Article 1

TERRITORIES OF STATES
Territory - the fixed portion on the surface of the earth on which the State settles and over which it has supreme authority. The Terrestrial or Land Domain The land mass on which the people live. It may be integrate, as in the case of Iran, or dismembered as in the case of the United States, or may be partly bounded by water like Burma, or completely surrounded like Iceland, or may consist of several islands like the Philippine archipelago. Modes of Acquiring Land Territory a. Discovery and Occupation. Territory not belonging to any State, or terra nullius, is place under the sovereignty of the claiming State. Discovery, alone, merely creates an inchoate right; it must be followed within a reasonable b. Prescription. Territory may also be acquired through continuous and uninterrupted possession over a long period of time, just like in civil law. In international law, however, there is no rule of thumb as to the length of time needed for acquisition of territory through prescription. In this connection, consider the Grotius doctrine of immemorial prescription, which speaks of uninterrupted possession going beyond memory. c. Cession (by treaty). Cession may voluntary, through a treaty of sale or treaty of donation. Cession may also be involuntary or forced. d. Conquest. This mode of acquisition is no longer recognized, inasmuch as the UN Charter prohibits resort to threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State. Thus, under the Stimson Doctrine, which forbade recognition of any government set up through external aggression, conquest was not considered a valid mode of acquiring territory. a. Accretion. The increase in the land area of the State, either through natural means or artificially through human labor. The Sector Principle, applied in the Polar region of the Arctic and Antartica. The Doctrine of Effective Occupation The nationals of the discovering state, in its name or by its authority, must first take possession of the territory. Thereafter, they must establish thereon an organization or government capable of making its laws respected. The Internal Waters Bodies of water within the land mass, such as rivers, lakes, canals, gulfs, bays and straits. The UN Convention on the Law of Sea defines internal waters as all waters on the landward side of the baselines of the territorial sea. The Maritime or Fluvial Domain consist of the bodies of water within the land mass and the waters adjacent to the coasts of the state up to a specified limit.

The Regime of the Territorial Sea Defined according to what we call historic right or treaty limits theory . According to this theory, all the non-internal waters delineated by the latitudes and longitudes specified in Article III of the Treaty of Paris of December 10, 1898, between the United States, are territorial in character. They have been regarded by the rest of the world since Spain claimed them as such after its discovery of the Philippine Island in 1521 and such recognition has vested historic right in us as successor in interest, to such territorial seas. Under the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, of which the Philippines is a signatory, the territorial sea has a uniform breadth of 12 miles measured from the low-water mark of the coast. The Right of Innocent Passage navigation through the territorial sea of a State for the purpose of traversing that sea without entering internal waters, or of proceeding to internal waters, or making for the high seas from internal waters, as long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State. Arrival under stress or involuntary entrance may be due to lack of provisions, unseaworthiness of the vessel, inclement weather, or other case of force majeure, such as pursuit by pirates. The Right of Transit Passage

The 24-Nautical Miles Contiguous Zone extends up to 12 nautical miles from the territorial sea. The coastal State may exercise limited jurisdiction over the contiguous zone, to prevent infringement of customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws. The 200-Mile Exclusive Economic Zone (patrimonial sea) extends 200 nautical miles from the coast or the baselines. All living and non-living resources found therein belong exclusively to the coastal state. The Continental Shelf comprises the sea-bed and the sub-soil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 miles from the baselines from which the territorial sea is measured where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance. The Archipelago Principle The waters around, between and connecting the island of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth or dimension, are to be treated as internal waters. The High Seas also treated as res communes or res nulius, and thus, are not territory of any particular State. The traditional view is freedom of the high seas they are open and available, without restriction, to the use of all States for the purpose of navigation, flight over them, laying submarine cables and pipes, fishing, research, mining, etc. The Doctrine of Hot Pursuit if an offense is committed by a foreign merchant vessel within the territorial waters of the coastal state, its own vessels may pursue the offending vessel into the open sea and upon capture bring it back to its territory for punishment. However, to be lawful, the

pursuit must have begun before the offending vessel has left the territorial waters, or the contiguous zone of the coastal State; the pursuit must be continuous and unabated; and it ceases as soon as the ship being pursued enters the territorial sea of its own, or of a third State. The Aerial Domain the airspace above the terrestrial domain and the maritime and fluvial domain of the state, to an unlimited altitude but not including outer space.

The Outer Space the rules governing the high seas apply also to outer space, which is considered as res communes. States have the right to launch satellites in orbit over the territorial air space of other State.

The Outer Space Treaty outer space is free for exploration and use by all States; it cannot be annexed by any State; and it may be used exclusively for peaceful purposes. Thus, nuclear weapons of mass destruction may not be placed in orbit around the earth