The Corfu Channel Case

DOCTRINES IN THE CASE

1. Principle of State Responsibility

ILC Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, 2001
Article l- Responsibility of a State for its internationally wrongful acts
“Every internationally wrongful act of a State entails the international responsibility of that
State.”

2. Concept of Right to Innocent Passage

Article 17-19 of the UNCLOS III (1982)
Article 17
Right of innocent passage
Subject to this Convention, ships of all States, whether coastal or land-locked, enjoy the
right of innocent passage through the territorial sea.

Article 18
Meaning of passage
1. Passage means navigation through the territorial sea for the purpose of:
(a) traversing that sea without entering internal waters or calling at a roadstead or port
facility outside internal waters; or
(b) proceeding to or from internal waters or a call at such roadstead or port facility.
2. Passage shall be continuous and expeditious. However, passage includes stopping
and anchoring, but only in so far as the same are incidental to ordinary navigation or are
rendered necessary by force majeure or distress or for the purpose of rendering
assistance to persons, ships or aircraft in danger or distress.

Article 19
Defines Innocent Passage “Passage is innocent so long as it is not prejudicial to the
peace, good order or security of the coastal State.”

3. Principle of Non-Interference
Article 8 of the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, 1933 states,
“No state has the right to intervene in the internal or external affairs of another.”

4. Principle of Equal Sovereignty

Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, 1945 states that,
“All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force
against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other
manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.”

Article 4 of the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, 1933 states
that,
“Article 4. States are juridically equal, enjoy the same rights, and have equal capacity in
their exercise. The rights of each one do not depend upon the power which it possesses
to assure its exercise, but upon the simple fact of its existence as a person under
international law.”

Facts of the Case

On May 15th 1946 the British naval warships went across the Corfu Channel
without the permission of the Albanian government and were fired upon by Albanian
coastal batteries. Afterwards, on October 22nd, 1946, a fleet of British warships (two
cruisers and two destroyers), left the port of Corfu and advanced northward through a
channel previously swept for mines in the North Corfu Strait. Both destroyers were struck
by a mine and were heavily damaged. This occurrence resulted in many human deaths
and severe injuries. The two ships were mined in Albanian territorial waters in a previously
swept and check-swept channel. After the mining accident of 22nd October, the United
Kingdom Government sent a note to the Albanian Government. The note asserted the UK
government’s intention to sweep the Corfu Channel shortly. Concurrently, at the United
Kingdom Government’s request, the International Central Mine Clearance Board decided,
in a resolution of November 1st, 1946, that there should be a further sweep of the
Channel, subject to Albania’s consent. London received the reply of the note from the
Albanian government on 31st October. It expressed that the Albanian Government would
not give its consent to mine sweeping unless the operation in question took place outside
Albanian territorial waters. The Albanian government directly expressed that any
minesweeping carried on without the permission of the Albanian Government inside
Albanian territorial waters will be regarded as a deliberate violation of Albanian
sovereignty and territory. On 12th and 13th November of 1946 the British Royal Navy
launched ‘Operation Retail’ and carried out the minesweeping against the wishes of the
Albanian Government. This case was brought before the Court on May 22nd, 1947, by
an Application filed by the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland instituting proceedings against the Government of the People’s Republic
of Albania.

Issues of the Corfu Channel Case and Analysis of Corfu Channel Case

1. Whether Albania is responsible under international law for the mine explosions which
occurred on the 22nd October, 1946 in Albanian waters and for the damage of machinery
and loss of human lives which resulted due to it?
1) Yes, Albania as a state has a responsibility not to breach international law. This
responsibility originates from well-recognized principles of humanity which were even
more onerous in time of peace than in war, from the principle of freedom of maritime
communication, and from the obligation of all states not to knowingly allow their territory
to be used contrary to the rights of other states. The Albanian Government had full
knowledge about the mines and it had state responsibility to inform other states about the
existence of the minefields. The Albanian government had the duty under international
law to inform the ships approaching about the danger.

2. Whether the United Kingdom has violated the sovereignty of Albania by reason of
minesweeping operation without consent of the Albanian Government?
2) Yes, The UK argued that the passage on October 22nd, 1946 was innocent and that
according to rules of international law it had the ‘right to innocent passage’ through the
North Corfu Channel as it is regarded as a part of international highways and does not
need a prior permission of the territorial state. The North Corfu Channel must be viewed
as belonging to the ‘class of international highways’ across which an innocent passage
does not need special permission and cannot be restricted by a coastal State in time of
peace. But Albania was at war with Greece at that time which means that the coastal
state was not in time of peace. But the UK violated the territorial sovereignty of Albania
by launching Operation Retail without its consent.

3. Whether the United Kingdom is entitled to compensation for the loss suffered?
3) Yes, The United Kingdom has suffered tremendous loss of machinery and human lives
due to the explosion of mines in the Albanian waters. The damages suffered by the UK
were directly caused by the mine explosions. As a subject of international law, the United
Kingdom has a right to claim compensation from Albania for violation of international law.
Thus, there is a duty upon Albania to pay compensation to the United Kingdom.

Conclusion
The Court held that Albania was responsible under international law for the mine
explosions in Corfu channel that had taken place in Albanian territorial waters and for the
damage and loss of life which had occurred. The court gives judgement that the United
Kingdom did not breach the sovereignty of Albania due to the acts of the British Royal
Navy in Albanian waters on October 22nd, 1946. However, when the British Royal Navy
launched the operation for minesweeping in November 1946, it violated the sovereignty
of Albania. This operation did not have the permission of international mine clearance
organizations, could not be justified as the exercise of a right of innocent passage, and
international law prohibits a state to assemble a fleet in the territorial waters of another
state and to carry out mine-sweeping in those waters. In a third judgement, rendered on
15 December 1949, the Court calculated the amount of reparation owed to the United
Kingdom and ordered Albania to pay £844,000.