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FREE LAW JOURNAL - VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1 (18 JULY 2005)
from within its jurisdiction. 37 This was actually in the Trail Smelter Case, where emission of sulphur
dioxide from a smelter plant from the Canadian territory about 10 miles from the boarder caused damage
since 1925 in the state of Washington. In Corfu Channel Case Court maintained that every state is in a
duty to ‘not allow knowingly its territory to be used for the acts contrary to the rights of other states’. 38 It
was in fact the duty of Albania to keep its territorial water safe for the vessels of other states as well as for
the vessels of its own. Since innocent passage through the territorial water was recognised in the
customary principle of international law, the duty of Albania was to make sure that route was without
danger. Even if Albania did not lay the minefield by itself or minefield was laid without its knowledge, its
duty was to make a promulgation of danger as soon as it knew and thereafter to take measures necessary.
But it failed to make any declaration and also did not take even any attempt to remove the danger whereas
just after the explosions on 22nd of October, Greece, that have a frontier with Albania through the
Channel, took measures to make sure about the safety of its water in the Channel. Therefore, Albania’s
responsibility should be drawn even on the ground of international environmental law.
CONCLUSION
Corfu Channel Case indeed remained as one of the very important cases in international law. International
Law has been developed through the cases of different times. The Corfu Channel case has produced some
important issues of international law. In this case it was established that responsibility of a state is not
only due to the wrongful act committed by a state itself, but also for the omission of notification of the
fact that by all means it should have known. In this point the case is, in fact, a very important one in the
field of international responsibility of states. The other important issue was also established as regards the
innocent passage of warships through territorial water, which is still to some extent ambiguous from the
law of the sea convention. However, what is yet not clear is whether the innocent passage of warships can
be allowed in time of war.
37 Trail Smelter Arbitration (1941), the Tribunal’s final decision, that was recognise as a general principle of international law,
cited in Rebecca Wallace, International Law a student introduction (1994)
38 ICJ Report, 1949 at p. 22
KAMRUL HOSSAIN - LEGAL ISSUES ARISING OUT OF CORFU CHANNEL CASE OF 1949 55