LGC – Uti Possidetus Juris

admin

A big name for an important concept in international law regarding a state’s borders

Uti possidetis juris is widely acknowledged as the doctrine of customary international law that provides that emerging states
presumptively inherit their pre-independence administrative boundaries
.

This principle is applied to border disputes around the world.  It was used, for example, in determining the borders of the states
that were created by the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Czechoslavakia, and Yugoslavia.

—as explained by law professors Avi Bell (on the left) and Eugene Kontorovich

San Diego U                        Northwestern U   

Customary international law refers to the way things are done internationally – law drawn from actual practice.

When a new state comes into being, its borders are the same borders that existed in the administered area right before
independence had been declared.

“Applied to the case of Israel, uti possidetis juris would dictate that Israel inherit the boundaries of the Mandate of Palestine
as they existed in May, 1948. The doctrine would thus support Israeli claims to any or all of the currently hotly disputed
areas of Jerusalem…, the West Bank [Judea and Samaria]…

Israel’s peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan ratify borders that are explicitly based on the Mandate for Palestine.

See more here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2745094

Return to “The Facts” 
[CLICK]