Pedra Branca Goes To S'pore

Source : The Electric New Paper, May 25, 2008

# International court rules on island dispute

# But M'sia gets nearby outcrop called Middle Rocks

IT wasn't a clean sweep.

But Singapore did land the biggest fish in its long-standing sovereignty dispute with Malaysia.

Yesterday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Pedra Branca, a tiny island about 40km east of Singapore, belonged to Singapore. But Malaysia did not go home empty-handed.

At stake in the dispute were also Middle Rocks and South Ledge, two outcrops that lie within three nautical miles of Pedra Branca. Malaysia got Middle Rocks.

As for South Ledge, it was a stalemate as the feature falls within 'overlapping territorial waters'. So the court ruled that it 'belongs to the state in the territorial waters of which it is located'.

A former law lecturer, who declined to be named, told The New Paper that under international law, a country's territorial waters stretch 12 nautical miles offshore.

'So if (the territory) falls within 12 nautical miles of the coast line of a country, it should theoretically belong to that country.'

PEDRA BRANCA TO SINGAPORE

But it was Pedra Branca that was at the core of the territorial dispute that was sparked in 1979 when Malaysia first laid claim to the island that Singapore had controlled since the 1840s. Singapore's administration for more than 150 years and Malaysia's silence for most of these years were what turned the judgment in Singapore's favour.

While the ICJ found that the Johor Sultanate had held the original title to Pedra Branca, it noted that Malaysia had taken no action with regard to the island for more than a century.

So, 'by 1980 (when the dispute crystallised) sovereignty over Pedra Branca had passed to Singapore', the court said. As for the two outcrops, Malaysia had claimed that they had always been under its sovereignty, while Singapore said that sovereignty over the features went together with sovereignty over Pedra Branca.

The ICJ decided that Middle Rocks, which consist of some rocks that are permanently above water, should belong to Malaysia.

'The particular circumstances which led (the court) to find that sovereignty over Pedra Branca rests with Singapore clearly do not apply to Middle Rocks,' the court said.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that though the judgment was 'not totally in Singapore's favour', it was pleased that sovereignty of Pedra Branca was given to Singapore.

The judgment ends a 29-year dispute. The ministry said that both sides had agreed to respect and abide by the court's ruling.