A PUSH TOWARDS THE JOINT DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTHERN KURIL ISLANDS: AN INTERNATIONAL LEGAL COMMENTARY

Introduction. The article contains a preliminary discussion of the Russian-Japanese agreement on the joint development of the Southern Kuril Islands in the context of a territorial controversy on the sovereignty over them and the objective of executing a peace treaty, from an international legal perspective.

Materials and Methods. The research results are based on theoretical and empirical analysis of the existing information on the content of the RussianJapanese agreement, the opinions of Russian and foreign experts, international legal materials (treaties, practice and doctrine) on the rules governing the relevant aspects of the situation in question in general and the outcome of the Russian-Japanese dispute in particular.

Results. In 2016-2017, the leaders of the Russian Federation and Japan reached an agreement on the joint economic development of the Southern Kuril Islands that have been under Russian sovereignty since 1945 pursuant to the wartime agreements, but have been claimed by Japan since 1950. The leaders of the two countries expressed a common hope that such activity would allow their states to come closer to executing a peace treaty based on the results of the Second World War. Nonetheless, this prospect has caused concerns, including experts, about the potential loss by Russia of its legal title considering the fact that Japanese investors will be allowed access to these territories, which may allegedly entail the tacit recognition of Japan’s claims.

Discussion and Conclusions. When viewed from the standpoint of the applicable international law, acquiescence of another state’s legal title to a territory requires an unequivocal abandonment of sovereignty over it. Moreover, apart from an express statement of the Heads of the two states to the effect that joint development will not affect their positions on the territorial issue, it is presumed on the basis on the practice of Russian-Japanese treaties on the joint development of marine living resources in the areas around the Southern Kuril Islands, that such a risk will be ruled out by using a protective clause in the future treaty on such joint development. Furthermore, in response to the concerns voiced, the article proposes recommendations on the recognition of the existence of the dispute within the parties’ relations and on the forms of compliance with the rights of the population of the Southern Kuril Islands and the Russian Federation as a whole to self-determination in case of changes in the territorial status of such territories.

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