peninsula.

89. The Court observes that signed but unratified treaties may constitute an accurate expression of the understanding of the parties at the time of signature. In the circumstances of this case the Court has come to the conclusion that the Anglo-Ottoman Convention does represent evidence of the views of Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire as to the factual extent of the authority of the Al-Thani Ruler in Qatar up to 1913.

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