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Article 1

TERRITORIES OF STATES

Territory - the fixed portion on the surface of the earth on which the State settles andover which it has supreme authority.

The Terrestrial or Land DomainThe 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 boundedby water like Burma, or completely surrounded like Iceland, or may consist of several

islands like the Philippine archipelago.

Modes of Acquiring Land Territorya. Discovery and Occupation. Territory not belonging to any State, or terranullius, 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 anduninterrupted 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 timeneeded for acquisition of territory through prescription. In this connection,

consider the Grotius doctrine of immemorial prescription, which speaks ofuninterrupted possession going beyond memory.

c. Cession (by treaty). Cession may voluntary, through a treaty of sale ortreaty of donation. Cession may also be involuntary or forced.

d. Conquest. This mode of acquisition is no longer recognized, inasmuch asthe UN Charter prohibits resort to threat or use of force against the territorial

integrity or political independence of any State. Thus, under the StimsonDoctrine, which forbade recognition of any government set up through externalaggression, conquest was not considered a valid mode of acquiring territory.

a. Accretion. The increase in the land area of the State, either throughnatural means or artificially through human labor. The Sector Principle,

applied in the Polar region of the Arctic and Antartica.

The Doctrine of Effective OccupationThe nationals of the discovering state, in its name or by its authority, must

first take possession of the territory. Thereafter, they must establish thereon anorganization or government capable of making its laws respected.

The Internal WatersBodies of water within the land mass, such as rivers, lakes, canals, gulfs,

bays and straits. The UN Convention on the Law of Seadefines internal watersas all waters on the landward side of the baselines of the territorial sea.

The Maritime or Fluvial Domainconsist of the bodies of water within the landmass and the waters adjacent to the coasts of the state up to a specified limit.

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The Regime of the Territorial SeaDefined 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 beenregarded by the rest of the world since Spain claimed them as such after itsdiscovery of the Philippine Island in 1521 and such recognition has vestedhistoric right in us as successor in interest, to such territorial seas.

Under the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, of which the Philippinesis 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 Passagenavigation through the territorial sea ofa State for the purpose of traversing that sea without entering internalwaters, 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 orsecurity of the coastal State. Arrival under stress or involuntary entrance

may be due to lack of provisions, unseaworthiness of the vessel, inclementweather, or other case of force majeure, such as pursuit by pirates.

The Right of Transit Passage The 24-Nautical Miles Contiguous Zoneextends up to 12 nautical miles from

the territorial sea. The coastal State may exercise limited jurisdiction over thecontiguous zone, to prevent infringement of customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary

laws.

The 200-Mile Exclusive Economic Zone(patrimonial sea)extends 200 nauticalmiles from the coast or the baselines. All living and non-living resources foundtherein belong exclusively to the coastal state.

The Continental Shelfcomprises the sea-bed and the sub-soil of the submarineareas 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 200miles from the baselines from which the territorial sea is measured where the outeredge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance.

The Archipelago Principle The waters around, between and connecting theisland 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 notterritory 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 thepurpose 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 foreignmerchant vessel within the territorial waters of the coastal state, its own

vessels may pursue the offending vessel into the open sea and upon capturebring it back to its territory for punishment. However, to be lawful, the

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pursuit must have begun before the offending vessel has left the territorial

waters, or the contiguous zone of the coastal State; the pursuit must becontinuous 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 themaritime and fluvial domain of the state, to an unlimited altitude but notincluding 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 inorbit over the territorial air space of other State.

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