Terra nullius, Inuit Habitation and Norse Occupation with Special Emphasis on the 1933 East Greenland Case
Sovereignty acquired by occupation entails “recognize[d] title based on discovery,” “a reasonable period [of] … effective occupation of the region claimed to be discovered” and “the continuous and peaceful display of State authority.” Only terra nullius is subject to occupation. A territory inhabite...
Published in: | Arctic Review on Law and Politics |
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Gyldendal Akademisk (Gyldendal Academic)
2016
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/10437 https://doi.org/10.17585/arctic.v7.262 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/10437 2023-05-15T14:24:41+02:00 Terra nullius, Inuit Habitation and Norse Occupation with Special Emphasis on the 1933 East Greenland Case Ørebech, Peter Thomas 2016-05 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/10437 https://doi.org/10.17585/arctic.v7.262 eng eng Gyldendal Akademisk (Gyldendal Academic) Ørebech P.T. (2016). Terra nullius, Inuit Habitation and Norse Occupation – With Special Emphasis on the 1933 East Greenland Case. Arctic Review on Law and Politics, 7(1):20-41 FRIDAID 1396930 doi:10.17585/arctic.v7.262 2387-4562 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/10437 openAccess VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Rettsvitenskap: 340 VDP::Social science: 200::Law: 340 VDP::Humaniora: 000::Historie: 070::Moderne historie (etter 1800): 083 VDP::Humanities: 000::History: 070::Modern history (after 1800): 083 discovery occupation sovereignty Norse and Indigenous peoples Eastern Greenland Case Permanent Court of International Justice 1933 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed 2016 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.17585/arctic.v7.262 2021-06-25T17:54:58Z Sovereignty acquired by occupation entails “recognize[d] title based on discovery,” “a reasonable period [of] … effective occupation of the region claimed to be discovered” and “the continuous and peaceful display of State authority.” Only terra nullius is subject to occupation. A territory inhabited by indigenous groups that sustain social and political organization may impede an occupying power because the terra nullius requirement fails. While sovereignty over thinly populated areas are often lax, case law requires less public involvement in these sparsely inhabited areas. This study reveals that the Dano-Norwegian Kings regarded the Inuit as “our subjects.” The Kings’ pretention of absolutum dominium and jurisdiction involved both the Norse and Inuit ethnic groups and “bygð ok ubygð” (settled and unsettled) land. The exodus of the Norse peoples in 1450 AD for 200 years did not undermine the acquired sovereignty of the Dano-Norwegian Crown, which as a result, spoiled the 1931 Norwegian pretentions to legally occupy East-Greenland. Denmark’s triumph in the 1933-East Greenland case resulted from a “zero-sum principle.” More than a 100 years earlier, the Danish Kingdom lost a succession of countries and dependencies. The 1814 Kiel Treaty transferred mainland Norway to Sweden, but explicitly states that none of the ancient Norwegian dependencies, Greenland, Iceland and Faroe Islands would follow suit. Thus, these territories remained part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic review on law and politics East Greenland Faroe Islands Greenland Iceland inuit University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Faroe Islands Greenland Norway Arctic Review on Law and Politics 7 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Rettsvitenskap: 340 VDP::Social science: 200::Law: 340 VDP::Humaniora: 000::Historie: 070::Moderne historie (etter 1800): 083 VDP::Humanities: 000::History: 070::Modern history (after 1800): 083 discovery occupation sovereignty Norse and Indigenous peoples Eastern Greenland Case Permanent Court of International Justice 1933 |
spellingShingle |
VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Rettsvitenskap: 340 VDP::Social science: 200::Law: 340 VDP::Humaniora: 000::Historie: 070::Moderne historie (etter 1800): 083 VDP::Humanities: 000::History: 070::Modern history (after 1800): 083 discovery occupation sovereignty Norse and Indigenous peoples Eastern Greenland Case Permanent Court of International Justice 1933 Ørebech, Peter Thomas Terra nullius, Inuit Habitation and Norse Occupation with Special Emphasis on the 1933 East Greenland Case |
topic_facet |
VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Rettsvitenskap: 340 VDP::Social science: 200::Law: 340 VDP::Humaniora: 000::Historie: 070::Moderne historie (etter 1800): 083 VDP::Humanities: 000::History: 070::Modern history (after 1800): 083 discovery occupation sovereignty Norse and Indigenous peoples Eastern Greenland Case Permanent Court of International Justice 1933 |
description |
Sovereignty acquired by occupation entails “recognize[d] title based on discovery,” “a reasonable period [of] … effective occupation of the region claimed to be discovered” and “the continuous and peaceful display of State authority.” Only terra nullius is subject to occupation. A territory inhabited by indigenous groups that sustain social and political organization may impede an occupying power because the terra nullius requirement fails. While sovereignty over thinly populated areas are often lax, case law requires less public involvement in these sparsely inhabited areas. This study reveals that the Dano-Norwegian Kings regarded the Inuit as “our subjects.” The Kings’ pretention of absolutum dominium and jurisdiction involved both the Norse and Inuit ethnic groups and “bygð ok ubygð” (settled and unsettled) land. The exodus of the Norse peoples in 1450 AD for 200 years did not undermine the acquired sovereignty of the Dano-Norwegian Crown, which as a result, spoiled the 1931 Norwegian pretentions to legally occupy East-Greenland. Denmark’s triumph in the 1933-East Greenland case resulted from a “zero-sum principle.” More than a 100 years earlier, the Danish Kingdom lost a succession of countries and dependencies. The 1814 Kiel Treaty transferred mainland Norway to Sweden, but explicitly states that none of the ancient Norwegian dependencies, Greenland, Iceland and Faroe Islands would follow suit. Thus, these territories remained part of the Kingdom of Denmark. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ørebech, Peter Thomas |
author_facet |
Ørebech, Peter Thomas |
author_sort |
Ørebech, Peter Thomas |
title |
Terra nullius, Inuit Habitation and Norse Occupation with Special Emphasis on the 1933 East Greenland Case |
title_short |
Terra nullius, Inuit Habitation and Norse Occupation with Special Emphasis on the 1933 East Greenland Case |
title_full |
Terra nullius, Inuit Habitation and Norse Occupation with Special Emphasis on the 1933 East Greenland Case |
title_fullStr |
Terra nullius, Inuit Habitation and Norse Occupation with Special Emphasis on the 1933 East Greenland Case |
title_full_unstemmed |
Terra nullius, Inuit Habitation and Norse Occupation with Special Emphasis on the 1933 East Greenland Case |
title_sort |
terra nullius, inuit habitation and norse occupation with special emphasis on the 1933 east greenland case |
publisher |
Gyldendal Akademisk (Gyldendal Academic) |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/10437 https://doi.org/10.17585/arctic.v7.262 |
geographic |
Faroe Islands Greenland Norway |
geographic_facet |
Faroe Islands Greenland Norway |
genre |
Arctic Arctic review on law and politics East Greenland Faroe Islands Greenland Iceland inuit |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic review on law and politics East Greenland Faroe Islands Greenland Iceland inuit |
op_relation |
Ørebech P.T. (2016). Terra nullius, Inuit Habitation and Norse Occupation – With Special Emphasis on the 1933 East Greenland Case. Arctic Review on Law and Politics, 7(1):20-41 FRIDAID 1396930 doi:10.17585/arctic.v7.262 2387-4562 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/10437 |
op_rights |
openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17585/arctic.v7.262 |
container_title |
Arctic Review on Law and Politics |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766297125568643072 |