OCCUPATION AS MODE OF ACQUIRING

TERRITORY
SUBMITTED BY-
ASHUTOSH KUMAR, B.A., LL.B.(HONS.)
(5th Semester), (Roll No.- 2114)
SUBMITTED TO-
MRS. SUGANDHA SINHA
(Lecturer of Law)
This rough draft is submitted in partial fulfilment in Public International Law for
the completion of B.A., LL.B.(Hons.) course.

AUGUST 2021
CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY,
PATNA

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INTRODUCTION
State territory has been defined as “Portion of globe which is subjected to the sovereignty of a
state. A state without a territory is not possible, although the necessary territory may be very
small, as with Vatican City. A wandering tribe, although it has a government and is otherwise
organized, is not a state until it has settled down in a territory of its own.” Further, “the
importance of state is that it is the space within which the state exercises its supreme and
normally exclusive authority”.

The international rules related to territorial sovereignty are rooted in the Roman Law
provisions governing ownership and possession. In addition, the classification of the different
modes of acquiring territory is a direct descendant of the Roman rules dealing with property.

The acquisition of territory by a state can be more correctly referred to as acquisition of

territorial sovereignty, by an existing state and member of the international community over
another state. At the very outset it needs to be made clear that the recognition of a new state
cannot be considered as acquisition of territory. There may also be cases where private
individuals or corporations gain certain rights or even authority over a territory which wasn’t
under the territorial supremacy of any recognised state. Such cases are again not within the
scope of “modes” of acquisition of state territory.

Occupation is one of the five modes of acquiring territory. Other four modes are cession,
accretion, subjugation and prescription.

“Occupation is the act of appropriation by a state by which it intentionally acquires

sovereignty over such territory as it is at the time not under the sovereignty of any state.”
Further, “it is therefore an original mode of acquisition in that the sovereignty is not derived
from any other state”. “Occupation can only take place by and for a state; it must be a state
act; that is, it must be performed in the service of a state, or it must be acknowledged by a
state after its performance.”

Occupation is a state’s intentional claim of sovereignty over territory treated by the

international community as terra nullius, or territory that does not belong to any other state.

OBJECTIVES
 To analyse state territory.

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  To analyse the acquisition of territory by a state.
 To analyse occupation as mode of acquiring territory.

HYPOTHESIS
The researcher has formulated the hypothesis that there are different modes of acquiring
territory in which occupation is one.

MODE OF RESEARCH
 The researcher has relied upon the Doctrinal method of research for the completion of
this project.

TENTATIVE CHAPTERISATION
1. INTRODUCTION.
2. STATE TERRITORY.
3. ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY BY A STATE.
4. DIFFERENT MODES OF ACQUIRING TERRITORY.
5. OCCUPATION AS MODE OF ACQUIRING TERRITORY.
6. CONCLUSION.
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources: Books.

Secondary Sources: Materials Available on the internet.