This book analyzes the traditional criteria of territorial acquisition and demonstrates their inadequacies in the modern context. It also addresses contemporary territorial doctrines and conflicts. It regards territorial acquisition as a comprehensive process involving various considerations leading to the establishment or transfer of exclusive control over territory. This approach has many advantages and adds to the development of the law of territorial acquisition. The author also provides an analysis of the claims and counter-claims in major contemporary territorial disputes and suggests appropriate legal perspectives bearing upon decision-making in regard to them. This book will be highly useful to students, academics and practitioners in the field of international law, as well as all governments and institutions dealing with territorial matters.

Territorial disputes remain a significant source of tension in international relations, representing an important share of interstate cases brought before international tribunals and courts. Analysing the international law applicable to the assessment of territorial claims and the settlement of related disputes, this Research Handbook provides a systematic exposition and in-depth discussions of the relevant key concepts, principles, rules, and techniques. Combining extensive knowledge from across international law, Marcelo Kohen and Mamadou Hébié expertly unite a multinational group of contributors to provide a go-to resource for the settlement of territorial disputes. The different chapters discuss the process through which states establish sovereignty over a territory, and review the different titles of territorial sovereignty, the relation between titles and effectivités, as well as the relevance of state conduct. Select chapters focus on the impact of foundational principles of international law such as the principle of territorial integrity, the right of self-determination and the prohibition of the threat or use of force, on territorial disputes. Finally, technical rules that are crucial for the assessment of territorial claims, especially the techniques of intertemporal law and critical date, as well as evidentiary rules, are presented. An essential resource for practitioners, international law academics and public officials including judges and arbitrators, this Research Handbook is a highly original collection of scholarship and research on territorial disputes and their settlement.

This book analyzes the traditional criteria of territorial acquisition and demonstrates their inadequacies in the modern context. It also addresses contemporary territorial doctrines and conflicts. It regards territorial acquisition as a comprehensive process involving various considerations leading to the establishment or transfer of exclusive control over territory. This approach has many advantages and adds to the development of the law of territorial acquisition. The author also provides an analysis of the claims and counter-claims in major contemporary territorial disputes and suggests appropriate legal perspectives bearing upon decision-making in regard to them. This book will be highly useful to students, academics and practitioners in the field of international law, as well as all governments and institutions dealing with territorial matters.

Originally published by Manchester University Press in 1963, this book is now regarded as a classic of international law literature. Jennings examines the major issues relating to the acquisition of territory in a stimulating and elegant manner, providing a sense of the critical relationship between law and politics on the international scene - vital if law is to be practiced and interpreted correctly. This reissue features a new introduction by Marcelo G. Kohen of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, contextualising the work and discussing its continued relevance to students of international law and international lawyers themselves. He is one of the leading experts on questions of acquisition of territory, having been involved in numerous territorial disputes before the International Court of Justice.

Cases concerning British colonization of Australia and theory of territorium nullius briefly discussed.