The Analysis Of British Overseas Territories Disputes From The International Law Perspective

Dispute refers to the disagreement between two parties(or countries)on the legal or factual arguments,it is the conflict and opposition of legal claims or interests.Britain currently has 14 overseas territories in the world,all of which are scattered across the oceans in the form of islands or archipelagos,with the exception of Gibraltar.The rise and development of the law of the sea enabled Britain to transform and solidify a large number of its colonial heritage through the form of legal system,which effectively consolidated and strengthened Britain’s overseas maritime rights and interests.In order to promote the transformation of colonial heritage,Britain took various means to strengthen the control and jurisdiction of its overseas territories.In the process,Britain also had disputes with Argentina,Mauritius and Spain over the ownership of the Falkland Islands,the Chagos islands and Gibraltar.After the Second World War,the tide of global decolonization rose,and Britain was forced to adjust its colonial policy and change its mode of colonial rules.Given this situation,countries with overseas territorial disputes with the United Kingdom have issued a statement claiming sovereignty,clearly requiring both parties to resolve the relevant disputes peacefully as soon as possible,which has won the support of international organizations represented by the United Nations.However,whether it is the Falkland Islands dispute,the Chagos Archipelago dispute or the Gibraltar dispute,they all have complex historical and practical factors that inevitably touch on a number of important fundamental theoretical and practical issues of international law.This article,from the perspective of history and reality,intends to restore the original British overseas territory dispute up and development process,and points out that the key issues of the British overseas territory dispute in international law,and to explore the sovereign claims behind the Falkland Islands,Gibraltar and the Chagos Archipelago disputes,to analyse the legitimacy,validity and law theories of each claims,and to predict the possible future disputes,followed by feasible countermeasures.In addition to the introduction,the paper is divided into six chapters.The first chapter reviews the historical background and current situation of overseas territories.Chapter two briefly reviews the norms of international law on territorial acquisition,the common rules of territorial dispute settlement in judicial precedents and the peaceful settlement mechanism of international disputes.The third chapter to the fifth chapter present all of the British Overseas Territory disputes,namely the Falklands Islands conflict,the Chagos Archipelago dispute,Gibraltar disputes,and dig into the international law issues one by one,such as the dispute on sovereignty claims,legal problems of the construction of the Marine protected areas,the legitimacy of the Chagos islanders to self-determination,and predicts the future development of the dispute and finally solutions are put forward to these disputes.The sixth chapter,based on the analysis of the international law issues over the British overseas territorial disputes,reflects on the relevant means of dispute settlement and points out the possible enlightenment to China.The first chapter reviews and introduces the historical background and current situation of overseas territories.Section one gives a brief overview of overseas territories.First of all,the historical origin of overseas territories is reviewed.Most of the early colonization in the decolonization trend gradually moved towards independence,but a few islands scattered in the ocean did not achieve sovereignty independence due to the lack of population,resources and economic strength,thus becoming overseas territories in the new era.Secondly,it clarifies the status of overseas territories under international law.It is worth emphasizing that,in the context of the rapid development of international law of the sea,the emphasis of the law of the sea on the maritime rights enjoyed by overseas territories in the form of islands is one of the important causes of the British overseas territorial disputes.Finally,the management and control practices of British Overseas Territories are sorted out,so as to clarify the British government’s political and strategic arrangements for overseas territories and the provisions of overseas territories in British legal documents.The second section gives a brief introduction to what is territorial dispute and the basic situation of the British overseas territorial disputes.The second chapter sorts out the relevant theories of international law.First of all,norms and concept of the international law relating to territory acquiring are reviewed,for example,traditional theories like occupation,cession,prescription,accession and subjugation are examined,modern theories including self-determination,referendum,recover and exchange of territory are also put forward.Secondly,it conducts necessary analysis on the common principles of territorial dispute settlement in international judicial precedents,such as intertemporal law,critical date,treaty interpretation,principle of effectivités and uti possidetis.Finally,this paper discusses the possible paths for the settlement of the British overseas territorial disputes,focuses on the judicial and diplomatic paths for the peaceful settlement of the British overseas territorial disputes,analyzes the practical difficulties of the judicial path for the peaceful settlement of the territorial disputes,and points out the advantages of the diplomatic path.The third chapter discusses the issues of international law in the dispute between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands.The dispute over the Falkland Islands is a historical outcome of the British colonial control.The long-term negotiations on the sovereignty of the islands have never made substantive progress.The 180-year history of the dispute over the Falkland Islands makes it one of the world’s oldest territorial disputes.The legitimacy of the Falkland Islands’ traditional methods of territorial acquisition,the legitimacy of the right of self-determination and the application of referendum,the applicability of the principle of effective control and the effectiveness of the use of force to settle territorial disputes constitute several key issues of international law in the Falkland Islands dispute.This chapter,on the basis of history background of the Falkland Islands,by using international legal theories like traditional territorial acquisition modes,critical dates,intertemporal law,principle of effective control,self-determination as the logical starting point,after analyzing the basis of the sovereignty claims between Britain and Argentine in the Falkland Islands dispute,comes to the conclusion that although the UK’s claim to the Falkland Islands has a lot of historical and legal basis,it does not have a clear advantage over Argentina’s claim.For Argentina,the British control and jurisdiction of the Falkland Islands since 1833 has limited its ability to regain sovereignty,despite the dominant basis of its claim.It must be pointed out that due to the long-term and complex nature of the Falkland Islands dispute,the final settlement of the dispute is still some time away.The author believes that it is a feasible solution to the current Falkland Islands dispute to shelve the dispute and adopt a new cooperation model.Chapter four discusses the international law issues reflected in the Chagos Archipelago dispute.The Chagos Archipelago dispute is the outcome of British colonialism.In 2010,Mauritius,according to dispute settlement mechanism contained in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,brought the Chagos Marine Protected Areas to arbitration.On the surface,the Chagos Marine Protected Areas case mainly focuses on the legitimacy of the problem,but in essence,the root of the dispute is that Britain and Mauritius tangle on the territorial sovereignty dispute over the Chagos Archipelago.Then,in 2017,the African union,which includes Mauritius,asked the international court of justice,through the United Nations general assembly,to issue an advisory opinion on some of the international law issues of the Chagos Archipelago.The legality of the mixed jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal,the legitimacy of the establishment of Marine Protected Areas,the legality of the application of the right of self-determination of the Chagos islanders,and the principle of state consent constitute several key international law issues in the Chagos Archipelago dispute.After analyzing the basis of the claims of Britain and Mauritius respectively,this chapter believes that Britain should follow the trend of decolonization,abide by the provisions of international law,and cooperate effectively with Mauritius and islanders.Chapter five discusses the international law issues in the dispute between Britain and Spain over Gibraltar.In 1713,Britain signed the Peace of Utrecht with Spain.In1721,Britain signed the Peace of Madrid with Spain,which reaffirmed the terms of the peace of Utrecht.The legality of the traditional methods of territorial acquisition,the validity of the Utrecht peace treaty and its interpretation and application,the applicability of the principle of land determining the sea,the legality of the application of the right of self-determination and referendum,and the validity of territorial sea ownership constitute several key issues of international law in the Gibraltar dispute.This chapter,on the basis of the development the historical background of Gibraltar dispute,and by using international law theories like treaty interpretation,land to sea principle,intertemporal law,self-determination and referendum as the logical starting point,after analyzing the sovereignty claims of Britain and Spain in the Gibraltar dispute,this chapter finds out that although the UK base it`s claims on the Utrecht treaty of,but decolonization is the world’s historical development inevitable trend,Gibraltar is no exception,and most of the international community are in support of the Spanish claims to Gibraltar.It must be pointed out,however,that the limited roles of international mechanisms,the actual control and jurisdiction of the British side over Gibraltar and the will of the inhabitants of Gibraltar have also made Spain somewhat weak in its efforts to regain sovereignty over Gibraltar.In addition,due to the long-term and complex nature of the Gibraltar dispute,the final settlement of the dispute is still some time away.The author believes that the Anglo-Spanish negotiation and full consideration of the interests of the Gibraltar residents are the most practical and feasible win-win solutions to the Gibraltar dispute.After analyzing the historical background of the above overseas territorial disputes,the issues of international law involved in the disputes,the national practices of the disputing parties,and the possible solutions,the author tries to reflect on the overseas territorial disputes in chapter six.Although China does not have similar forms of territorial existence like the British overseas territories,but China has,in the surrounding seas,disputes around maritime rights and interests with other countries,the South China Sea Arbitration,the Diaoyu Islands dispute,the east China sea continental shelf dispute are all needed to be addressed,and they are only the tips of the iceberg,and the international law issues contained in the disputes are worth further study.Therefore,the sixth chapter not only gives out reflections on the British overseas territorial disputes,but also considers and summarizes the enlightenment that China can get from the British overseas territorial disputes.For the reflections: first of all,the process of decolonization is irreversible,so Britain should actively and properly solve the problems left over from its colonial period,and the United Nations should also play its promoting role in the process of dispute settlement,so as to urge the parties to the dispute to reach an agreement and settle the dispute peacefully.Secondly,the principle of national territorial sovereignty should be an inherent restriction on the exercise of the right to self-determination.Britain’s over-emphasis on or even encouragement of the exercise of the right to self-determination in various disputes will only lead to bad bilateral relations and is not conducive to the effective settlement of disputes.As for the enlightment: first,as a permanent member of the United Nations,our country should promote the United Nations to play a more favorable role,and make full use of the existing rules of international law to maximize the interests of our country;Second,it is urgent for us to conduct in-depth research on the issues of international law arising from disputes,including the procedural and substantive issues involved in the settlement of international judicial disputes.Third,China should pay attention to the important role of cooperation in dispute settlement,promote the good wills among countries by maintaining the coherence of its own policies and strengthening regional and global cooperation,and effectively resolve disputes by means of political communication and dispute settlement mechanism construction.