The Influence of the Map on Uti Possidetis Juris and Territorial Integrity

14 Pages Posted: 20 Dec 2017

See all articles by William Thomas Worster

William Thomas Worster

The Hague University of Applied Sciences - International Law; University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Law, Amsterdam Center for International Law; University of Missouri at Kansas City - School of Law

Date Written: December 16, 2017

Abstract

Maps operate to build our perceptions of reality and through that reality, impact our interpretation and application of international law. Maps are human-created, and thus fallible, documents, that select and represent differing realities. Due to these choices, maps go beyond simply documenting reality and law, and can sometimes inform our imagination of the world sufficiently to influence our understanding of legal rules themselves. There are two ways in particular that this phenomenon of mapping imagination happens in international law: the notions of uti possidetis juris and territorial integrity. Both of these concepts largely arise from the de-colonization movement, and yet exhibit a tendency for the map, and its vision of the territorial boundary of the state, to influence the emergence of legal rules. In essence, the map helps to reimagine the colonies as territorial self-determination units with a certain territorial scope.

Keywords: map, mapping, uti possidetis, territorial, territory, integrity, international law, colony, colonialization

JEL Classification: K00, K10, K19, K30, K33, K39, Y92

Suggested Citation

Worster, William Thomas, The Influence of the Map on Uti Possidetis Juris and Territorial Integrity (December 16, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3089094 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3089094

William Thomas Worster (Contact Author)

The Hague University of Applied Sciences - International Law ( email )

Stamkartplein 40
Hague
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://www.hhs.nl

University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Law, Amsterdam Center for International Law ( email )

P.O. Box 1030
Amsterdam, 1000BA
Netherlands

University of Missouri at Kansas City - School of Law ( email )

5100 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, MO 64110-2499
United States

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