The proposed Channel Tunnel.
§ 287d. Since there is as yet no submarine tunnel in existence, it is of interest to give some details concerning the project of a Channel Tunnel[594] between Dover and Calais, and the preliminary arrangements between France and England concerning it. Already some years before the Franco-German War the possibility of such a tunnel was discussed, but it was not until 1874 that the first preliminary steps were taken. The subsoil of the Channel was geologically explored, plans were worked out, and a shaft of more than a mile long was tentatively bored from the English shore. And in 1876 an International Commission, appointed by the English and French Governments, and comprising three French and three English members, made a report on the construction and working of the proposed tunnel.[595] The report enclosed a memorandum, recommended by the Commissioners to be adopted as the basis of a treaty between Great Britain and France concerning the tunnel, the juridically important articles of which are the following:—
[594] See Oppenheim in Z.V. II. (1908), pp. 1-16; Robin in R.G. XV. (1908), pp. 50-77; and Liszt, § 26.
[595] See Parliamentary Papers, C. 1576, Report of the Commissioners for the Channel Tunnel and Railway, 1876.
(Article 1) The boundary between England and France in the tunnel shall be half-way between low-water mark (above the tunnel) on the coast of England, and low-water mark (above the tunnel) on the coast of France. The said boundary shall be ascertained and marked out under the direction of the International Commission to be appointed, as mentioned in article 4, before the Submarine Railway is opened for public traffic. The definition of boundary provided for by this article shall have reference to the tunnel and Submarine Railway only, and shall not in any way affect any question of the nationality of, or any rights of navigation, fishing, anchoring, or other rights in, the sea above the tunnel, or elsewhere than in the tunnel itself.
(Article 4) There shall be constituted an International Commission to consist of six members, three of whom shall be nominated by the British Government and three by the French Government....
The International Commission shall ... submit to the two Governments its proposals for Supplementary Conventions with respect—(a) to the apprehension and trial of alleged criminals for offences committed in the tunnel or in trains which have passed through it, and the summoning of witnesses; (b) to customs, police, and postal arrangements, and other matters which it may be found convenient so to deal with.
(Article 15) Each Government shall have the right to suspend the working of the Submarine Railway and the passage through the tunnel whenever such Government shall, in the interest of its own country, think necessary to do so. And each Government shall have power, to be exercised if and when such Government may deem it necessary, to damage or destroy[596] the works of the tunnel or Submarine Railway, or any part of them, in the territory of such Government, and also to flood the tunnel with water.
[596] This stipulation was proposed in the interest of defence in time of war. As regards the position of a Channel Tunnel in time of war, see Oppenheim in Z.V. II. (1908), pp. 13-16.