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accepted principle of international separatum” – still the preferred
law, pursuant to which it is option of the Vatican – died a quiet
presumed that the administrative political and legal death. 3
boundaries of non-self-governing
peoples (such as colonies,
protectorates, trusts and mandates) 2. Abraham Bell & Eugene Kontorovich, “Palestine,
become, upon the independence Uti Possidetis Juris and the Borders of Israel”, Arizona
of those peoples, the boundaries of Law Review 58 (2016): 633.
3. Elihu Lauterpacht, Jerusalem and the Holy Places
the emerging state. It is on the basis (London: Anglo-Israel Association, 1968): 36.
of this principle that the borders
of most post-colonial states in the
world have been established and Further Reading: Matthijs de Blois & Andrew Tucker,
Israel on Trial: How International Law is Being
recognized. Thus, Professors Bell of Palestine”). The Oslo Agreements Misused to Delegitimize the State of Israel (The Hague
and Kontorovich, for example, argue specifically state that “Jerusalem” Initiative for International Cooperation (thinc.), 2018).
that the territorial frontiers of the is a matter for permanent status <www.thinc.info/israel-on-trial/>
State of Israel upon its creation in negotiations; this could support
May 1948 were the administrative the argument that its status is
boundaries of the pre-existing disputed, or even undetermined. We
Mandate for Palestine. By definition, would argue that Jerusalem cannot
this included the whole of the city of “belong” to the State of Palestine,
Jerusalem. 2 because that State does not (yet)
exist. And only sovereign States can
“ ‘uti possidetis juris’ be holders of territorial sovereignty.

applies pre-existing A fourth approach is to argue that

boundaries to the city is an international city – a
“corpus separatum” – because
About The Authors
emerging states ” of the 1947 UN Partition Plan. Dr Matthijs de Blois taught as assistant
This theory is unsustainable: the professor for many years at the Law Faculties
Partition Plan was nothing more of the Universities of Leyden and Utrecht (The
Netherlands). He is now a Senior Fellow of The
A third approach is that sovereignty than a proposal by the UN General Hague Initiative for International Co-operation
over the city, or at least over “East” Assembly, which was accepted (“thinc.”), focusing on questions of international
law concerning Israel and its neighbours.
Jerusalem, is either undetermined, by the Jewish people but utterly
“in abeyance”, or belongs to “the rejected by the Arab world. After Andrew Tucker is the Director of thinc. For more
information please go to his article on page 13.
Palestinian people” (or “the State about 1950, the idea of a “corpus

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