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6 - Estoppel and acquiescence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2009

Vaughan Lowe
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Malgosia Fitzmaurice
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Amsterdam
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Summary

The concepts of estoppel and acquiescence are difficult to disentangle from other related concepts, such as recognition, admissions and recourse to subsequent conduct in the interpretation of a treaty. As one noted authority states when analysing the relevance of these concepts to the judicial determination of territorial disputes: ‘Recognition, acquiescence, admissions constituting a part of the evidence of sovereignty, and estoppel form an interrelated subject-matter, and it is far from easy to establish the points of distinction.’ Referring more particularly to the concept of estoppel, the same authority argues:

A considerable weight of authority supports the view that estoppel is a general principle of international law, resting on principles of good faith and consistency, and shorn of the technical features to be found in municipal law. Without dissenting from this as a general and preliminary proposition, it is necessary to point out that estoppel in municipal law is regarded with great caution, and that the ‘principle’ has no particular coherence in international law, its incidence and effects not being uniform. Thus before a tribunal the principle may operate to resolve ambiguities and as a principle of equity and justice: here it becomes a part of the evidence and judicial reasoning.

Practitioners in international law, particularly those who have been involved as counsel in long-standing territorial disputes, are aware that arguments founded on notions of estoppel and acquiescence figure prominently in the armoury of weapons at their disposal.

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Fifty Years of the International Court of Justice
Essays in Honour of Sir Robert Jennings
, pp. 104 - 120
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1996

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