Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand, 1962, ICJ)

Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand, 1962, ICJ)

Principle:

  1. Principle of acquiescence
  2. International law uses of principle of equity, which is a principle of law used in civilized nation and international law adopted the same.

Fact: Preah temple was an ancient and significant temple due to its cultural and historical value. It was situated on the border of Thailand and Cambodia. Though Thailand was the historical owner of that area in 1904 when Cambodia was a colony of French they came to an agreement with Thailand; they agreed to divide the border according to the watershed. After that, A French – Siamiz (now known as Thailand) commission they drew a detailed map of the border where thought by mistake but very clearly marked the Preah Vihear in the territory of Cambodia, Thai Government never object after officially receiving that map. Later, after several years when Thai Prince went to visit that Temple, he sow the French Flag over the temple but did not raise any objection.

The main objection came by Thailand when UNESCO declared The Preah Vihear as a world heritage and thus take million dollar project to save it, they demanded it as their land and put some military personnel, on the other hand, Cambodia rejected that claim. On gradual dispute, it went to International Court of Justice.

Issue: Whether Cambodia had sovereignty over the territory of preah Vihear?

Decision: Cambodia had sovereignty over the whole territory of the promontory of Preah Vihear and that, in consequence, Thailand was under an obligation to withdraw from that territory the Thai military or police forces.

Reasoning: The commission that marked the map finally was a joint commission form both party and both of the party adopted the same without any objection, therefore, Cambodia had sovereignty over that area according to their treaty.

Help others by sharing

Law Help BD is a platform to share legal knowledge, it is not an alternative to a lawyer. A lawyer needs to research and try various strategy to get the best outcome for his client which can be different than a general explanation of the law. Therefore, it is advised to get an experienced lawyer if there is any specific problem to deal with, you can also hire us or try our legal support offers or just e-mails us at [email protected]

Rayhanul Islam

Advocate Rayhanul Islam is the founder and Editor in Chief of Law Help BD. He is also a researcher. Critical thinking is his main focus. He is on a quest to bring positive change to the legal sector of Bangladesh. He promotes legal knowledge and human rights concept to the root level. e-mail: [email protected]

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *