Clipperton Island case explained

Long Name:Arbitral Award on the Subject of the Difference Relative to the Sovereignty over Clipperton Island
Location Signed:Rome, Italy
Mediators: Victor Emmanuel III
Parties:
Language:English translation[1]

The Clipperton Island case was an arbitration between France and Mexico over the sovereignty of Clipperton Island. The dispute was adjudicated by the King of Italy in 1931, who awarded the island to France. The case forms an important precedent in international law, particularly in matters of territorial sovereignty and the role of arbitration in resolving disputes between nations.

Background

Clipperton Island, an uninhabited atoll in the Pacific Ocean, became the subject of a territorial dispute between France and Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[2] [3] The island gained significant attention due to its strategic location in the Pacific Ocean and the potential for guano deposits, which were used to enhance fertilizer.[4] Initially France, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States all laid claims to Clipperton.[5] Both the United Kingdom and United States dropped their claims to the island, leaving only France and Mexico.[6]

On November 17, 1858, Lieutenant Victor Le Coat de Kervéguen on the French merchant ship L'Amiral took possession of Clipperton for France. Upon arriving in the Kingdom of Hawaii, a notice of France's annexation of Clipperton was published on November 17, 1858, in a local newspaper in Honolulu.[7] [8]

In 1897, a Mexican expedition raised the Mexican flag on Clipperton as a way to strengthen their claim to Clipperton. In 1905, the Mexican government established a military garrison on the island, and later erected a lighthouse under the orders of President Porfirio Díaz.[9] By 1914, around 100 Mexican settlers had landed on the island to further establish Mexico's claim.[10] [11] Due to the start of the Mexican Revolution, supply ships ceased visiting the island and by 1917 many settlers had perished from scurvy.[12] The survivors were rescued, and returned to Mexico.[13] [14]

Arbitration

On March 2, 1909, the two countries signed an agreement in Mexico to submit the dispute to arbitration, and selected King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy as arbiter.[1] [15] Nearly 22 years later, on January 28, 1931, Victor Emmanuel rendered his decision, awarding the island to France.[16]

France's argument for its ownership of Clipperton was based on its 1858 claim and the formal annexation of the island and that the land was terra nullius.[17] Additionally, France had maintained its ownership of Clipperton when other nations had claimed or landed on Clipperton.[18] Mexico made the claim that Clipperton had been discovered by the Spanish Navy and that the papal bull of Alexander VI in 1492 had given sovereignty of the island to Spain.[19] [20] Following Spain's recognition of Mexico in 1836 following the Mexican War of Independence, Mexico retained all of the Spanish territory including the adjacent islands and annexed lands.[21] [22] Additionally, Mexico had both geographic proximity and effective occupation of the island in the early 20th century.[23] The core legal question was which principle was more important in international law: historical claim or effective occupation.[24]

Impact on international law

An important result of the Clipperton Island case was that the first nation to discover and prove unclaimed land exists has claim to said territory.[25] [26] This means that the occupation of a territory is not always a requirement for making a claim on it.[27] [28] Nations wishing to make a claim on territory are required to exercise exclusive authority on the territory.[29] Although the levels of exclusive authority are interrupted on a case-by-case basis, with uninhabitable areas such as Clipperton having a much lower bar than territory with a native population.[30] [31] France's continued claims of sovereignty over the island, even when Mexico made claims, was an important part of the arbitration going in their favor. As a further result of this ruling, nations which make claims on territory do not forfeit said territory when it is unoccupied or not actively developed.[32]

See also

References

  1. Victor Emmanuel III . April 1932 . Arbitral Award on the Subject of the Difference Relative to the Sovereignty Over Clipperton Island . American Journal of International Law . en . 26 . 2 . 390–394 . 10.2307/2189369 . 2189369 . 246005364 . 0002-9300.
  2. Dickinson . Edwin D. . 1933 . The Clipperton Island Case . live . . en . 27 . 1 . 130–133 . 10.2307/2189797 . 0002-9300 . 2189797 . 147177707 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230410153940/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/abs/clipperton-island-case/AD446A982E29CC6941B99EA1259C4FB9 . 10 April 2023 . 2023-12-28.
  3. Smith . Mark A. . 1977 . Sovereignty Over Unoccupied Territories—The Western Sahara Decision . live . . 9 . 1 . 135–159 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220716205856/https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2180&context=jil . 16 July 2022 . 2023-12-28.
  4. Teall . J. J. H. . 1898 . A Phosphatized Trachyte from Clipperton Atoll (Northern Pacific) . Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society . en . 54 . 1–4 . 230–233 . 10.1144/GSL.JGS.1898.054.01-04.20 . 0370-291X . 129862014.
  5. News: October 15, 1898 . Mysterious Island in the Pacific . en . 3 . Otago Daily Times . Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
  6. Book: Myhre, Jeffrey D. . The Antarctic Treaty system : politics, law, and diplomacy . Westview Press . 1986 . 1st . Boulder, Colorado, United States of America . 8–9 . en-US.
  7. News: . 15 Jan 1859 . Empire of France! . The Pacific Commercial Advertiser . Honolulu, Hawaii . 26 June 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230627051449/https://www.newspapers.com/article/127171891/ . 27 June 2023.
  8. News: Pardon . Daniel . 2020-05-15 . 1858 : Napoléon III déclenche la guerre des drapeaux à Clipperton . fr . 1858: Napoleon III launches the War of the Flags at Clipperton . Tahiti Infos . 2023-06-01 . 1 June 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230601190654/https://www.tahiti-infos.com/1858-Napoleon-III-declenche-la-guerre-des-drapeaux-a-Clipperton_a191124.html . live .
  9. Book: Arnaud, Gabriela . 2015 . Clipperton, Una Historia de Honor y Gloria . es . Clipperton, A History of Honour and Glory . Bubok Editorial . Mexico . 978-84-686-8274-7.
  10. Web site: About Clipperton Island. ClippertonProject.com. The Clipperton Project. 2014. 11 January 2018. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140117040649/http://www.clippertonproject.com/expeditions/clipperton-island-2012/about-clipperton-island/. 17 January 2014.
  11. Book: Aldrich . Robert . France's overseas frontier: départements et territoires d'outre-mer . Connell . John . Cambridge University Press . 1992 . 978-0-521-39061-3 . 1st . Cambridge, United Kingdom . 43 . en.
  12. Jean-Baptiste . Philippe . Fourré . Elise . Charlou . Jean-Luc . Donval . Jean-Pierre . Corrège . Thierry . 2009 . Gaining insight into Clipperton's lagoon hydrology using tritium . live . . en . 83 . 1 . 39–46 . 2009ECSS...83...39J . 10.1016/j.ecss.2009.03.017 . 42281088 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200213225012/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0272771409001334 . 13 February 2020 . 1 April 2023.
  13. News: 1917-08-09 . Crothers . R.A. . Ten More Saved From Island Plague . San Francisco Bulletin . San Francisco, California, United States of America . 10 . 124 . 106 . Associated Press.
  14. News: 1918-02-14 . Hight . G.T. . Tales of Horror Rivals Fiction . The Bristow Enterprise . Bristow, Nebraska, United States of America . 8 . 17 . 39.
  15. McConnell . WH . 1970 . The Legal Regime of Archipelagoes . Saskatchewan Law Review . en . 35 . 2 . 2024-01-06.
  16. 1931-02-16 . ITALY: Clipperton Island . 2024-01-06 . Time.
  17. Book: Evans . Malcolm D. . Islands, law and context: the treatment of islands in international law . Lewis . Reece . 2023 . Edward Elgar Publishing . 978-1-80220-763-7 . Elgar international law . Northampton.
  18. Schwarzenberger . Georg . 1957 . Title to Territory: Response to a Challenge . American Journal of International Law . en . 51 . 2 . 308–324 . 10.2307/2195709 . 2195709 . 147070225 . 0002-9300.
  19. Dudum siquidem. Pope Alexander VI. 25 September 1493. la. Dudum siquidem.
  20. Book: Usuki, Eiichi . The Dokdo/Takeshima dispute: South Korea, Japan and the search for a peaceful solution . Brill Nijhoff . 2021 . 978-90-04-44789-9 . Huth . Paul K. . 1st . Maritime Cooperation in East Asia . Leiden, The Netherlands . 94 . en . Japan's Claim to Takeshima . Kim . Sunwoong . Roehrig . Terence.
  21. Arias, Juan de Dios; Olavarría y Ferrari, Enrique de (1880) tomo IV page 392
  22. Robertson . William Spence . 1918 . The Recognition of the Spanish Colonies by the Motherland . The Hispanic American Historical Review . 1 . 1 . 70–91 . 10.2307/2506014 . 2506014.
  23. Van Dyke . Jon M. . 1982 . Uninhabited Islands: Their Impact on the Ownership of the Oceans' Resources . Ocean Development and International Law . 12 . 265.
  24. Book: Buderi . Charles L.O. . The Iran-UAE Gulf Islands Dispute: A Journey Through International Law, History and Politics . Ricart . Luciana T. . 2018-05-15 . Brill Nijhoff . 978-90-04-23618-9 . Queen Mary Studies in International Law . Leiden, The Netherlands . 2018 . en . The Early Seventeenth Century to the End of the Eighteenth Century: Were the Islands Still Terra Nullius? . 10.1163/9789004236196_006.
  25. Tray . Kevin . 2008 . Fear and Loathing in the South Pole: The Need to Resolve the Antarctic Sovereignty Issue and a Framework for Doing It . Temple International & Comparative Law Journal . 22 . 213.
  26. Heydte . Friedrich August Freiherr Von Der . 1935 . Discovery, Symbolic Annexation and Virtual Effectiveness in International Law . American Journal of International Law . en . 29 . 3 . 448–471 . 10.2307/2190420 . 2190420 . 147097044 . 0002-9300.
  27. Book: Dugard, John . International law : a South African perspective . JUTA Law . 1999 . 2nd . Cape Town, Republic of South Africa . 118 . en-za.
  28. Book: Dixon, Martin . Textbook on International Law . Oxford Univ. Press . 978-0-19-957445-2 . 7th . Oxford, United Kingdom . 2013 . en.
  29. Head . Ivan . 1963 . Canadian Claims to Territorial Sovereignty in the Arctic Regions . McGill Law Journal . 9 . 3.
  30. Ma . Xuechan . 2017 . Historic Title Over Land and Maritime Territory . The Journal of Territorial and Maritime Studies . 4 . 1 . 31–46 . 26664141 . 2288-6834.
  31. Johnson . Eric . 1976 . Quick, before it Melts: Toward a Resolution of the Jurisdictional Morass in Antarctica . Cornell International Law Journal . 10 . 1.
  32. Scott . Shirley V. . 2021 . The Irrelevance of Non-recognition to Australia's Antarctic Territory Title . International and Comparative Law Quarterly . en . 70 . 2 . 491–503 . 10.1017/S0020589321000051 . 0020-5893. free . 1959.4/unsworks_75052 . free .

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