International Law

Chapter 7

Territory

an area over which a state has effective control

Composition of Territory

• land

• maritime areas

• airspace

• outer space

Modes of Acquisition of Territory

1. Discovery and Occupation

2. Prescription

3. Cession

4. Conquest and Subjugation

5. Accretion and Avulsion

Occupation

acquisition of a territory that prior to occupation belonged to no state or which may have been abandoned by prior occupant (terra nullius)

Discovery

of terra nullius

• must be accompanied by effective control

Prescription

required effective control and the object is not terra nullius

• required length of effective control is longer than in occupation

Cession

acquisition of territory through treaty

Conquest

taking a possession of a territory through armed force

• war had ended either by treaty or all resistance had been abandoned

Accretion and Avulsion

sovereignty by operation of nature

accretion

gradual increase of territory by the action of nature

avulsion

sudden change resulting for instance from the action of a volcano

Intertemporal Law

rules in effect at the time of the acquisition should be applied

Airspace

each state has exclusive jurisdiction over the air space above its territory

• sovereignty end: start of outer space

Outerspace

________ and celestial bodies are not susceptible to appropriation by the state

• The Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used by all State Parties to the Treaty exclusively for peaceful purposes.