CASE ANALYSIS: The Influence of Colonial International Legal Discourse in ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara (1975)
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References
This case analysis is developed from the independent research I have conducted in LA491 Selected Topics in International Law at the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University in the first semester of academic year 2025. I am deeply grateful to Assistant Professor Thitirat Thipsamritkul for her insightful advice, which spanned from topic selection and content structuring to curating relevant literature. I also thank her for the constructive feedback that helped refine this manuscript and ensure its completeness in every aspect.
International Court of Justice, “Western Sahara: Overview of the Case,” accessed 29 December 2025, https://www.icj-cij.org/case/61
Antony Anghie, Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 32–114.
Western Sahara, Advisory Opinion, 1975 I.C.J. 12, ¶ 13 (Oct. 16).
See Western Sahara, I I.C.J. Pleadings 135 (Request for Advisory Opinion).
Question of Spanish Sahara, G.A. Res. 3292 (XXIX), U.N. Doc. A/9631 (Dec. 13, 1974); Western Sahara, 1975 I.C.J. at 12, ¶ 1.
Western Sahara, 1975 I.C.J. at 30, ¶¶ 32–33.
Status of Eastern Carelia, Advisory Opinion, 1923 P.C.I.J. (ser. B) No. 5, at 27 (July 23).
Western Sahara, 1975 I.C.J. at 33, ¶ 39.
Id. at 40, ¶ 79.
Id. at 40–41, ¶¶ 80–81.
Lauren Benton and Benjamin Straumann, “Acquiring Empire by Law: From Roman Doctrine to Early Modern European Practice,” Law and History Review 28, no. 1 (2010): 24.
Western Sahara, III I.C.J. Pleadings 1, ¶¶ 12–25 (Written Statement of the Government of Morocco).
Western Sahara, 1975 I.C.J. at ¶¶ 93, 108, 129.
Western Sahara, III I.C.J. Pleadings 1, 8–15 (Written Statement of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania).
Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations, Advisory Opinion, 1949 I.C.J. 174 (Apr. 11).
Western Sahara, 1975 I.C.J. at 68, ¶ 152.
Id. at 68, ¶ 162; Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, G.A. Res. 1514 (XV) (Dec. 14, 1960).
Question of Spanish Sahara, G.A. Res. 3292 (XXIX), U.N. Doc. A/9631 (Dec. 13, 1974).
Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation Concerning Western Sahara, U.N. Doc. S/2001/613, ¶¶ 22–23 (June 20, 2001).
Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation Concerning Western Sahara, U.N. Doc. S/2023/729, ¶¶ 20–25 (Oct. 3, 2023).
S.C. Res. 2703, U.N. Doc. S/RES/2703 (Oct. 30, 2023).
Report of the Secretary-General (2023), supra note 21, at ¶¶ 2–8.
Report of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples for 2023, U.N. Doc. A/78/23, chap. VIII (2023).