Uti Possidetis

A term used in International Law to indicate that the parties to a particular treaty are to retain possession of that which they forcibly seized during a war.

A treaty ending a war may adopt the principle of uti possidetis, the principle of status quo ante bellum (Latin for "the state of things before the war"), or a combination of the two. Upon a default of any treaty stipulation, the doctrine of uti possidetis prevails.

UTI POSSIDETIS. This phrase, which means as you possess, is used in international law to signify that the parties to a treaty are to retain possession of what they have acquired by force during the war.

A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.

References in periodicals archive ?

Second, in cases where the parties to the dispute formed part of a single colonial territory, the internal lines that divided them into distinct administrative units will be sanctified as their international boundaries (the uti possidetis principle).

Expanding the boundaries of boundary dispute settlement: international law and critical geography at the crossroads

the Chamber would emphasize that the uti possidetis iuris principle requires not only that reliance be placed on existing legal titles, but also that account be taken of the manner in which those titles were interpreted and applied by the competent public authorities of the colonial Power, in particular in the exercise of their law-making power (38).

Las fronteras desde la perspectiva del derecho internacional

"[T]he extension of uti possidetis to modern breakups leads to genuine injustices and instability by leaving significant populations both unsatisfied with their status in new states and uncertain of political participation there ..." (42) Thus, the principle of uti possidetis may lead to unfortunate stalemates within the international community in instances of civil/internal warfare.

The applicability of the humanitarian intervention "exception" to the Middle Eastern refugee crisis: why the international community should intervene against ISIS

(11) This Note argues that the most logical resolution to the clashes between Somaliland and Puntland can be found in the ICJ's legal mechanisms for solving international border disputes, most notably uti possidetis. (12) The Court's jurisprudence can be applied to render a temporary ruling on the location of Somaliland's frontier, with the prospect of stabilizing the disputed territory until a permanent solution is developed for co-existence with a federalized Somalia.

Manufacturing territorial integrity with the International Court of Justice: the Somaliland-Puntland dispute and uti possidetis

In legal parlance this doctrine is called uti possidetis juris.

AZERBAIJAN QUEST FOR PEACEFUL EXISTENCE

La historia americana se conectaria con la busqueda de los titulos para probar los derechos territoriales adquiridos segun el principio de uti possidetis (14).

Fronteras de papel: archivos, colecciones y la cuestion de limites en las naciones americanas

The principle of uti possidetis (142) "was appealed to in order to limit fragmentation of newly liberated European colonies, whose boundaries were usually arbitrarily drawn, and which included several, and in some cases many, distinct and conflicting ethnic groups." (143) And, in its simplest form it holds that the borders that a country had at the time of decolonization must be preserved.