Falkland Islands – What the ICJ (International Courts of 2015 Justice) Might Say About Argentina’S Claims
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Falkland Islands – What the ICJ (International Courts of 2015 Justice) Might Say About Argentina’s Claims Table of Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Argentina’s Claim and Initial Protests ......................................................................................... 1 2. Convention of Peace Treaty ........................................................................................... 2 2.1. Treaty Law, the Convention of Peace and the Falklands ........................................................... 2 2.2. Carlos Pereyra ............................................................................................................................ 4 2.3. Absalon Rojas ............................................................................................................................. 4 2.4. Ernesto Fitte ................................................................................................................................ 4 2.5. Juan José Cresto ........................................................................................................................ 4 2.6. Lord Palmerston .......................................................................................................................... 5 2.7. Convention or Treaty? ................................................................................................................. 5 2.8. Acquiescence and Estoppel ........................................................................................................ 6 2.9. 1882 Latzina Map ........................................................................................................................ 7 2.10. Sovereignty Protests ............................................................................................................... 9 3. Proximity ...................................................................................................................... 11 3.1. Prescription (Effective Control) ................................................................................................. 12 3.2. Argentina’s Claims of Sovereignty by Effective Occupation 1820-1833 ................................... 15 3.3. Immemorial Possession & Historical Consolidation .................................................................. 22 3.4. Historical Consolidation ............................................................................................................. 23 3.5. Military Occupation Leading to Conquest and Subjugation ...................................................... 25 3.6. Uti Possidetis Juris .................................................................................................................... 27 3.7. Nootka Sound Convention of 1790 ........................................................................................... 30 4. Territorial Integrity and Argentinean Stance ................................................................. 32 4.1. A People .................................................................................................................................... 34 4.2. Indigenous People .................................................................................................................... 36 4.3. Self-Determination .................................................................................................................... 37 4.4. Erga Omnes .............................................................................................................................. 39 4.5. Implanted Population ................................................................................................................ 40 4.6. Population Size ......................................................................................................................... 42 4.7. Free Association with the UK and the UN C24 Decolonization Committee .............................. 43 4.8. ICJ Individual and Other Opinions ............................................................................................ 45 5. Snapshot of Falklands History 1826 - 1833 .................................................................. 47 5.1. UN Charter and UNGA Resolution 2625 (XXV) ........................................................................ 48 Stephen Potts i Falkland Islands – What the ICJ (International Courts of 2015 Justice) Might Say About Argentina’s Claims 5.2. UNGA Resolution 2065 (XX) Question of the Falkland Islands – 16 Dec 1965 ....................... 49 6. Argentina’s Record ...................................................................................................... 50 6.1. UN Conventions and Argentina’s Declarations ......................................................................... 51 6.2. Falkland Islands’ Territorial Waters ........................................................................................... 52 6.3. Extinctive Prescription - Failure of Argentina to Submit Its Claim to the International Courts .. 54 6.4. Argentina Has Acquiesced to British Title ................................................................................. 56 6.5. The International Courts of Justice and International Arbitration .............................................. 58 7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 60 Stephen Potts ii 2015 Falkland Islands – What the ICJ (International Courts of Justice) Might Say About Argentina’s Claims Stephen Potts 1. Introduction If Argentina and the UK both agreed to submit the Falklands issue to the International Courts of Justice for an opinion, what might the ICJ decide? The information provided below will examine Argentina’s claims, the Convention of Peace of 1850, acquiescence and estoppel before dealing with proximity, modes of acquiring territory, Argentina’s claims and territorial integrity arguments; moving on to social and cultural aspects of self-determination, the UN Charter, applicable UNGA resolutions and concluding with Argentina’s history of dealing with treaty obligations. The attached information based on previous ICJ Judgments, Advisory Opinions, UN resolutions and associated matters might provide the answer as to how the ICJ would deal with such a case. 1.1. Argentina’s Claim and Initial Protests Argentina claims that it inherited the Falklands from Spain, a process known as uti possidetis juris and that in 1833 Britain usurped an Argentine settlement in the Falkland Islands, expelled the population (which is Argentina’s best-known falsehood), and then settled the Islands by implanting a population (Argentina’s second-best-known falsehood).1 The Argentine government then protested about the British presence on the Falklands in its annual opening statement to Congress every year from 1833 right up to the ratification of the Convention of Peace in 1850. Furthermore, Argentina protested to Britain in 1833, 1834, 1841, and 1849 (when Argentine ambassador Manuel Moreno, unaware that Rosas was preparing to agree the Convention of Peace, queried the comment by Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Lord Palmerston that Argentina was giving up its claim).2 1 Falklands War: the First 400 Years, Claims, Chronology & Counter-Claims, Lorton R. 2012, P80 & 115 quoting PRO Adm 1/2276. & AGN Sala Vll Legajo 60, p22. 2 False Falklands History at the United Nations, Pascoe & Pepper, 2012. 1 Falkland Islands – What the ICJ (International Courts of 2015 Justice) Might Say About Argentina’s Claims 2. Convention of Peace Treaty The Argentineans now deny that the Convention of Peace, which Britain and the Argentine Confederation ratified in 1850, affected the Falklands, but many authors say that it did. The main purpose of the treaty was to put an end to the Anglo-French naval blockade of the Rio de la Plata. Although no mention was made of the Falkland Islands in the treaty, the pre-amble of the treaty clearly states: “Convention for re- establishing the perfect Relations of friendship between Her Britannic Majesty and the Argentine Confederation”. It was signed at Buenos Ayres on November 24, 1849, and ratifications were exchanged on May 15, 1850.3 2.1. Treaty Law, the Convention of Peace and the Falklands It is a principle in law that any land/territory not mentioned in any peace treaty remains with the possessor. The law applicable and in force at the time states: ‘The treaty of peace leaves everything in the state in which it found it unless there is some express stipulation to the contrary. The existing state of possession is maintained, except so far as altered by the terms of the treaty. If nothing is said about the conquered country or places, they remain with the conqueror and his title cannot afterwards be called into question.’4 International law on treaties is determined by the Vienna Law of Treaties, 1969. Article 31 (3) states: There shall be taken into account, together with the context, (c) Any relevant rules of international law applicable in the relations between the parties.5 On the interpretation of subparagraph (c) Professor Lindefalk writes, ‘If it can be shown that the thing interpreted is a generic expression with a referent assumed by the parties to be alterable then the decisive factor for determining the meaning of the ‘’relevant rules of international law’’ shall be the law applicable at the time of the