영유권 귀속에 있어서의 ‘effectivité(s)’

Effectivité(s) in the Attribution of Territorial Sovereignty

The role of effectivité which requires considering the reality of situations in the settlement of international legal problems has been emphasized with special regard to territorial disputes. Effectivité means effective exercise of sovereignty, in other words, continuous and peaceful display of State authority à titre de souverain. In the absence of legal title to a disputed territory, the State which has shown its effective exercise of sovereign authority over the territory can be accorded the title to the territory. In case both parties to a dispute invoke their sovereign activities in the area in question, the relative strength of their effectivités has been considered. This paper defines the meaning and legal status of effectivité, through analysis of theories and relevant cases. First of all, this paper investigates the concept of effectivité in international law in general and confirms that the importance of this element has been specially emphasized in the determination of the attribution of territorial sovereignty. In the next section, this paper points out that the word of effectivité(s) has been used with slighty different meanings in cases concerning territorial dispute. The following section of this paper demonstrates concrete activities which have been considered as effectivités by international tribunals and analyzes the conditions required in order for any activities presented by States to be considered as effectivités. The final section of this paper concerns the relation of effectivité with territorial title. Examining the definition of territorial title, this section underlines that effectivité can be recognized as a territorial title and establishes the relationship between effectivité and legal title with reference to relevant decisions of the I.C.J.