Condominium Agreement (1899)

views updated

CONDOMINIUM AGREEMENT (1899)

the 1899 pact that conferred and described joint british–egyptian dominion over the sudan.

The concept of condominium in international law refers to a joint dominion over a certain territory by two or more states, which jointly exercise their sovereignty over it. A unique feature of the condominium is that the territory in question belongs simultaneously to two or more states and is in this sense a part of the territory of each of them. Hence, each state is entitled to implement its authority in accordance with the condominium agreement.

In the context of Egyptian–Sudanese relations, the Condominium Agreement refers to the Anglo–Egyptian agreement on the Sudan signed 19 January 1899, by Lord Cromer, the British counsel-general in Egypt, and Boutros Ghali Pasha, the Egyptian minister of foreign affairs. Since Egypt itself was occupied by the British, the agreement legalized British control of the Sudan and framed it as an Anglo–Egyptian rule and administration. The Condominium Agreement was meant to offset potential Ottoman and European opposition to British expansionism.

The Condominium Agreement referred to "certain provinces in the Soudan [sic ] which were in rebellion against the authority of the Khedive, but which had now been reconquered by the joint military and financial efforts of Britain and Egypt." The first two articles defined the Sudan by reference to territories south of the 22d parallel that had previously been administered by Egypt and had now been reconquered or that might in future be reconquered by Anglo–Egyptian forces or that had never been evacuated by Egyptian troops. Therefore, according to the agreement, the territories of the Sudan included both Wadi Halfa, a town in northern Sudan, and Suakin, a city on the Red Sea.

The third and fourth articles dealt with executive and legislative matters in the new joint administration. The supreme military and civil command of the Sudan was to be vested in one officer, termed the governor-general, who was appointed by a khedival decree on the recommendation of the British government and could be removed only by a khedival decree with the consent of the British government. The Condominium Agreement also dealt with judicial matters in the Sudan and stressed the independence of the Sudanese judicial system and the prohibition of slave trade. With the new arrangements, Lord Kitchener, who was the commander of the Anglo–Egyptian forces, was appointed as the first governor-general of the Sudan.

The Condominium Agreement lasted until 1954 when Sudan gained its independence.