CONDOMINIUM

Abstract

This chapter discusses the notion of condominium in international law. The emergence of condominium as a term of international law has largely been the result of Roman and civil law influences. A series of condominia created in the old German Reich to satisfy the requirements of feudal and inheritance law were in the main dissolved during the 19th century, for example, Prussia and Lippe's common suzerainty over the city of Lippstadt, the condominium between Hesse and Baden over Kürndorf and finally the Kommunion of Unterharz, which was brought to an end by the Treaty of March 9, 1874 between Prussia and Brunswick. A further condominium of historical importance is the relationship between Great Britain and Egypt with regard to the Sudan. The basis for the arrangement was the Agreement of January 19, 1899 on the one hand and the joint pacification campaign and annexation on the other. Whether the 1899 Agreement was binding became a matter of controversy because Egypt, as a dependent State of Turkey, was not entitled to enter into such an agreement. The kind of common sovereignty exercised over the Sudan was described in various ways: some saw Great Britain exercising sovereign rights on Egypt's behalf, others saw the countries acting in common.