The Application Of The Principle Of Uti Possidetis In The International Maritime Delimitation

The principle of Uti Possidetis is one of important international rules concerning the demarcation of territory state-by-state,having great influence on the inheritance of land territories and the boundaries demarcation.In history of international law,the principle of Uti possidetisis oriented from the Roman Law,first applied in the decolonization of Latin-America,stepped onto a high stage in the African Independent Movements,and occurred in Asia as well.According to the international judicial precedents,we've got three conditions for applying this principle in the area of land territorial demarcation: First,the state invoking this principle shall be a new independent state emerging from decolonization;Second,there shall exist some definite and valid colonial delimitative agreements or arrangements issued by the suzerain;Third,the new independent states shall explicitly and expressly declare to inherit and respect these colonial delimitative agreements or arrangements issued by the suzerain;In the point of international law,it is still a question to be solved that whether this principle is able to be invoked in maritime zones or not.As to this question,the international judicial precedents offer some definite answers that,except of the above three conditions,there need other five conditions,firstly,the intention to delimitate the maritime zones in the colonial boundary arrangements,secondly,the accuracy of delimitation terms in the colonial boundary arrangements,thirdly,the uniformity of this delimitation and the relevant state practices,fourthly,the vanishing of rules that rejecting the application of this principle,and fifthly,the principle of Uti possidetis shall only be applied in the maritime areas with the nature of sovereignty.Scholars still have disputes on the above question,however,the attitude of the international judicial institutions is active and clear,which stating that the principle of Uti possidetis is one international rule dealing with international maritime delimitation disputes.The effect of this principle in the international maritime delimitation is limited which decided by its definition and background,and this principle should be restrained within the maritime zones which have the nature of sovereignty such as territorial seas and historic bays.From the perspective of international law,there are two theoretical resources: first,this principle is a “prolongation” of the principle of the domination of the land over the sea;second,this principle transformed with the idea of historic rights,which determines that the applicable zones should be the territorial seas and historic bays.The relationship between the principle of Uti possidetis and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(the UNCLOS)is as the same as that between the customary international law and statute international law.This principle plays a role as part of customary international law outside the UNCLOS,and the application of this principle into the maritime zones,by the constructivism of the UNCLOS and the parochialism of this principle,should be heavily limited by the UNCLOS.This paper is divided into five parts.The first part of the paper is the preface,mainly introducing that the origin of the elected topic,the research value,the involved contents of the domestic and international academic research,research methods and the whole structure.The second part is the introduction of that how the principle of Uti possidetis origins of the application into the demarcation of states' land territories.The states practices in Latin America witnessed the first application of Uti possidetis,which provides that states emerging from decolonization shall presumptively inherit the colonial administrative borders that they held as the international boundaries at the time of independence.In 1960 s and 70 s,it's achieved a great development of Uti possidetis with the practice of newly independent African states,and the character of Uti possidetis in Africa is its conflict with the Self-Determination.It's been understood as the application of Uti Possideti,as examples in the Indochina Peninsula and Indonesian Archipelagoes.There are three conditions for applying this principle in the area of land territorial demarcation: First,the state invoking this principle shall be a new independent state emerging from decolonization;Second,there shall exist some definite and valid colonial delimitative agreements or arrangements issued by the suzerain;Third,the new independent states shall explicitly and expressly declare to inherit and respect these colonial delimitative agreements or arrangements issued by the suzerain.The initial purpose of Uti possidetis is to ensure no land in the newly independent states remained terra nullius upon independence,protecting these states from possible colonial claims by colonists in Latin-America,and the main aim of this principle is to sustain the stability of boundaries,limiting the arbitrary modification of boundaries.The primary disadvantages this application brings are aggravated boundary conflicts and heavier international lawsuits,through the inconsistency between the delimitating subject and the bearing one.The third part is the circumstances of this application.According to the international precedents,cases concerning the application of Uti possidetis into the maritime area can be divided into two categories: approved and dismissed,and the approved cases includes 1989 Guinea-Bissau v.Senegal Arbitration,1992 Land,Island and Maritime Frontier Dispute(Gulf of Fonseca),2007 Territorial and Maritime Dispute between Nicaragua and Honduras in the Caribbean Sea(Nicaragua v.Honduras),and the opposite precedents are 1977 Beagle Channel Arbitration,1985 Guinea v.Guinea-Bissau Arbitration,2001 Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain(Qatar v.Bahrain).After the analyses of the above precedents,five special conditions can be concluded: firstly,the intention to delimitate the maritime zones in the colonial boundary arrangements,secondly,the accuracy of delimitation terms in the colonial boundary arrangements,thirdly,the uniformity of this delimitation and the relevant states' practices,fourthly,the vanishing of rules that rejecting the application of this principle,and fifthly,the principle of Uti possidetis shall only be applied in the maritime areas with the nature of sovereignty.The fourth part is the theoretical reasons of this application.From the point of lex lata,Uti possidetisis one principle of general international law,however,it should be limited within the territorial seas and historic bays.Notwithstanding,from the angle of lex ferenda,as the “prolongation” of the principle of the Domination of the Land over the Sea,Uti possidetis can only be invoked in the territorial seas;meanwhile,by the commonness of Uti possidetis and historic rights,the transformation of these two ideas in the zone of historic bays will be found.At last,the relationship between the principle of Uti possidetis and the UNCLOS is as the same as that between the customary international law and statute international law.They did not under contradiction according to the constructivism of the UNCLOS and the parochialism of Uti possidetis,while the latter one should enjoy the influence in the framework of the former one.The fifth and last part is the epilogue of this paper.