OUVRAGE : M.G. Kohen, M. Hébié (eds.), Research Handbook on Territorial Disputes in International Law

Marcelo G. KOHEN, Mamadou HÉBIÉ

Globalization, interdependence and integration are contemporary phenomena that are supposed to render territoriality less important than before. A number of human activities and natural phenomena occur without paying any attention to the existence of boundaries. Supranationality in different fields is expanding. The very concept of sovereignty, the key element characterizing States, is put into question. Today’s world is witnessing two apparent contradictory trends, at least, as perceived by some observers: the loss of importance of the sovereign State as the principal actor in international relations, and the increase of the number of sovereign States and the attempt at creating new ones in different parts of the globe. After three hundred and seventy years of the Peace of Westphalia that symbolically evokes the emergence of modern sovereign States, this paradox indeed reveals that the State and its material substrate, the territory, still plays a predominant role in the contemporary world.

Spatial divisions have also evolved. New areas have become part of legal regulation. Some of them marked the expansion of States’ jurisdiction, whereas others were put outside any attempt at States’ appropriation. Among the former divisions are the economic exclusive zone and the continental shelf in the field of the law of the sea. Among the latter is the area of the seabed beyond national jurisdiction and the outer space. Old and new forms of spatial disputes have developed. Some of them, such as the possibility by riparian States to expand a claim of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, have been canalized through a process involving international organs and procedures. In their strict sense, territorial disputes, such as disputes involving land, have remained a permanent factor of friction among States. They are governed by the general rules of contemporary international law. Two of them are of particular relevance: the prohibition of the use of force and the obligation to settle disputes through peaceful means of free choice between the parties concerned. Whereas some territorial disputes have been settled, others remain without solution in sight, and yet other disputes have emerged. Some of them are dormant, while others constitute a permanent focus of tension and even a threat to international peace and security. Yet a few others are canalized through the existing adjudicative means of settlement of international disputes, such as the International Court of Justice and international arbitration. Indeed, territorial disputes have traditionally been the type of disputes that were the better candidate for their settlement through an impartial body. Actually, the development of modern arbitration largely took place in the field of territorial disputes.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of contributors
Table of legal instruments
Table of cases 

Marcelo G. Kohen, Mamadou Hébié, Introduction to the Research Handbook on Territorial Disputes in International Law

1. Marcelo G. Kohen, Mamadou Hébié, Territorial conflicts and their international legal framework 

PART I. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF TITLE OF SOVEREIGNTY OVER A TERRITORY

2. Mamadou Hébié, The acquisition of original titles of territorial sovereignty in the law and practice of European colonial expansion
3. Mamadou Hébié, The acquisition of derivative titles of territorial sovereignty in the law and practice of European colonial expansion
4. Marcelo G. Kohen, Titles and effectivités in territorial disputes
5. Kate Parlett, State conduct in territorial disputes beyond effectivités: recognition, acquiescence, renunciation and estoppel
6. Giuseppe Nesi, Boundaries

PART II. THE IMPACT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

7. Pierre Klein, Vaios Koutroulis, Territorial disputes and the use of force
8. Seokwoo Lee, Territorial settlements in peace treaties
9. Mariano J. Aznar, The human factor in territorial disputes
10. Theodore Christakis, Aristoteles Constantinides, Territorial disputes in the context of secessionist conflicts

PART III. TECHNICAL RULES IN TERRITORIAL DISPUTES SETTLEMENT

11. Giovanni Distefano, Time factor and territorial disputes
12. Katherine Del Mar, Evidence in territorial disputes

Marcelo G. Kohen, Mamadou Hébié, Conclusion

Bibliography
Index

Marcelo G. KOHEN, Mamadou HÉBIÉ (eds.), Research Handbook on Territorial Disputes in International Law, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2018 (520 pp.)