TIME TO DUMP THE TREATY

This year is the 300 th anniversary of the Treaty of Utrecht. Instead of holding events to commemorate not celebrate the signing of the same our efforts would have been better expended in dumping it in the international courts of law.

The Treaty of Utrecht is now a dusty historical document. The only bits that is clung to by Spain are the paragraphs relating to Gibraltar. However it is clear also that the Foreign Office in London also honours this discredited piece of parchment as has been demonstrated at the UN.

I also sure there is a cupboard in the archives of the Foreign Office in which a copy of the Treaty of Utrecht is kept, next to the packet of Hobnobs. On the anniversary of its signing each year the Spanish Ambassador will be summoned to Whitehall and will be accompanied to the cupboard by a high ranking Mandarin, an Old Etonian and High Anglican, and together they will sing hosannas, genuflect then wave incense before the text. They’ll then have a Hobnob each and sip a cup of English Breakfast tea.

This old battered document has a negative impact on the relations between London and Gibraltar. For all the political rhetoric by the British Government and our own over Gibraltarians right to self-determine their own future, there will be those who wave the Treaty and speak in respectful tones of its wording. It is the hooded cobra weaving before Gibraltarians eyes holding us in its glare and undermining Gibraltar’s future security.

We are constantly told by members of our Government and Gibraltarian legal eagles who know about such things that the Treaty of Utrecht would not stand up in an international court of law. We were told this week that Spain will not take its claim over British Gibraltar Territorial Waters to law because it knows it would lose. This is nothing new. We have known for years that Spanish lawyers who deal in international law have said that the Treaty would be laughed out of court. If this is so then why has not the Gibraltar Government of the day grasped this nettle and had it consigned to the history books by going to court so Gibraltarians can get on with their lives without Madrid quoting its claims left, right and centre.

Taking the Treaty to court is a win – win situation. If the court indeed backed the Treaty and ruled it should stand then all we would have to do is ensure that the links between Gibraltar and Britain are so Rock solid it would never be “returned” to Spain. Integration on the style of Ceuta and Melilla comes to mind. If on the other hand the court comes down on the side of the opinion of the majority of international lawyers and the Treaty is indeed dead, then so too are Spain’s claims over Gibraltar.

Until the day such a court ruling is sought, and Madrid’s Fascist ambitions over Gibraltar and its people are shown to be just that, then Gibraltarians will live in uncertainty. It will be the fault of Gibraltar because we have done nothing to end this farce.

BANGING YOUR HEAD AGAINST A CONCRETE BLOCK

The latest confrontation between Gibraltar, Spanish fishermen and the Guardia Civil has me scratching my head. It fact it has me banging my head against a concrete block. 

First the area which the conflict has taken place is in British Gibraltar territorial waters so they belong to us. Second it is not just Whitehall and our government that says these waters are ours so too does international law. Hence whatever Madrid may say is irrelevant. Thirdly what goes on in those waters is the business of the UK and Gibraltar Government and of no concern to the Guardia Civil. And finally Cádiz fishermen should be fishing in Cádiz and Spanish waters so what happens in BGTW in no business of theirs at all, at all.

Of course Spain insists that Gibraltar has no territorial waters but that is not a local dispute between us and them it is Madrid flying in the face of the United Nations. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 sets out Gibraltar’s right to a three mile limit, and we could have 12 miles if we asked for it. Spain will claim that it signed the convention but will point out it added:

“In ratifying the Convention, Spain wishes to make it known that this act cannot be construed as recognition of any rights or status regarding the maritime space of Gibraltar that are not included in article 10 of the Treaty of Utrecht of 13 July 1713 concluded between the Crowns of Spain and Great Britain. Furthermore, Spain does not consider that Resolution III of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea is applicable to the colony of Gibraltar, which is subject to a process of decolonization in which only relevant resolutions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly are applicable."

This clause has no basis in international law and is yet more Madrid gobbledegook. The fact is Gibraltar’s three mile limit is recognized by the UN and whether Rajoy or any other Spanish politician agrees with it or not is neither here nor there. Our waters are a legal fact.

So why are we dropping blocks of concrete in to the waters of Gibraltar? No.6 in a statement tells us: “The Government announced the creation of reefs in different parts of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW) as part of its marine protection strategy when it published the fishing report. These reefs will increase biodiversity and provide refuge for many marine species."

It would therefore follow at least as far as I can see that the actions of dropping the blocks is not an affront to environmentalists but in fact an environmentally good thing to do. It will preserve fish stocks albeit it may make raping the bottom of our seas by Spanish fishermen that more difficult. Good I say.

Gibraltarians enjoy the right to vote in European elections not because our Government or indeed the UK Government secured them for us but because private individuals took it upon themselves to take our case before the European Court. 

It may be that for political reasons our own Government and indeed the UK Government do not wish to test the Treaty of Utrecht or indeed our right to territorial waters in the international courts. However the fact is that until somebody does the confrontations that have been going on for many a year will continue for many a year more.

Spain is not going to go to court because it knows its arguments do not have a legal leg to stand on. Surely this nation of lawyers has amongst its number those who will fight for Gibraltar’s corner and bring an end to this Spanish nonsense once and for all. I don’t expect Danny Feetham to don his wig and gown and stand up for Gibraltar but may be there are others who will.

GLOVES OFF: TIME TO GO TO COURT

Over the years I have spoken to many local politicians and all have been of the opinion that if Gibraltar went to court to challenge the validity in this modern age of the Treaty of Utrecht the government would win and it would be placed in the judicial waste bin.

I include in that number Daniel Feetham who was then leader of the Labour Party. I would not hold anybody to their views from a past life but as he will soon no doubt be the leader of the GSD his stance is important. However I have read or heard nothing to suggest he doesn’t still hold that view.

Given that the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, the deputy leader of the GSD, Daniel Feetham, and the leader of the PDP, Keith Azopardi, are all lawyers their collective agreement on this issue is important. It is not only important to win the legal battle but also the fight for public opinion. Hence Gibraltar needs to be united and 100 per cent behind this cause.

I accept there are lawyers and there are lawyers hence Messers Picardo, Feetham and Azopardi may well not be the ones to stand up in court and argue the case on an ancient treaty and constitutional matters. None-the-less Gibraltar and the world are not short of lawyers and perhaps Michael Llamas QC might be such a legal eagle.

In a recent Government statement on the fishing dispute Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said “I am the fifth Chief Minister of Gibraltar to challenge Spain to litigation on the issue of the territorial waters around Gibraltar. Instead of accepting our successive challenges to resolve matters in an International Court, some elements in Spain continue to risk the lives of those at sea by seeking to advance its position in the waters around Gibraltar.”

Well my question as a lay man is if five Chief Ministers were confident enough to take the matter before a court why haven’t we called Spain’s bluff before now and done just that?

Whilst the waters and air space issues are the ones the court in such circumstances would be required to rule on I believe it should be the whole issue of the Treaty of Utrecht that should be up for judicial grabs.

Again as a lay man I can see no danger for Gibraltar. If we lose the case then the Treaty of Utrecht is upheld and as long as Gibraltar remains British, by the will of the Gibraltarian people, then the status quo stays.

However if the court rules that Gibraltar is entitled under international law to its own air space and waters, as provided for in the 1958 Geneva Convention to which Spain is a signatory, then it’s certainly game, set to us. If the court also rules the Treaty of Utrecht is as dead as the Dodo then you can add match over too.

In the 1967 referendum 99.19 per cent of Gibraltarians voted to reject any move to transfer them to Spanish sovereignty. In 2002 almost the same number, 98.48 per cent, rejected the attempts by Tony Blair and Jack Straw to bounce Gibraltar in to a joint sovereignty deal with Spain. The people of Gibraltar have been staunch in their rejection of Spain and surely it is now time to take the matter to court to cement in judicial stone the death of the Treaty of Utrecht and the right of the people of the Rock to self determine their own futures.

Of course Spain would oppose taking the case to court: but so too would any land grabber threatened with legal action. Britain would also oppose it as there is nothing the Foreign Office and the establishment likes less than change. Certainly it would be happy for joint sovereignty to be imposed but as an extension of the Treaty. However take away the Treaty of Utrecht and you remove the plank on which London – Madrid relations have been founded on for over 300 years. The brolly brigade would be in uncharted territory whilst Gibraltar would have a legally enforced map of its seas and air space. Do it I say!

UTRECHT: WHAT HAPPENS IF BRITAIN BECOMES A REPUBLIC

On March 23 the Conservative Peer, Lord Ashcroft, asked in the House of Lords “what legal obstacles there are to self-determination for the citizens of Gibraltar?”

Replying for the government was the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Lord Howell of Guildford - also a Tory - who stated: “The UK Government's position is that we will not enter into arrangements under which Gibraltar will pass into the sovereignty of another state against the freely and democratically expressed wishes of the people of Gibraltar. Moreover, we will not enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content. Gibraltar's right of self-determination is not constrained, except through Article X of the Treaty of Utrecht. Should Britain renounce sovereignty over Gibraltar, Article X of the Treaty of Utrecht makes clear that Spain would be given the right of first refusal.”

All pretty standard stuff but two points caught my eye. The first is that in this day and age the British Government still bases its position regarding Gibraltar on the outdated and largely defunct Treaty of Utrecht. Also as an extension of that it believes Spain has the right of first refusal – surely that right lies with the people of the Rock.

In Gibraltar’s new Constitution is enshrined the promise that Gibraltar will not pass into the sovereignty of another state against the freely and democratically expressed wishes of the people of Gibraltar. That is a short term commitment that will last for the lifetime of this constitution. Yet what of the future? I would argue Gibraltarians should not be only confident of their status, say over the next 20 years, but that of their children, their children’s children on into the future.

I would therefore beg the question that whilst secure in the present constitution should not Gibraltar challenge the Treaty of Utrecht now in the European Court of Human Rights to have it consigned once and for all to the legal dustbin? If it doesn’t then no progress can be made on self-determination, the sovereignty of Gibraltar’s waters or Spain’s sovereignty claims because Madrid and London will both turn to the Articles of the Treaty of Utrecht.

Who knows what world Gibraltarians will be living in in 50 years time? One scenario is that the mother country Britain will not be a monarchy but a republic. It is my understanding that the Treaty of Utrecht gives Gibraltar to the British Crown and not the government – so if there is no crown what then?

There are no hard and fast facts on the support in Britain for a Republic. Even the Republic website can only state: “Opinion polls consistently put support for a republic at around 20 per cent (various Mori polls), and some have put it as high as 43 per cent (GMTV/Mirror 2008). That means that at least 10 million people would vote to abolish the monarchy - the same number that voted for the winning party at our last general election.”

I suspect any move to a Republic is on hold till HM The Queen dies. I believe the British people and key nations such as Australia will not break their links to the crown until after she leaves the throne. With King Charles as monarch all bets are off. The majority of Britons think he should stand aside for his son William - he certainly will not unless ill health intervenes.

The Republic website goes on to state: “There has also been a steady increase in the number of people who do not think the monarchy will survive in the long term. A 2002 poll showed that 70 per cent believe Britain will be a republic within 50 years (Mori 2002).”

Hence when Gibraltarians plan their future it must not be on the grounds that the status quo will apply. The questions have to be asked now - in 50 years will Britain have a president, will Spain be fractured, will the EU even exist and will the Treaty of Utrecht still rule Gibraltarians’ lives?