Ihlen Declaration

Last updated
Area of Greenland that was occupied by Norway EricTheRedsLand.svg
Area of Greenland that was occupied by Norway

The Ihlen Declaration was a statement made on 22 July 1919 by the Norwegian Foreign Minister Nils Claus Ihlen on the topic of Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland. Ihlen declared verbally to the Danish minister that "the plans of the Royal [Danish] Government respecting Danish sovereignty over the whole of Greenland... would be met with no difficulties on the part of Norway". The declaration became an issue when the question was raised whether the statement was binding on Norway. The question eventually went all the way to the Permanent Court of International Justice in the form of the Eastern Greenland Case in 1933. [1] [2]

Contents

The declaration

Norwegian Foreign Minister Nils Claus Ihlen Nils Claus Ihlen.jpg
Norwegian Foreign Minister Nils Claus Ihlen

In a meeting on 4 July 1919, Denmark agreed not to object to any claim to Spitsbergen which Norway might submit at an upcoming peace conference if Norway did not oppose the Danish claim at the same conference to the whole of Greenland. At the time, Norway occupied certain parts of East Greenland.

In response, Ihlen made the declaration on 22 July 1919 that "the plans of the Royal [Danish] Government respecting Danish sovereignty over the whole of Greenland... would be met with no difficulties on the part of Norway". [2]

Eastern Greenland Case

However, Norway continued to occupy East Greenland into the 1930s. That led Denmark and Norway to agree to take the case to the Permanent Court of International Justice in 1933, and led to several questions: Are affirmations made by one government to another binding? Was the declaration valid if it was made in violation of Norwegian municipal law Article 46 - invalidity (Article 27 - observance) of the Norwegian Constitution requiring consent by the Norwegian Parliament to enter into a treaty? Should Denmark have known that assent by the Norwegian Parliament was needed to make a treaty? [3]

The International Court at The Hague awarded the disputed territory to Denmark. The Court declared that the Ihlen Declaration constituted an unconditional and definitive promise. The decision was accepted by both countries. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Court of Justice</span> Primary judicial organ of the United Nations

The International Court of Justice, also called the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordance with international law and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues. The ICJ is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between countries, with its rulings and opinions serving as primary sources of international law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danish colonization of the Americas</span> Danish colonies in the Americas

Denmark and the former real union of Denmark–Norway had a colonial empire from the 17th through the 20th centuries, large portions of which were found in the Americas. Denmark and Norway in one form or another also maintained land claims in Greenland since the 13th century, the former up through the twenty-first century.

German <i>Reich</i> Official name for the German nation-state from 1871 to 1945

German Reich was the constitutional name for the German nation-state that existed from 18 January 1871 to 5 June 1945. The Reich became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German Volk, with that authority and sovereignty being exercised at any one time over a unitary German "state territory" with variable boundaries and extent. Although commonly translated as "German Empire", the word Reich here better translates as "realm" or territorial "reach", in that the term does not in itself have monarchical connotations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Kiel</span> 1814 treaty between the UK, Sweden, and Denmark–Norway

The Treaty of Kiel or Peace of Kiel was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the other side on 14 January 1814 in Kiel. It ended the hostilities between the parties in the ongoing Napoleonic Wars, where the United Kingdom and Sweden were part of the anti-French camp while Denmark–Norway was allied to France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diplomatic recognition</span> Political act where a state acknowledges an act or status of another state/government

Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral declarative political act of a state that acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state. Recognition can be accorded either on a de facto or de jure basis. Recognition can be a declaration to that effect by the recognizing government or may be implied from an act of recognition, such as entering into a treaty with the other state or making a state visit. Recognition may, but need not, have domestic and international legal consequences. If sufficient countries recognise a particular entity as a state, that state may have a right to membership in international organizations, while treaties may require all existing member countries unanimously agreeing to the admission of a new member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law</span> 1856 international treaty with legal novelty that nations could accede afterwards

The Paris Declaration respecting Maritime Law of 16 April 1856 was an international multilateral treaty agreed to by the warring parties in the Crimean War gathered at the Congress at Paris after the peace treaty of Paris had been signed in March 1856. As an important juridical novelty in international law the treaty for the first time created the possibility for nations that were not involved in the establishment of the agreement and did not sign, to become a party by acceding the declaration afterwards. So did altogether 55 nations, which otherwise would have been possible in such a short period. This represented a large step in the globalisation of international law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nils Claus Ihlen</span> Norwegian engineer and politician

Nils Claus Ihlen was a Norwegian engineer and politician for the Liberal Party. He served as Foreign Minister of Norway from 1913 to 1920.

The International law bearing on issues of Arab–Israeli conflict, which became a major arena of regional and international tension since the birth of Israel in 1948, resulting in several disputes between a number of Arab countries and Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic Council</span> Intergovernmental forum for the Arctic

The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic. At present, eight countries exercise sovereignty over the lands within the Arctic Circle, and these constitute the member states of the council: Canada; Denmark; Finland; Iceland; Norway; Russia; Sweden; and the United States. Other countries or national groups can be admitted as observer states, while organizations representing the concerns of indigenous peoples can be admitted as indigenous permanent participants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik the Red's Land</span> Norwegian claim to an area of eastern Greenland from 1931 to 1933

Erik the Red's Land was the name given by Norwegians to an area on the coast of eastern Greenland occupied by Norway in the early 1930s. It was named after Erik the Red, the founder of the first Norse or Viking settlements in Greenland in the 10th century. The Permanent Court of International Justice ruled against Norway in 1933, and the country subsequently abandoned its claims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenland in World War II</span> History of Greenland during World War II

The fall of Denmark in April 1940 left the Danish colony of Greenland an unoccupied territory of an occupied nation, under the possibility of seizure by the United Kingdom, United States or Canada. To forestall this, the United States acted to guarantee Greenland's position. With the entrance of the United States into the war in December 1941, Greenland became a combatant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danish Realm</span> Kingdom of Denmark and its autonomous territories

The Danish Realm, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of metropolitan Denmark—the kingdom's territory in continental Europe and sometimes called "Denmark proper" —and the realm's two autonomous regions: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The relationship between the three parts of the Kingdom is also known as The unity of the Realm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Territorial claims in the Arctic</span>

The Arctic consists of land, internal waters, territorial seas, exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and international waters above the Arctic Circle. All land, internal waters, territorial seas and EEZs in the Arctic are under the jurisdiction of one of the eight Arctic coastal states: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States. International law regulates this area as with other portions of Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minority Treaties</span> Legal agreements of United Nations and League of Nations members

The Minority Treaties are treaties, League of Nations mandates, and unilateral declarations made by countries applying for membership in the League of Nations that conferred basic rights on all the inhabitants of the country without distinction of birth, nationality, language, race or religion. The country concerned had to acknowledge the clauses of the treaty as fundamental laws of state and as obligations of international concern placed under the guarantee of the League of Nations. Most of the treaties entered into force after the Paris Peace Conference.

The Ilulissat Declaration was brought into force on May 28, 2008 by the five coastal states of the Arctic Ocean, following the Arctic Ocean Conference in Ilulissat, Greenland to discuss the Arctic Ocean, climate change, the protection of the marine environment, maritime safety, and division of emergency responsibilities if new shipping routes are opened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annexation</span> Illegal acquisition of a states territory by another state

Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to be an illegal act. Annexation is a unilateral act where territory is seized and held by one state, as distinct from conquest and differs from cession, in which territory is given or sold through treaty.

<i>Advisory opinion on Kosovos declaration of independence</i> International Court of Justice opinion (2010)

Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo was a request in 2008 for an advisory opinion referred to the International Court of Justice by the United Nations General Assembly regarding the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence. The territory of Kosovo is the subject of a dispute between Serbia and the Republic of Kosovo established by the declaration. This was the first case regarding a unilateral declaration of independence to be brought before the court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denmark–Norway relations</span> Bilateral relations

Denmark and Norway have a very long history together: they were both part of the Kalmar Union between 1397 and 1523, and Norway was in a Union with Denmark between 1524 and 1814.

The Arctic Policy of the Kingdom of Denmark defines the Kingdom's foreign relations and policies with other Arctic countries, and the Kingdom's strategy for the Arctic on issues occurring within the geographic boundaries of "the Arctic" or related to the Arctic or its peoples. In order to clearly understand the Danish geopolitical importance of the Arctic, it is necessary to mention Denmark's territorial claims in areas beyond its exclusive EEZ in areas around the Faroe Islands and north of Greenland covering parts of the North Pole, which is also claimed by Russia.

Human rights in the Kingdom of Denmark are protected by the state's Constitution of the Realm (Danmarks Riges Grundlov); applying equally in Denmark proper, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, and through the ratification of international human rights treaties. Denmark has held a significant role in the adoption of both the European Convention on Human Rights and in the establishment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In 1987, the Kingdom Parliament (Folketinget) established a national human rights institution, the Danish Centre of Human Rights, now the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

References

  1. Cheng, Bin; Georg Schwarzenberger (2006). General Principles of Law as Applied by International Courts and Tribunals. Oxford: Cambridge University Press. pp. 198–9. ISBN   0-521-03000-5.
  2. 1 2 Fitzmaurice, Malgosia; Olufemi Elias (2005). Contemporary issues in the law of treaties. Eleven International Publishing. pp. 13–4. ISBN   90-77596-06-2.
  3. Halvorssen, Anita M. "TREATIES". Archived from the original (PPT) on 2004-03-28. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  4. Lauterpacht, Elihu; Olufemi Elias (2005). International Law Reports. Cambridge University Press. p. 379. ISBN   0-521-46395-5.