The role of history in international territorial dispute settlement: the Pedra Branca Case (Singapore v Malaysia)

Abstract

History has long played a signifi cant role in the settlement of international disputes, especially where the dispute relates to territory and rights over territory. As Surya Sharma noted: ‘Appeal to history generally constitutes the central argument in a territorial dispute’.1 Important though they are, historical claims and historical titles have often not been key factors in determining the outcomes of territorial disputes. In this chapter, we consider the dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over a small outcrop of an island known as Pedra Branca or Pulau Batu Puteh located at the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait. The island, which Singapore had long claimed as its own and on which it had built and operated a lighthouse and some other communications facilities, became the subject of an international dispute in 1979 when Malaysia published the Peta Baru (New Map) of its territories that included the island. When diplomatic negotiations failed to resolve the dispute, Singapore proposed to submit the dispute to the ICJ in 1989. Malaysia agreed to this in 1994 and the case was heard over three weeks in the Hague.2