Dr Yoshifumi Tanaka, senior lecturer in law at the University of  Westminster School of Law in London, discusses the International Court of Justice judgment of 23 May 2008 in the Malaysia/Singapore case concerning the sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.

The 2008 Malaysia/Singapore case relates to the dispute concerning territorial sovereignty over three maritime features in the Straits of Singapore.

In this commentary, written exclusively for the Hague Justice Portal, Dr. Tanaka analyses various legal aspects of this judgment, including the intricate questions of acquisition of territory: “As territory is one of the fundamental elements of States, the determination of the spatial ambit of territorial sovereignty is of vital importance in international law. Thus, clarification of rules applicable to the acquisition of territory is of central importance in the international legal system.”

Read this commentary