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Cornish Foreshore Case
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The Cornish Foreshore Case was a case of arbitration between the Crown and the Duchy of Cornwall between 1854 and 1858. Officers of the Duchy successfully argued that the Duchy enjoyed many of the rights and prerogatives of a county palatine and that although the Duke of Cornwall was not granted Royal jurisdiction, was considered to be quasi-sovereign within his Duchy of Cornwall. The arbitration, as instructed by the Crown, was based on legal argument and documentation which led to the Cornwall Submarine Mines Act 1858.
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The Cornish Foreshore Case was a case of arbitration between the Crown and the Duchy of Cornwall between 1854 and 1858. Officers of the Duchy successfully argued that the Duchy enjoyed many of the rights and prerogatives of a county palatine and that although the Duke of Cornwall was not granted Royal jurisdiction, was considered to be quasi-sovereign within his Duchy of Cornwall. The arbitration, as instructed by the Crown, was based on legal argument and documentation which led to the Cornwall Submarine Mines Act 1858. The Arbitrator was Sir John Patteson who communicated with the appropriate officers of the Crown and Duchy. The law officer representing the Duchy was the Rt. Hon. Thomas Pemberton Leigh, Baron Kingsdown.
The Duchy submission
- That Cornwall, like Wales, was at the time of the Conquest, and was subsequently treated in many respects as distinct from England.
- That it was held by the Earls of Cornwall with the rights and prerogative of a county palatine, as far as regarded the seigneury or territorial dominion.
- That the Dukes of Cornwall have from the creation of the Duchy enjoyed the rights and prerogatives of a County Palatine, as far as regarded seigneury or territorial dominion, and that to a great extent by Earls.
- That when the earldom was augmented into a duchy, the circumstances attending to its creation, as well as the language of the Duchy Charter, not only support and confirm natural presumption, that the new and higher title was to be accompanied with at least as great dignity, power, and prerogative as the Earls enjoyed, but also afforded evidence that the Duchy was to be invested with still more extensive rights and privileges.
- The Duchy Charters have always been construed and treated, not merley by the Courts of Judicature, but also by the Legislature of the Country, as having vested in the Dukes of Cornwall the whole territorial interest and dominion of the Crown in and over the entire County of Cornwall.
The Cornwall Foreshore Dispute culminated in the "Articles of Agreement" between the Crown and the Duchy in the Cornwall Submarine Mines Act 1858 which reveals: "All mines and minerals within Cornwall under the seashore, estuaries and tidal rivers and other places (below high-water mark) are part of the soil and 'territorial possessions' of the Duchy". "Foreshore" is not mentioned in the Duchy Charters, but the intent of the Charters to recognise Cornwall as a "territorial possession" is confirmed by the 1858 Act, the "general law" of the Duchy and the ruling in "The Prince's Case 1606", that "all Cornwall is the Duchy of Cornwall". Minerals are, therefore, only of constitutional interest to the Duke in his political capacity.
Significance today
Today the Duchy of Cornwall describes itself as a private estate funding the public, charitable and private activities of The Prince of Wales and his family. It has been claimed that at some point after 1858, the officers of the Duchy, with the support of members of the UK Government, developed a plan to portray the Duchy of Cornwall as a 'private estate'.
Many Cornish people today claim that this arbitration in favour of the Duchy shows that Cornwall is a territorial possession distinct both from England and the Crown. They also quote the Act of the Council of the first Duke in 1351 that sought proper clarification of persons in "Cornwall and England".
In August 2008 it was announced by Cornwall 2000 that they propose to lodge a case for the proposed inclusion of the Cornish into the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities with the European Court of Human Rights and they have started a 'Cornish Fighting Fund'. They also claim that Cornish people’s territory and status has been altered/downgraded without their knowledge or approval and claim that the main reason the Cornish are being denied recognition of their identity is to prevent any public debate or official enquiry into the constitutional status of Cornwall regarding the Duchy of Cornwall, sometimes referred to as the "Cornish Question".
See also
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