Territorial Integrity: Rethinking the Territorial Sovereign Right of the Existence of the States

Abdelhamid El Ouali's

Territorial Integrity: Rethinking the Territorial Sovereign Right of the Existence of the States

An Article Review

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for Geo 171

Submitted by:

Rizon, Kristina Marie N.

I. Summary of Points

The article aims to obtain a new approach of the principle of territorial integrity, in which the concept of territoriality plays a crucial role and attempts to demonstrate that, the principle of territorial integrity being an institutionalization of the concept.

The article states that every political collectivity, group or state, exists as such when extends its authority over a geographical space and makes of it its own territory a territory in the foundations and limits of which are established in accordance with international law. However, the process of legalization of territoriality does not stop there as the right of existence of the state within its own geographical space has generated a series of key international legal principles. The principle of sovereignty is inherent then to the concept of state. Its main function is to protect the right of existence of the state and then to ensure that the principle of territorial integrity is respected by other states. Being said such; the legitimacy of power is intimately associated with the need to preserve the existence of the society. International law endorsed to protect the state and its existence and introduced the states right to survival. International law is believed to codify the use of force before establishing the laws governing peace, because the use of force was conceive as the ultimate means of guaranteeing the existence of the state. There was also a conflicting idea between the rights of every state, in a self defense situation, to safeguard its existence by the use of force recognized by the UN charter under Article 50. Furthermore, international law has also continued to accept, through the statement of necessity principle, that the states can even violate their international obligations in order to protect themselves from any grave and imminent peril threatening one of their essential interests. (Right to self defense vs. the right of every state to survival) Thus, international law has constantly recognized the right of every state to protect its existence by the ultimate use of force. However, that right is not absolute, as it finds its limits in the right of every state. Thus, international law has also constantly recognized the rights of states to preserve their existence through the ultimate use of self defense and doctrine of necessity. However, international law has constantly recognized the legal character of a state's territory and boundaries, due to the fact that one of the main functions of the latter is to protect and preserve that existence. Territorial stability is a fundamental principle of international law. One of the key conclusions is that the principle of territorial integrity will remain relevant only if it incorporates the idea that its fundamental goal is to protect the existence of the people. Definitely, the principle of territorial integrity is the principle that recognizes the sovereign existence of peoples, represented by their own states, within territories the legal basis and limits of which have been established in accordance to international law. Hence, the principle of territorial sovereignty does indeed reflect the territorial sovereign right of the existence of the peoples represented by their states. It is the passionate quest to exert