Uti Possidetis Juris and the Role of the Colonial Law for the Resolution of International Territorial Disputes

Abstract

The present essay discusses the condition of colonial law in the international territorial disputes decided by the International Court of Justice. In particular, the article verifies that condition in cases where the uti possidetis juris principle is invoked to aid in the determination of territorial limits and frontiers. If, on the one hand, the Court’s traditional case law tends to treat the domestic law of States as a “mere fact”, on the other, the particular cases of uti possidetis require certain exercises by the International Court that appear to refrain from such treatment. Through an examination of the case law and cases in which the principle is invoked, as well as of the techniques used by the Court to determine and interpret colonial law, this article demonstrates that the traditional approach of the Court is mitigated when colonial law appears in the context of the international litigation.