2 - Private Rights in Areas of Uncertain Jurisdiction

Summary

This chapter deals with the creation of private rights in areas of uncertain jurisdiction. What kinds of rights are they and what are their features? Do states possess the same competence to create private rights in delimited and undelimited spaces? To address the above, the chapter first discusses the creation of private rights by states in general. Then, it examines whether the lack of clearly established boundaries prohibits or otherwise hinders states from granting private rights in land and maritime spaces which are also claimed by other states. It is concluded that the absence of fixed international boundaries does not affect the powers of states to create private rights on land or at sea, even in areas claimed by two or more parties. Rather, the states’ competence to create private rights in areas of uncertain jurisdiction rests on the bona fide claim of a legal title. Although this claim may be rebutted or reduced by the establishment of an international boundary, the said private rights are legitimate and active.