The Ligitan and Sipadan dispute ICJ_3
was_a_territorial_dispute.html" ;"title="002
ICJ 3
was a territorial dispute">002
ICJ 3
was a territorial dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia over two islands in the

Celebes Sea The Celebes Sea, (; ms, Laut Sulawesi, id, Laut Sulawesi, fil, Dagat Selebes) or Sulawesi Sea, of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east by ...

, namely

Ligitan Ligitan ( ms, Pulau Ligitan) is a small island in Tawau, Sabah, located east of the island of Borneo, in the Celebes Sea. In the past, the island was at the centre of a territorial dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia. The matter was brough ...

and

Sipadan Sipadan ( ms, Pulau Sipadan) is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea off the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia. It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that ...

. The dispute began in 1969 and was largely resolved by the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

(ICJ) in 2002, which opined that both of the islands belonged to Malaysia.

Background

and

are two small islands located in the

off the southeastern coast of the Malaysian state of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

Sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

over the islands has been disputed by Indonesia and Malaysia since 1969 and intensified in 1991 when Indonesia discovered that Malaysia had built some tourist facilities on Sipadan island. Indonesia claimed that it had made a verbal agreement with Malaysia in 1969 to discuss the question of sovereignty over the islands. Malaysia however denied the allegation of an agreement between them, maintaining that the islands have always been part of the territory of its state of Sabah. Both countries have not delimited their maritime zones in the area and the court was not asked to rule on this further matter. On 2 November 1998, both countries agreed to bring the matter to the

(ICJ).

Government of the Philippines request for intervention

The

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

had applied during the proceedings to intervene over the case on the basis of their claim to northern Borneo. According to the Philippine side, the heirs of the

Sultan of Sulu The Sultanate of Sulu ( Tausūg: ''Kasultanan sin Sūg'', كاسولتانن سين سوڬ; Malay: ''Kesultanan Sulu''; fil, Sultanato ng Sulu; Chavacano: ''Sultanato de Sulu/Joló''; ar, سلطنة سولك) was a Muslim state that ruled t ...

has ceded their rights over

North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, which is present day Sabah. The territory of North Borneo ...

(present-day Sabah) to the Philippines in 1962. However, a majority of people in the territory chose to become part of Malaysia in 1963 rather than the Philippines under a plebiscite organised by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. The Philippines motive to intervene was questioned by the court, as to whether the Philippines had a "sufficiently strong legal interest" with both Indonesia and Malaysia. The court strongly rejected the Philippines' attempt of intervention and in doing so cited that the request made by the Philippines did not relate to the subject matter of the case. The Philippines query was totally dismissed in June 2001 when after oral hearings the court voted it down by a count of fourteen votes to one.

Court decision

Both of the islands were originally considered as ''

terra nullius ''Terra nullius'' (, plural ''terrae nullius'') is a Latin expression meaning " nobody's land". It was a principle sometimes used in international law to justify claims that territory may be acquired by a state's occupation of it. : : ...

''. But as Malaysia's predecessor,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, significantly developed the islands compared to Indonesia's predecessor, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, especially after Malaysia's formation as a nation the court using this as the main reason decided to award the islands to Malaysia based on their "effective occupation". In addition, it is also acknowledged both of the islands were much closer to Malaysia than Indonesia as well with an earliest documentation from Malaysia over the British 1878 Agreement with the Sultanate of Sulu during which time they acquired the Sultanate area as part of the

British Borneo British Borneo comprised the four northern parts of the island of Borneo, which are now the country of Brunei, two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the Malaysian federal territory of Labuan. During the British colonial rule before Worl ...

, while the Indonesian claim is mostly based on an 1891 Boundary Treaty between Great Britain and the Netherlands.

References

{{Territorial disputes in East and South Asia International Court of Justice cases Territorial disputes of Indonesia Territorial disputes of Malaysia Dispute 2002 in case law 2002 in Indonesia 2002 in Malaysia Indonesia–Malaysia border Indonesia–Malaysia relations 2002 in international relations

Background

Government of the Philippines request for intervention

Court decision

See also

References