Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Nigeria

09.02.2013

Dear Sir / Madam,

The initial purpose of the Berlin Conference was to guarantee free trade and navigation in the Congo, while the lower Niger River and its basins would be considered neutral and open to trade. The Berlin Conference ended on February 26, 1885, with the signing of the General Act of the Berlin Conference, also called the Congo Act. Among other provisions, the act guaranteed free trade throughout the Congo Basin and the Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) region, and proclaimed the Niger and Congo rivers open for ship traffic. The Congo Act also implemented an international prohibition on the slave trade. In addition, the Berlin Conference Act of February 1885 established the �principle of effective occupation� for colonial powers claiming territory in Africa. Article XXXV of the Act required the European powers signatory to the Act to insure the establishment of sufficient authority in the regions they occupied to protect existing rights and freedom of trade and transit. Furthermore, new possession by any country of any portion of the African coast would have to be formally declared to the other signatories of the Congo Act.

Regards,

FCA Prashant Chavan

Mumbai

(You can also mail me for any further on-line advice at [email protected])