Public International Law GOVT 2047 Past Paper PDF

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW GOVT 2047  TITLE TO TERRITORY TERRITORY DEFINED Territory in international law means any area of the Earth's surface which is the subject of sovereign right and interests It is a definite part of the surface of the Earth where the state n...

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW GOVT 2047  TITLE TO TERRITORY TERRITORY DEFINED Territory in international law means any area of the Earth's surface which is the subject of sovereign right and interests It is a definite part of the surface of the Earth where the state normally exercise of jurisdiction over persons or things to the exclusion of another state. The domain of a state therefore may be described as : Terrestrial Maritime Aerial  WHAT DETERMINES TERRITORY? Territory is one of the fundamental attributes of a State. The exercise of sovereignty is predicated upon territory. With territory the State could perform acts and be subject to duties which it could not perform and which would not be subject if it lacked territory  ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY The traditional mode of acquisition of a territory of a state are: Discovery Occupation Prescription Cessation Annexation Assimilation Conquest  DISCOVERY Discovery is the oldest method of acquiring title to territory Up to the 18th century discovery alone was enough to establish a legal title. "Physical" discovery or simple "visual apprehension" was sufficient enough to establish a right of sovereignty over or valid title to terra nullus.  CONTINUITY Related to the title by discovery is the hinterland doctrine of the principle of continuity: " if a state has made a settlement. It has a right to assume sovereignty over all adjacent vacant territory, which is necessary to the integrity and security of the state." OCCUPATION AND PRESCRIPTION Acquisition of territory by prescription means continued occupation over a long period of time by one state of territory actually and originally belonging to another state.  ISLAND OF PALMAS CASE The case of Island of Palmas Arbitration Netherlands versus United States 1928. Both the United States and the Netherlands laid claim to the ownership of the Island of Palmas. US maintained that it was part of the Philippines because of it close proximity to the Philippines. The claim of the US was backed up with the fact that the islands had been seceded by Spain by the Treaty of Paris in 1898 and a successes to the US of the rights of Spain over the Philippines. It based its claim of title on Discovery by Spain.  On the part of the Netherlands they claim to have possessed and exercise right of sovereignty over the island from 1677 or earlier to the present. The court ruled in favour of Netherlands.  THE CLIPPERTON ISLAND CASE The Clipperton Island case was an arbitration between France and Mexico over the sovereignty of Clipperton Island. The case created an important precedent in matters of territorial sovereignty , the role of arbitration in resolving disputes between nations. France was given title to the island  TITLE BY ACCRETION Accretion is the process by which new land formations are legally accumulated to old ones by water. It includes several geographical phenomena such as diversion of the River from where it previously flowed. The gradual deposit of soil by river flowing past the shore or by an area along its coast. An addition to the river bank represents not only an addition to the territory of the state but also causes an outward extension of the marine frontier.  AVULSION Avulsion is the sudden loss of land resulting from the action of water. CONQUEST AND ANNEXATION With the coming into force of the United Nations Charter acquisition of territory by conquest may no longer be legal under international law. To this day however some states still persist in acquiring territory by the use of force such as the attempted invasion of Kuwait by Iraq and Russia into Ukraine.  CESSION Cession is the transfer of sovereignty over a territory by the owner state to another state by mutual agreement. Since session is a bilateral transaction to ceding the acquiring parties must be States. Volunteer cession is made through a treaty which specifies the defined territory ceded. Cession may also be in the form of exchange of territory for another or in the form of a gift or donation or device.