Cotula, Lorenzo --- "Land" [2016] ELECD 1338; in Morgera, Elisa; Kulovesi, Kati (eds), "Research Handbook on International Law and Natural Resources" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016) 137

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Law and Natural Resources

Editor(s): Morgera, Elisa; Kulovesi, Kati

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783478323

Section: Chapter 7

Section Title: Land

Author(s): Cotula, Lorenzo

Number of pages: 18

Abstract/Description:

Land is life for billions of people worldwide. It provides the basis for economic activities that sustain employment and food security, including small, medium and large-scale farming, but also activities such as herding, foraging and eco-tourism, for example. Land hosts many of the world’s ecosystems, and in many societies land has important social, cultural and spiritual values and landholding is intimately connected to traditional ways of life, systems of belief and the collective sense of justice. Land also has a special place in international law. As territory is a constitutive element of statehood, land effectively provides the basis of political organization – there is currently no state without land, and land often constitutes the most important measure of the space where state sovereignty is exercised. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has developed extensive jurisprudence on claims relating to landed territory and overland borders, and so have international arbitral tribunals. More generally, contestation over land has been an important issue in some of the world’s most difficult international disputes – including in relation to the confiscation or destruction of agricultural land within wider disputes over occupation and self determination; and to the handling of property claims in post-conflict situations, reflected in provisions on the return of property included in peace treaties. Despite this, few international treaties of general application explicitly address land issues. Rights to land feature in some human rights treaties. They feature particularly prominently in international instruments concerning indigenous peoples.