Chapter 7: TERRRITORY, LAND, AIR, OUTERSPACE - When occupant leaves with the intention of

not returning.
Territory
- an area over which a state has effective
control. (control over territory is the
essence of a state)
- the exact boundaries might be uncertain but
there should be definitive core over which
sovereignty is exercised.

Acquisition of territory
- more precisely means acquisition of
sovereignty over a territory.

Las Palmas Case

- “Sovereignty over a portion of the surface
of the globe is the legal condition for the
inclusion of such portion in the territory of
any particular state”.

What does territory include?

- It includes:
1. Land
2. Maritime Areas
3. Airspace
4. Outerspace

Traditional modes of acquisition:

1. Discovery and occupation
2. Prescription
3. Cession
4. Conquest and subjugation
5. Accretion

Modes of acquisition of sovereignty over territory

1. Discovery and occupation
2. Prescrption
3. Cession
4. Conquest
5. Accretion and avulsion

A. DISCOVERY AND OCCUPATION

Occupation
- The acquisition of terra nullius

Terra Nullius – a territory which prior to occupation

belonged to no state or which may have been
abandoned by a prior occupant.

When is there abandonment?