Island of Palmas Case - Facts of The Case

Facts of The Case

Palmas (Miangas) is an island of little economic value or strategic location. It is two miles in length, three-quarters of a mile in width, and had a population of about 750 in 1932, when the case was decided. Palmas lies between Mindanao, the southernmost part of the Philippines, and the Nanusa Islands, the northernmost part of Indonesia other than Palmas.

In 1898, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1898) and Palmas lay within the boundaries of that cession to the U.S. In 1906, the United States discovered that the Netherlands also claimed sovereignty over the island, and the two parties agreed to submit to binding arbitration by the Permanent Court of Arbitration. On 23 January 1925, the two governments signed an agreement to that effect. Ratifications were exchanged in Washington on 1 April 1925. The agreement was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on 19 May 1925. The arbitrator in the case was Max Huber, a Swiss lawyer.

The question before the arbitrator was whether the Island of Palmas (Miangas), in its entirety, was a part of the territory of the United States or the Netherlands.

The legal issue presented was whether a territory belongs to the first discoverer, even if they do not exercise authority over the territory, or whether it belongs to the state which actually exercises sovereignty over it.