In the late 19th/early 20th century European powers, among them the German Empire and the United Kingdom, delimited their colonial possessions in Africa through a network of international treaties. Some of these treaties, which still determine the trace of boundaries between African States today, have suddenly come to the fore in disputes before the International Court of Justice. In this context, interesting issues of the law of treaties arise. One of them relates to the constitutional requirements for the conclusion of such colonial treaties, in particular the division of competences between the executive and the legislative power in this area. This leads to the classical question of the international legal relevance of constitutional limitations of the treaty-making power at the international plane. The present contribution furnishes a case-study on this issue by examining the constitutional law of the German Empire.     «

In the late 19th/early 20th century European powers, among them the German Empire and the United Kingdom, delimited their colonial possessions in Africa through a network of international treaties. Some of these treaties, which still determine the trace of boundaries between African States today, have suddenly come to the fore in disputes before the International Court of Justice. In this context, interesting issues of the law of treaties arise. One of them relates to the constitutional requi...    »