Territory of States -- International Law

TERRITORY OF STATESCHAPTER IX – MITRA, Karyll Ann G

TERRITORY DEFINED: Territory in international law means any

area of the earth’s surface which is thesubject of sovereign rights and interests.

It is a definite part of the surface of theearth where the state normally exercisesjurisdiction over persons or things to theexclusion of another state.

TERRITORY DEFINED: The domain of a state therefore may be

described as:

Terrestrial

Fluvial or maritime

Aerial

PHILIPPINE TERRITORY

WHY DETERMINE TERRITORY? Territory is one of the fundamental attributes of

a State. The exercise of sovereignty ispredicated upon territory. With territory, theState could perform acts and be subject toduties which it could not perform and to whichit would not be subject if it lacked territory.

ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY

The traditional modes of acquiring a territory of a State are:

Discovery

Occupation

Prescription

Cession

Annexation

Assimilation

Conquest

DISCOVERY

DISCOVERY is the oldest method of acquiring title toterritory

Up to the 18th century, discovery alone was enoughto establish a legal title

“Physical” discovery or simple “visual apprehension,”is sufficient enough to establish a right of sovereigntyover, or a valid title to terra nullius

DISCOVERY

Related to the title by discovery is thehinterland doctrine or the principle ofcontinuity:

“If a state has made a settlement, it has a right toassume sovereignty over all adjacent vacantterritory, which is necessary to the integrity andsecurity of the settlement.”

TITLE BY OCCUPATION AND PRESCRIPTION

Acquisition of territory by prescription meanscontinued occupation over a long period oftime by one State of territory actually andoriginally belonging to another State.

TITLE BY OCCUPATION AND PRESCRIPTION

THE CASE OF ISLAND OF PALMAS ARBITRATIONThe Netherlands v. The United States (1928)

TITLE BY OCCUPATION AND PRESCRIPTION

THE CASE OF ISLAND OF PALMAS ARBITRATIONThe Netherlands v. The United States (1928)

Both the United States laid claim to the ownership of theIsland of Palmas. While the U.S. maintained that it was part ofthe Philippines, the Netherlands claimed it as their own. Theclaim of the U.S. was back up with the fact that the islandshad been ceded by Spain by the Treaty of Paris in 1898, andas successor to the rights of Spain over the Philippines, itbased its claim of title in the first place on discovery. On thepart of the Netherlands, they claimed to have possessedand exercised rights of sovereignty over the island from 1677or earlier to the present.

TITLE BY OCCUPATION AND PRESCRIPTION

THE KALAYAAN ISLAND GROUP

TITLE BY OCCUPATION AND PRESCRIPTION

THE KALAYAAN ISLAND GROUP

By virtue of occupation as res mullus and exercise ofjurisdiction, the Philippines formally claimed underPresidential Decree No. 1596 on 11 June 1978 title to theKalayaan Island Group.

The Philippine claim was duly registered in the UNSecretariat on 20 May 1980 including the technicaldescription of the boundaries.

TITLE BY OCCUPATION AND PRESCRIPTION

THE CLAIM OF CHINA

As early as the 2nd century B.C. Chinese discoveries wereclaimed of the Xisha (Paracels) and Nansha (Spratlys)islands.

After WWI, China was the only claimant of the Spratlys.The Chinese claimed sovereignty over the Spratlys sincethe 13th century through expeditions.

The Chinese admit that there is no actual occupation andcontrol of the totally uninhabited islands.

TITLE BY OCCUPATION AND PRESCRIPTION

THE CLAIM OF TAIWAN

o Since Taiwan claims to represent the sovereignty of thewhole China, the basis of its claim is more or less the sameas that of China.

o Taiwan asserts that Nansha, Xisha, Chungsha and TungshuIslands are integrated parts of the Republic of China byhistory and tradition.

TITLE BY OCCUPATION AND PRESCRIPTION

THE CLAIM OF VIETNAM

→ The claim of Vietnam to Xisha (Paracels) is primarily basedon state succession and historical grounds.

→ Upon the dissolution of its Indochina empire in 1954,France allegedly ceded its control over the Paracels toVietname but retained its claim to the Spratlys.

→ In later years, Vietnam continued to assert sovereigntyover the Paracels, seizing fishing vessels of China in thearea.

TITLE BY OCCUPATION AND PRESCRIPTION

THE PHILIPPINE CLAIM

TITLE BY ACCRETION

Accretion is the process by which new land formations arelegally accumulated to old ones. It includes severalgeographic phenomena such as diversion of the river fromwhere it previously flowed, the gradual deposit of soil by ariver flowing past a shore or by an ocean along its coasts.

Accretion was derived from the Roman Law principle thatanything added follows the status of the principal thing.

An addition to the river bank represents not only an additionto the territory of the State, but also causes an outwardextension of the marine frontier.

TITLE BY ACCRETION

Slow and gradual deposit ofslow by alluvium so as tomodify river channelimperceptively.

Sudden and violent shift in thechannel so as to leave the oldriver bed dry.

ACCRETION AVULSION

CONQUEST AND ANNEXATION

With the coming into force of the United Nations Charter, theacquisition of territory by conquest may NO LONGER BELEGAL under international law. To this day, however, someStates still persist in acquiring territory by the use of force suchas the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.

CESSION

Cession may be voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary cessionof a territory is the transfer of sovereignty over a territory bythe owner State to another State. Since cession is a bilateraltransaction, the ceding and the acquiring parties must beStates.

Voluntary cession is made through a treaty which specifiesthe definite territory ceded. Cession may also be in the formof exchange of territory for another, or in the form of gift ordonation, or devise.

TERRITORIAL TITLE OVER THE POLAR REGIONS In 1924, a policy enunciated by Secretary of

State Hughes stated that no claims in Antarticacould be recognized unless it is followed byeffective occupation or control, includingsettlement and development.

Other countries, however, asserted exclusiveclaims and at times recognized each other’sclaim as valid.

TERRITORIAL TITLE OVER THE POLAR REGIONS The US once suggested the internalization of the

entire region to avoid conflict, but it did notreceive any favorable response from otherclaimants.

In 1959, *seventeen states concluded theAntartic Treaty at Washington for peacefulcooperation, exploration, and scientificinvestigation of Antartica.

*Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Japan,Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Union of South Africa, UK, USand U.S.S.R.

NATIONAL AIRSPACE The law on airspace today has its roots from the

Roman law principle of:

“qui dominus est soli est coeli et infernonum”, latin for

whoever owns the soil, it is theirs all the way up to Heaven and down to Hell

and the common law maximum“cujus est solum, ejus est usqueand coelum” which is latin for

the State has sovereignty over all airspace above its territory

OUTER SPACE TREATYThe Outer Space Treaty was considered by the

Legal Subcommittee in 1966 and agreement was reached

in the General Assembly in the same year. The Treaty was

largely based on the Declaration of Legal Principles

Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use

of Outer Space, which had been adopted by the General

Assembly in its resolution 1962 (XVIII) in 1963, but added a

few new provisions. The Treaty was opened for signature by

the three depository Governments (the Russian Federation,

the United Kingdom and the United States of America) in

January 1967, and it entered into force in October 1967.

OUTER SPACE TREATYThe Outer Space Treaty provides the basic framework oninternational space law, including the following principles:

the exploration and use of outer space shall be carriedout for the benefit and in the interests of all countries andshall be the province of all mankind;

outer space shall be free for exploration and use by allStates;

outer space is not subject to national appropriation byclaim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, orby any other means;

States shall not place nuclear weapons or otherweapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestialbodies or station them in outer space in any othermanner;

OUTER SPACE TREATYThe Outer Space Treaty provides the basic frameworkon international space law, including the followingprinciples:

the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusivelyfor peaceful purposes;

astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind; States shall be responsible for national space activities

whether carried out by governmental or non-governmentalentities;

States shall be liable for damage caused by their spaceobjects; and

States shall avoid harmful contamination of space andcelestial bodies.

MOON TREATYThe agreement governing the activities of stateson the moon and other celestial bodies approvedin 1979, provides that all activities on the moon areto be carried out in the interest of peace with dueregard to the interest of all parties and other states.

The moon is demilitarized and nuclear weapons orother weapons of mass destruction should not bedeposited in it.

PIRATE BROADCASTING Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission for

entertainment or political purposes. While pirate justrefers to the illegal nature of the broadcasts, there havealso been notable pirate offshore radio transmissions.

Pirate radio generally describes the unlicensedbroadcast of FM radio, AM radio, or short wave signalsover a wide range. In some cases radio stations aredeemed legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegalwhere the signals are received—especially when thesignals cross a national boundary.

Pirate radio stations are sometimescalled bootleg, clandestine stations (associated withheavily politically motivated operations) or freeradio stations.