Historical Evidence and the Eastern Greenland Case
ABSTRACT. The Eastern Greenland case (1931–33) is the only territorial dispute in the polar regions ever to have been decided by an international court. Norway challenged Denmark’s claim to sovereignty over all of Greenland on the grounds that Denmark had established effective occupation in a limite...
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ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.500.7378 2023-05-15T14:19:48+02:00 Historical Evidence and the Eastern Greenland Case Janice Cavell The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives 2008 application/pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.500.7378 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic61-4-433.pdf en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.500.7378 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic61-4-433.pdf Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic61-4-433.pdf text 2008 ftciteseerx 2016-01-08T09:07:19Z ABSTRACT. The Eastern Greenland case (1931–33) is the only territorial dispute in the polar regions ever to have been decided by an international court. Norway challenged Denmark’s claim to sovereignty over all of Greenland on the grounds that Denmark had established effective occupation in a limited area only. The Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) held that effective occupation in the polar regions requires relatively little actual exercise of sovereign rights, and that Denmark therefore did indeed have sovereignty over the entire island. Both parties in the dispute based many of their arguments on historical evidence, most notably the records of a series of diplomatic overtures to other states made by Denmark between 1915 and 1921. These documents, the Norwegians argued, showed that the Danes themselves did not believe that they had sovereignty over the entire island. The Danes, on the other hand, contended that their sovereignty dated back to the Middle Ages. The Court found the Danish arguments more convincing. However, the dissenting opinion of Justice Dionisio Anzilotti upheld the Norwegian interpretation. This paper re-examines the issue in the light of historical evidence, found recently in Canadian archives, that was not available to the Court. These new documents indicate that Anzilotti’s view was the correct one. While the 1933 decision in favour of Denmark can be upheld on other than historical grounds, a re-assessment of the historical evidence and arguments presented to the PCIJ is essential to set the record straight. Key words: sovereignty, Eastern Greenland, polar regions RÉSUMÉ. Le cas du Groenland oriental (1931-1933) constitue le seul conflit territorial des régions polaires à n’avoir jamais été Text Arctic Greenland Groenland Unknown Greenland Norway |
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English |
description |
ABSTRACT. The Eastern Greenland case (1931–33) is the only territorial dispute in the polar regions ever to have been decided by an international court. Norway challenged Denmark’s claim to sovereignty over all of Greenland on the grounds that Denmark had established effective occupation in a limited area only. The Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) held that effective occupation in the polar regions requires relatively little actual exercise of sovereign rights, and that Denmark therefore did indeed have sovereignty over the entire island. Both parties in the dispute based many of their arguments on historical evidence, most notably the records of a series of diplomatic overtures to other states made by Denmark between 1915 and 1921. These documents, the Norwegians argued, showed that the Danes themselves did not believe that they had sovereignty over the entire island. The Danes, on the other hand, contended that their sovereignty dated back to the Middle Ages. The Court found the Danish arguments more convincing. However, the dissenting opinion of Justice Dionisio Anzilotti upheld the Norwegian interpretation. This paper re-examines the issue in the light of historical evidence, found recently in Canadian archives, that was not available to the Court. These new documents indicate that Anzilotti’s view was the correct one. While the 1933 decision in favour of Denmark can be upheld on other than historical grounds, a re-assessment of the historical evidence and arguments presented to the PCIJ is essential to set the record straight. Key words: sovereignty, Eastern Greenland, polar regions RÉSUMÉ. Le cas du Groenland oriental (1931-1933) constitue le seul conflit territorial des régions polaires à n’avoir jamais été |
author2 |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
Janice Cavell |
spellingShingle |
Janice Cavell Historical Evidence and the Eastern Greenland Case |
author_facet |
Janice Cavell |
author_sort |
Janice Cavell |
title |
Historical Evidence and the Eastern Greenland Case |
title_short |
Historical Evidence and the Eastern Greenland Case |
title_full |
Historical Evidence and the Eastern Greenland Case |
title_fullStr |
Historical Evidence and the Eastern Greenland Case |
title_full_unstemmed |
Historical Evidence and the Eastern Greenland Case |
title_sort |
historical evidence and the eastern greenland case |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.500.7378 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic61-4-433.pdf |
geographic |
Greenland Norway |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Norway |
genre |
Arctic Greenland Groenland |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland Groenland |
op_source |
http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic61-4-433.pdf |
op_relation |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.500.7378 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic61-4-433.pdf |
op_rights |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
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1766291531022467072 |