Everything about Uti Possidetis totally explained
Uti possidetis (
Latin for "as you possess") is a principle in
international law that territory and other property remains with its possessor at the end of a conflict, unless provided for by
treaty. Originating in
Roman law, this principle enables a belligerent party to claim territory that it has acquired by war. The term has historically been used to legally formalize territorial conquests, such as the annexation of
Alsace-Lorraine by the
German Empire in 1871.
In the early
17th century, the term was used by
England's
James I to state that while he recognized the existence of
Spanish authority in those regions of the
Western Hemisphere where Spain exercised effective control, he refused to recognize Spanish claims to exclusive control of all territory west of longitude 46° 37' W under the
Treaty of Tordesillas.
More recently, the principle has been used to establish the frontiers of newly independent states following
decolonization, by ensuring that the frontiers followed the boundaries of the old colonial territories from which they emerged. This use originated in
South America in the
19th century with the withdrawal of the
Spanish Empire. By declaring that
uti possidetis applied, the new states sought to ensure that there was no
terra nullius in Spanish America when the Spanish withdrew and to reduce the likelihood of border wars between the newly independent states. In this, however, they were not wholly successful, as the
War of the Pacific (1879–1883) and
Chile's loss of the oriental
Patagonia (1881) demonstrated.
The same principle was applied to
Africa and
Asia following the withdrawal of European powers from those continents, and in locations such as the former
Yugoslavia and the
Soviet Union where former centralized governments fell, and consituent states gained independence. In 1964 the
Organisation of African Unity passed a resolution stating that the principle of stability of borders – the key principle of
uti possidetis – would be applied across Africa. Most of Africa was already independent by this time, so the resolution was principally a political directive to settle disputes by treaty based on pre-existing borders rather than by resorting to force. To date, adherence to this principle has allowed African countries to avoid border wars; the notable exception, the
Eritrean-Ethiopian War of 1998-2000, had its roots in a secession from an independent African country rather than a conflict between two decolonized neighbours. On the other hand, the colonial boundaries often didn't follow ethnic lines, and this has helped lead to violent and bloody civil wars among differing ethnic groups in many post-colonial (and post-Communist) countries, including
Sudan,
Zaire,
Angola,
Nigeria, and the former
Yugoslavia.
The principle was affirmed by the
International Court of Justice in the 1986 Case
Burkina-Faso v Mali:
» [Utipossidetis] is a general principle, which is logically connected with the phenomenon of obtaining independence, wherever it occurs. Its obvious purpose is to prevent the independence and stability of new states being endangered by fratricidal struggles provoked by the changing of frontiers following the withdrawal of the administering power.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Uti Possidetis'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://uti_possidetis.totallyexplained.com">Uti possidetis Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
