Introduction

Malaysia has had the experience of submitting two cases to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for resolution. One involved the Sipadan and Ligitan case between Malaysia and Indonesia. This dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia over the ownership of these two islands developed in 1969, which is called the “critical date”. The case was filed with the ICJ for arbitration on 2 November 1998. The ICJ delivered its verdict on 17 December 2002 awarding Malaysia sovereignty over the two disputed islands.

The second case involved the question of disputed sovereignty between Malaysia and Singapore over three maritime features, that is, Pulau Batu Puteh (Pedra Branca), Middle Rocks and South Ledge. In this case, the dispute emerged on 14 February 1980 when Singapore protested against the 1979 Malaysian map which showed Pulau Batu Puteh lying within Malaysian territorial waters. The issue of sovereignty over Middle Rocks and South Ledge emerged much later on 6 February 1993 when Singapore first brought it up in conjunction with the Pulau Batu Puteh claim. The dispute over these three marine features was filed with the Registry of the ICJ on 24 July 2003. Judgment day was 23 May 2008, but because of the nature of the case, and due to differing circumstances, three separate judgments were delivered. The court ruled, by a vote of 12-4, that sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh belonged to Singapore. Sovereignty over Middle Rocks was awarded to Malaysia with fifteen judges ruling in favour of Malaysia and one judge, dissenting. In the case of South Ledge, the court concluded, 15-1, that sovereignty over this feature belonged to the state in the territorial waters of which it is located.

Cardinal Principles of International Law

A number of important prerequisites and cardinal principles may be noted concerning the operation of International Law and the preferences of the ICJ pertaining to cases involving territorial disputes by using these two cases as a referral point. These are presented below.

Prerequisites for Proving Ownership

A country has to fulfil the following requirements in order to show that it has ownership or sovereignty over a piece of disputed territory: