Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T06:34:37.458Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Case Concerning Sovereignty over Certain Frontier Land (Belgium/Netherlands).

International Court of Justice.  20 June 1959 .

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Get access

Abstract

State territory — In general — Acquisition of territorial sovereignty — Occupation — Prescription — Acts of sovereignty as basis for claim to sovereignty in derogation of title established by treaty — Effective, notorious and peaceful possession — Possession in good faith and animus domini — Principle of uti possidetis — Plots of frontier land — Boundary Convention between Belgium and the Netherlands, 1843 — Subsequent acts by Netherlands authorities — Relevance of routine and administrative nature of acts — Relevance of absence of protest by Belgium Government.

Treaties — Operation of — Conditions of validity of — Mistake — Effect of — Whether affecting validity of treaty as a whole or only of provision containing error — Burden of proof — Evidence required — Effect of express proviso relating to errors — Comparison of texts of documents relating to same subject — matter — Possibility of error in copying — Relevance of intention of Parties to treaty — Relevance of surrounding circumstances — Effect of failure to challenge relevant treaty provision by Party now seeking to plead mistake — Relevance of length of time treaty in existence and unchallenged — Effect of uncertainty and unresolved discrepancy — Effective and peaceful possession of dispute territory as supplementary evidence of mistake — Boundary Convention, 1843, between Belgium and the Netherlands.

Treaties — Conclusion of — Ratification — Effect of unratified treaty — Treaty ceding land — Whether evidence that title to land is in ceding State — Effect of admission made in course of negotiation.

Treaties — Interpretation of — Rules of — Boundary Convention — Examination of minutes of boundary commission — Belgian — Netherlands Boundary Convention, 1843.

Treaties — Special kinds of — Boundary Convention — Interpretation of — Mixed Boundary Commission set up by Convention — Authority of Commission to delimit territory — Effect of resolution of Commission — Reference in Boundary Convention to earlier Treaty between same Parties — Two Treaties read together — Common intention of Parties — Boundary Convention between Belgium and the Netherlands, 1834 — Treaty of London determining boundaries between Belgium and the Netherlands, 1839.

Arbitration — Evidence — Documentary evidence — Communal Minute in nature of treaty — Effect of non — production of copy by one Party — Authority of only existing copy — Discrepancy between texts of two Minutes — Original text and transcribed text — Which must prevail.

Disputes — Negotiation — Proposals made in course of — No agreement reached — Evidentiary value of proposals in later dispute between same Parties — Admission made during negotiations — Whether Party making admission may later challenge it.

State territory — Parts of — Boundaries — Land boundaries — Determination of — Enclosed areas — Operation of boundary convention — Principle of uti possidetis — Relevance of maps — Examination of work of boundary commission — Belgian-Netherlands Boundary Convention, 1843.

Type
Case Report
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 1963

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)