Britain's activities on islet are 'proof of sovereignty'

Singapore rebuts claims that Britain only wanted some space for a lighthouse

The Straits Times, November 8, 2007
By Lydia Lim, Senior Political Correspondent


PICTURE FROM THE PAST: A painting by Mr J.T. Thomson, the man who designed Horsburgh Lighthouse, showing Pedra Branca just after the completion of the lighthouse (1851).








THE HAGUE (NETHERLANDS) - SINGAPORE yesterday rebutted Malaysia's contention that the British colonial government never took ownership of Pedra Branca.

By challenging this, the Malaysians were arguing that Singapore therefore could not be the islet's rightful owner. It was the British government in Singapore that had administered Pedra Branca and passed on the title to the islet to the Republic when it gained its independence.

In their written pleadings submitted to the courts earlier, the Malaysians had argued that Britain had instead only wished to acquire some space on Pedra Branca to build a lighthouse. This is the Horsburgh Lighthouse.

Their argument went thus: If Britain had intended to assert sovereignty over the whole island, it would have staged a formal ceremony complete with flag raising or issued a formal document to trumpet the start of its rule.

Yesterday, Queen's Counsel Ian Brownlie, acting for Singapore, mounted a lengthy rebuttal to this contention.

In essence, Singapore countered that there was no such need to mark the start of British rule.

Rather, numerous acts of the British government on the islet from 1847 to 1851 were more than enough to establish its ownership over the whole island.

Mr Brownlie was speaking on Day Two of the hearing before the International Court of Justice to determine the sovereignty over Pedra Branca, which both Malaysia and Singapore claim.

Appearing before the 16 judges of the ICJ, the Queen's Counsel said: 'The basis of the claim to sovereignty in respect of Pedra Branca is the lawful possession of Pedra Branca effected by a series of official actions in the period 1847 to 1851, beginning with the first landing on Pedra Branca by Thomson some time between June 21 and July 9, 1847, and ending with the ceremonial official commissioning of the lighthouse on Sept 27, 1851.'

Mr J. T. Thomson is the man who designed Horsburgh Lighthouse, which stands on Pedra Branca.

Mr Brownlie then went on to list in detail Britain's pattern of activities and official visits during this period.

These included the building of not just a lighthouse but also other facilities such as a jetty and the cutting of rain channels in some of the rocks on the granite islet.

He said the evidence that Britain wished to assume sovereignty over the whole island was 'voluminous and definitive'.

'The Malaysian contention that the possession was only for the purpose of acquiring room for the lighthouse flies in the face of common sense,' he added.

In its written pleadings, Malaysia argued that the British Crown only took possession of a part of the islet so as to build a lighthouse. It thus only gained an item of property and not title to a parcel of territory, Malaysia had alleged.

But Mr Brownlie pointed out yesterday that international courts regarded public works as state functions.

The courts had also not shown any tendency to decide that public works only produced title to the soil and space they actually occupied, he added.

Moreover, in Pedra Branca's case, he said the cutting of rain channels on rocks higher than those on which the lighthouse was built, and the construction of piers and platforms constituted evidence of Britain's intent to 'appropriate the island as a whole for a use which was both permanent and exclusive'.

He also noted that throughout this period, Britain's actions were 'peaceful and public and elicited no opposition from other powers'.

Foreign counsel Rodman Bundy will today take up the events from 1851 onwards, to show how Britain and then Singapore maintained their title over Pedra Branca.