The Laws of Territorial Acquisition as Applied to Claims to Antarctic Territory: A Review of Legal Scholarship

Abstract

Three substantive areas of analysis have emerged in the legal scholarship of the validity in international law of Antarctic territorial claims. The first is the physical amenability of the Antarctic continent to claims of territory. The second, and largest, is the application of traditional laws of territorial acquisition to Antarctic claims. The alternative argument of Antarctica as res communis is the final substantive thread of discussion.These threads of discussion have dominant arguments. They do not, however, have definite conclusions, leaving the academic conjecture as to the validity of Antarctic territorial claims unresolved. Article IV of the Antarctic Treaty makes an urgent definitive answer unnecessary. However, with new issues emerging related to sovereignty in Antarctica, such as Marine Protected Areas, and more activity from growing Antarctic Treaty membership, public discourse consistently raises the issue.As we enter this new discursive environment, a review of the main arguments of the three substantive areas of legal scholarship is timely. This article will also attempt to identify the dominant attitudes regarding the validity of territorial claims to Antarctica.