1. INTERNATIONAL LAW 1 (BA) 16 OCTOBER 2014
Territory of States, Boundaries, Limitations on Territorial Sovereignty and Regimes Apart from State Sovereignty
INTERNATIONAL LAW 1 (BA)
16 OCTOBER 2014

2. I. State territory 1) Elements of State territory: - land territory;
- territorial sea (TS)
- seabed & subsoil of the TS
- airspace
Σ: 3 dimensions
Territorial sovereignty = special feature of States (”effective and continuous display of State authority”) !legal title!
negative side: other States are excluded from activities [exclusivity]
positive side: covers everybody + everything on the State territory [completeness]
Dr. Tamás Molnár
CUB

3. I. State territory 2) Land territory, modes of acquisition, borders
Land territory: continuous (usually)  exceptions:
separated by an other State (US – Alaska, RUS – Kngd)
enclaves: Campione d’Italia, parts of ARM in AZER, specific = Vatican City,
San Marino, Lesotho
groups of islands (Indonesia, the Philippines, JPN)
Dr. Tamás Molnár
CUB

4. I. State territory Modes of acquisition:
Occupation of terra nullius (before that frequently discovery)
Prescription  conditions: á titre de souverain /public/uninterrupted/peaceful/duration = reasonable (e.g.: Island of Las Palmas by NL, Channel Islands by UK)
Accretion (gradual movement of riverbed by which new land results) and avulsion (sudden result of natural forces, e.g. creation of an island in territorial waters by volcanic action)
Cession (by treaty, followed by the effective transfer of territory, e.g.: Alaska, Louisiana)
Adjudication (by a judicial organ, e.g.: ICJ in territorial disputes)
Plebiscite (by referendum, e.g. Upper Silesia 1921, PL)
Dr. Tamás Molnár
CUB

5. I. State territory State borders:
NOT a line, but a two-dimensional figure (line = only on the map where it cuts the land).
Determination: political question (frequent arguments: natural, historical, ethnic etc. borders, geographical contiguity – e.g. islands).
Natural
Artificial
- Mountain chains
- Navigable rivers: Thalweg-rule (deepest points of the riverbed, ? If several arms?)
- Non-navigable rivers: one of the coasts or middle
- Line of latitude or line of longitude
f. ex.:
US-CA;
Sudan-Egypt etc.
Dr. Tamás Molnár
CUB

6. 2 phases = delimitation [different types] & demarcation
I. State territory
State borders:
2 phases = delimitation [different types] & demarcation 
Uti possidetis iuris („as you possess”; for newly independent States): preservation of demarcations under the colonial regime (Latin-America, Africa + Eastern Europe, former USSR)
Purpose = protection of independence & stability after the withdrawal of the former power
Dr. Tamás Molnár
CUB

7. II. Limitations on territorial sovereignty
With regard to certain States
International lease (e.g. Hong Kong by UK ( ); Panama Canal Zone by US ( ))
International servitudes: by treaty, unaffected by change of sovereignty. Railways, military bases, demilitarised zones (e.g. PT enclaves in IND  right to passage)
Good neighbourliness, neighbouring rights (based on customary law, not to cause harm to the other State)
With regard to all States
Innocent passage (territorial sea)
Freedom of navigation (internationalal rivers)
Diplomatic and consular representations
Dr. Tamás Molnár
CUB

8. III. Legal Regimes Apart from State Sovereignty
Res communis omnium usus: States cannot extend them their sovereignty
1) Polar regions
 Antarctica  1959:
Washington Treaty, States
suspended their territorial
claims. Use = only for
peaceful purposes, military
activities + nuclear tests are
forbidden.
Dr. Tamás Molnár
CUB

9. III. Legal Regimes Apart from State Sovereignty
 Arctic:
Frozen sea, its situation under PIL is not settled (applicable law: UNLCOS).
Attempt = sector principle (linked to states peripheral to the polar seas, USSR, Canada)  not accepted by the int’l community
Dr. Tamás Molnár
CUB

10. III. Legal Regimes Apart from State Sovereignty
2) High seas
Freedoms:
- navigation
- fishing
- flying over it
- laying submarines cables & pipelines
- doing scientific research
+ the Zone (deep seabed, common heritage of mankind), role of Int’l Seabed Authority
Dr. Tamás Molnár
CUB

11. III. Legal Regimes Apart from State Sovereignty
3) Outer Space:
Delimitation from airspace: no rule of PIL
State practice: between kms
Moon = commmon heritage of mankind
Dr. Tamás Molnár
CUB

12. THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION!
Dr. Tamás MOLNÁR
adjunct professor
Tel.:
Dr. Tamás Molnár
CUB