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Law Notes Public International Law Notes

Territory Notes

Updated Territory Notes

Public International Law Notes

Public International Law

Approximately 460 pages

Public International Law notes fully updated for recent exams at Oxford and Cambridge. These notes cover all the major LLB aspects and so are perfect for anyone doing an LLB in the UK or a great supplement for those doing LLBs abroad, whether that be in Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong or Malaysia (University of London). See if you like them by referring to the samples below. We've also included our previous years' authors free of charge, to give you some extra materials to refer to for the tricky topi...

The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our Public International Law Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:

I. INTRODUCTION

A. THE CONCEPT OF ‘TERRITORY’

1. What counts as ‘Territory’?

States have (territorial) sovereignty over their territory. Island of Palmas (1928) 2 RIAA 829, 838-39.

  • “Sovereignty in the relations between States signifies independence. Independence in regard to a portion of the globe is the right to exercise therein, to the exclusion of any other State, the functions of a State. […] this principle of the exclusive competence of the State in regard to its own territory [is] the point of departure in settling most questions that concern international relations”

The components of a state’s ‘territory’ include: emerged land, internal waters (such as rivers and lakes), the territorial sea, and the airspace above these areas.

  • Internal waters. Comprising saltwater and freshwater areas inside a State’s territory, such as rivers and lakes and (exceptionally) archipelagic waters.

  • Territorial sea. The territorial sea is a maritime area adjacent to a State’s coast. Its maximum breadth is of 12 NM from the baselines determined in accordance with the law of the sea (Art 3 UNCLOS); normally, the baseline is the low-water mark along the coast (Art 5 UNCLOS). Sovereignty extends to the bed-soil and airspace above the territorial sea (Art 2(2) UNCLOS).

  • Airspace. The State has sovereignty over the airspace above its territory.

Arts 1-2, Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation (7 December 1944) 15 UNTS 295

Article - 1

The contracting States recognize that every State has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory.

Article – 2

For the purposes of this Convention the territory of a State shall be deemed to be the land areas and territorial waters adjacent thereto under the sovereignty, suzerainty, protection or mandate of such State

2. Territory, Sovereignty and Jurisdiction

State territory and its appurtenances (airspace and territorial sea), together with the government and population within its boundaries, constitute the physical and social base for the state. The legal competence of states and the rules for their protection depend on and assume the existence of this stable, physically identified base. For example, according to Art 29 VCLT: Unless a different intention appears from the treaty or is otherwise established, a treaty is binding upon each party in respect of its entire territory.

Territorial sovereignty has a positive and a negative aspect. The former relates to the exclusivity of the competence of the state regarding its own territory, while the latter refers to the obligation to protect the rights of other states.

B. MARITIME APPURTENANCES

The State possesses certain rights (but not sovereignty) over other adjacent maritime spaces: the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the continental shelf.

1. EEZ

A maritime zone beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea (Art 55 UNCLOS), extending up to 200 NM from the baselines (Art 57 UNCLOS). The coastal State has rights of exploration, exploitation, conservation and management of natural resources in the superjacent waters, the seabed and its subsoil.

2. Continental Shelf

The continental shelf comprises the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas beyond the territorial sea. It extends to 200 NM from the baselines or to the outer edge of the continental margin as defined in Art 76 UNCLOS. The coastal State has rights of exploration and exploitation of natural resources (Art 77 UNCLOS).

C. BOUNDARIES

Boundaries are imaginary lines on the surface of the earth which separate the territory of one State from another, or from unappropriated territory, or from the open sea.

Identifying the boundaries of a State’s territory is of special importance, since the State’s competences extend, in principle, only to its territory. But undefined boundaries are not an impediment to statehood.

II. TITLE TO TERRITORY IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

A. INTRODUCTION

Acquisition of territory concerns the processes recognised by international law through which a State establishes its sovereignty over a portion of land.

A State which has established its sovereignty over land is said to possess ‘title’ over that territory.

The term ‘title’ is used in (at least) two different senses in international law: (i) as a source of the rights over land; (ii) as the evidence of sovereignty over land.

B. THE CLASSICAL MODES OF ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY

These modes are frequently divided into ‘original’ and ‘derivative’ sources of title. Original title is that acquired over land that is terra nullius. Derivative title is acquired over land that was already under the sovereignty of another State.

1. Occupation

Occupation is the act of appropriation of territory by a State, through which it acquires sovereignty over that territory. Occupation must involve an actual, continuous and peaceful display of State authority with the intention to act as sovereign (Island of Palmas)

  • Continuous and peaceful display

  • ‘Continuous’ = ‘continuing’, i.e. ‘the territorial sovereignty has continued to exist and did exist at the moment which for the decision of the dispute must be considered as critical’ (Island of Palmas, 839).

  • No fixed period for which state authority must be displayed.

    • Island of Palmas, 840, 855

    • Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, para. 67

  • ‘Peaceful’ = effectivités not the object of protest by other states

    • Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, para. 68

  • Crucial whether other states claim sovereignty, and with what evidence -> possible to claim with limited effectivities if there is no other state that can point to a better title

  • Sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan, para. 134

  • Territorial and Maritime Dispute between Nicaragua and Honduras in the Caribbean Sea, para. 173

  • Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v Colombia), para. 80

  • State acquires sovereignty over terra nullius through effectivités

  • Territorial and Maritime Dispute between Nicaragua and Honduras in the Caribbean Sea,...

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