BY:

Chris Reego Pajeda

Charles Christian Jamito
Mikee John Angelou M. Guitones
 Table of Contents
•
Territory Defined
•
Characteristics of Territory
•
Modes of Acquisition of Territory
– 1) Dereliction/Abandonment
– 2) Cession
– 3) Conquest/ Subjugation
– 4) Prescription
– 5) Erosion
– 6) Revolution
– 7) Natural Causes
•
COMPONENTS OF TERRITORY
– 1) Territorial Domain
– 2) Marine and Fluvial Domain
•
A) Territorial Domain B) Contiguous Zone C) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) D) Continental
Shelf E) High Seas
– 3) Aerial Domain
•
A) Air Space B) Outer Space
 Territory
•
Permanent
•
Definite/Indicated with Precision
•
Generally, the territory’s limits define the state’s jurisdiction
•
Big enough to sustain the population
•
Not so extensive as to be difficult to: 1) Administer; and 2) Defend from
external aggression
 Modes of Acquisition of Territory
1) By Original Title: A) Discovery and Occupation B) Accretion C) “Sector Principle”
2) By Derivative Title: A) Prescription B) Cession C) Conquest/ Subjugation
Other Modes:
A) Dereliction/ Abandonment B) Erosion C) Revolution D) Natural Causes
Discovery and Occupation:
•)
An original mode of acquisition of territory belonging to no one- “terra nullius”
•)
Land to be acquired must be terra nullius
•)
Q: Today, few, if any places are terra nullius. Why is this mode then important? A:
Past occupations are source of modern boundary disputes. Q: When is a territory
“terra nullius?” A: Under the Old Concept a territory is not really uninhabited! A
territory is terra nullius, if, even occupied, the people occupying it has a civilization
that falls below the European standard. This was the justification for the Spanish
colonization of the Philippines, and the European colonization Africa. However, this
old concept is no longer valid under contemporary international law!
•)
2. Requisites
Discovery/ Possession
Mere discovery gives only an inchoate Right of Discovery.
Effective Occupation
Does not need continuous display of authority in every part of the
territory claimed
Authority must be exercised as and when occasion demands.
Thus when territory is thinly populated and uninhabited, very little
actual exercise of sovereign rights is needed in the absence of
competition.
 Doctrine of Effective
Occupation:
•
Discovery alone gives only an inchoate title; it must be followed within a reasonable
by effective occupation
•
Effective occupation does not necessarily require continuous display of authority in
every part of the territory claimed
•
An occupation made is valid only with respect to and extends only to the area
effectively occupied.
•
Under the “Principle of Effective Occupation,” the following doctrines/ principles are
no longer applicable today: A) Hinterland Doctrine-Occupation of coasts results to
claim on the unexplored interior B) Right of Contiguity-Effective occupation of a
territory makes the possessor’s sovereignty extend over neighboring territories as far
as is necessary for the integrity, security and defense of the land actually occupied
•
Prescription:
•
Acquisition of territory by an averse holding continued through a long term of years
•
Derivative mode of acquisition by which territory belonging to 1 state is transferred to
the sovereignty of another state by reason of the adverse and uninterrupted
possession thereof by the latter for a sufficiently long time
•
2 Requisites A) Continuous and undisturbed possession B) Lapse of a period of time
 Cession
•
A derivative mode of acquisition by which territory belonging to 1
state is transferred to the sovereignty of another state in accordance
to an agreement between them
•
A bilateral agreement whereby 1 state transfers sovereignty over a
definite portion of territory to another state transfers sovereignty
over a definite portion of territory to another state such as treaty of
cession)vi outcome of voluntary or forced negotiations.
•
2 kinds of Cession:
•
Total Cession- The entirety of 1 state’s domain and the ceding state
ceases to exist.
•
Partial Cession- Comprises only a fractional portion of the ceding
state’s territory.
•
Forms : A) Treaty of Sale B) Free Gifts
 Conquest:
•
The classic way of acquiring territory
•
Derivative mode of acquisition whereby the territory of 1 state is conquered in the
course war and thereafter annexed to and placed under the sovereignty of the
conquering state
•
Taking possession of hostile territory through military force in time of war and by
which the victorious belligerent compels the enemy to surrender sovereignty of that
territory thus occupied
•
Acquisition of territory by force of arms
•
However, conquest alone merely gives an inchoate right; acquisition must be
completed by formal act of annexation
•
No longer regarded as lawful
•
UN Charter prohibits resort to threat or use of force against a State’s territorial
integrity or political independence
•
Conquest is different from “Military or Belligerent Occupation”
•
Act whereby a military commander in the course of war gains effective possession of
an enemy territory
•
By itself, does not effect acquisition of territory
 Accretion
•
The increase in the land in the land area of a state caused by the
operation of the forces of nature, or artificially, through human labor
•
Accessio cedat principali ( Accespry follows the principal) is the rule
which, in general, governs all forms of accretion.
•
EXAMPLES: Land Reclamation projects in Manila
•
Polders of the Netherlands
 COMPONENTS OF
TERRITORY
•
Territorial Domain-The landmass where people live
•
Internal Waters-These are bodies of water within the land boundaries of a
state or are closely linked to its land domain, such that they are considered
as legally equivalent to national land
•
Includes, rivers, lakes, and land locked seas , canals, and polar regions.
•
Rivers:
•
Kinds of Rivers: 1) National Rivers 2) Boundary Rivers 3) Multinational
Rivers
•
Canals-Artificially constructed waterways
•
GR: Belongs to the State’s territory
•
XPN: Important Inter-Oceanic Canals governed by Special Regime
•
1) Suez Canal
•
2) Panama Canal
•
Historic Waters-Waters considered internal only because of a historic title,
otherwise, should not have that character
 Maritime and Fluvial Domain
•
Zones of the Sea- Waters adjacent to the coasts of a states to a specified limit
•
Territorial Sea-Comprises in the marginal belt adjacent to the land area or the coast and includes
generally the bays, gulfs and straights which do not have the character of historic
•
Portion of the open sea adjacent to the state’s shores, over which that state’s shores, over which
that state exercises jurisdiction control
•
Basis- need of self-defense
•
Effect-territorial supremacy over the territorial sea , exclusive enjoyment of fishing and other
coastal rights.
•
But: Subject to the Right of Innocent Passage
•
Q:When is Passage innocent? A: When it is not prejudicial to the peace, good, order, or security
of the coastal State
Right of Innocent Passage:
The right of continuous and expeditious navigation of a foreign shop through a State’s territorial sea
for the purpose of traversing that sea without entering the internal waters or calling at a roadstead or
port facility
 Extent and Limitations of Right
of Innocent Passage
•
Extends to ALL ships- merchant and warships
•
Submarines must navigate on the surface and show their flag
•
Nuclear=powered and Nuclear armed ships along with those with
hazardous substances must carry documents and observe special
safety measures
Illustration of Maritime Domains
 Baselines
•
Normal Baseline Method:
•
Territorial sea is drawn from the low-water mark
•
Straight Baseline Method:
•
A straight line is drawn across the sea, from headland to headland,
or from island to island. That straight line then becomes the baseline
which the territorial sea is measured.
 The difference of territorial sea and the
internal waters of the Philippines

•
The territorial water is defined by historic right or treaty limits while
internal water is defined by the archipelagic doctrine. Territorial
waters, as defined in the Convention on the Law of the Sea, has a
uniform breath of 12 miles measured from the lower water mark of
the coast; while the outermost points of our archipelago which are
connected with baselines and all waters comprised therein are
regarded as internal waters.
 Contiguous Zone
•
Zone adjacent to the territorial sea, over which the coastal state may
exercise such control as is necessary to: Prevent infringement of
customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws within its territory or
territorial sea;
•
Punish such infringement extends to a maxim of 24 nautical miles
from the baseline from which the territorial sea is measured.
 Exclusive Economic Zone
•
A maximum zone of 200 nautical miles
from the baseline from which territorial sea
is measured, over which, the coastal State
exercises sovereign rights over all the
economic resources of the sea, seabed
and subsoil
 Rights of other States in the
EEZ
•
Freedom of navigation and overflight
•
Freedom to lay submarine cables and
pipelines
•
Freedom to engage in other internationally
lawful uses of the sea related to said
functions
 Rights of Land-Locked States
•
Right to participate, on an equitable basis,
in the exploitation of an appropriate part of
the surplus of the living resources of the
EEZ of the coastal States of the same
sub-region
 Continental Shelf
•
Comprises the seabed and subsoil of the soil of the
submarine areas that extend beyond the territorial sea
throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to
the outer edge of the continental margin or to a distance
beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines form.
 Rights of the Coastal State
•
Sovereign rights for the purpose of
exploring and exploiting its natural
resources
•
Rights are exclusive- If the state does not
explore or exploit the continental shelf, no
one may do so without its express consent
 Archipelagic Doctrine
•
2 Kinds of Archipelagos:
•
Coastal Archipelago=Situated close to a
mainland and may be considered part of
such mainland
•
Mid-Ocean= Groups of islands situated in
the ocean at such distance from the
coasts of firm land
 Limitation-Archipelagic
Sealanes
•
Archipelagic State must designate sea
lands an air route for the continuous and
expeditious passage of foreign ships and
aircraft through or over its archipelagic
waters and adjacent territorial sea
 Deep Sea Bed
•
The sea-bed beyond the continental shelf
•
Under the UNCLOS- resources of the
deep sea-bed are reserved as the
“common heritage of mankind”
 The regime of the high seas
•
Belongs to everyone and to no one- both res commones and res
nullius
•
Everyone may enjoy the following rights over the High seas:
Navigation, Fishing, Scientific Research, Mining, Laying submarine
cables and pipelines, and other human activities in the open sea as
well the ocean floor

•
Freedom of Navigation:
•
The right to sail ships on the seas which is open to all states and
locked-locked countries

•
General Rule: sailing on the high seas are subject only to
international laws and the laws of the flag state
 Doctrine of Hot Pursuit
•
The pursuit of a foreign vessel undertake
by the coastal State which has “good
reason to believe that the ship has
violated the laws and regulation of that
State”
 Aerial Domain
•
The airspace above the territorial and maritime
domains of the State, to the limits of the
atmosphere
•
Does not include the outerspace
 Airspace
•
The airspace above the State’s terrestrial and maritime domain
•
“Every State has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory”
•
Convention on International Civil Aviation - Territory includes Terrestrial, maritime and thus air
space above territorial sea
•
No right of Innocent Passage
•
Airspace above the high Seas is open to all aircraft
•
- The State whose air space is violated can take measures to protect itself, but it does not mean
that States have an unlimited right to attack the intruding aircraft (intruding aircraft can be
ordered to leave the State’s airspace or to land)
•
The space beyond the airspace surrounding the earth or beyond the national airspace is beyond
the sovereignty of any state
•
The moon and the other celestial bodies form part of the outer space (Moon Treaty 1979)
•
Thus, it is not subject to national appropriation
•
Free for all exploration and use by all states and cannot be annexed by any State
•
Govern by a regime similar to that of the high seas
•
The 5 air freedoms: A) Overflight without landing B) Landing for non-traffic purposes C) Put down traffic from
state to airline D) Embark traffic destined for state of aircraft; and E) Embark traffic or put down traffic to or from a
third state
 Treaty on Principle Governing the activities
in the exploration and use of Outer Space
•
(Outer Space Treaty)
•

•
Outer Space is free for exploration and use by states
•
Cannot be annexed by any state
•
Its use must beneficial to all countries in accordance with
international law
•
Celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes
•
Nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction shall not be
placed in orbit around earth
FIN