Malaysia's Case: History to be cited to back claims

The Straits Times, November 13, 2007


ACCORDING to its written pleadings, Malaysia's claim to Pedra Branca rests on four pillars.

The first is that the Johor Sultanate exercised sovereignty over Pedra Branca from time immemorial and held what is called an 'original title' to the island.

Pedra Branca, which the Malaysians call Pulau Batu Puteh, is an island the size of a football field and is at the eastern entrance to the Singapore Strait.

To back its claim, Malaysia asserts on the basis of several history books on Johor that for centuries, the sultanate's territories stretched 'both north and south of the Singapore Strait' and included 'all islands within and at the entrance of the Singapore Strait'.

It argues that by contrast, Singapore's claim dates only to 1980 when it lodged a protest against a 1979 Malaysian map that placed Pedra Branca within Malaysia's territorial waters.

The second pillar is that Britain acknowledged Johor's title and sought permission to build a lighthouse there in the 1840s.

Malaysia has produced an 1844 letter from the Temenggong of Johor to the British Crown in Singapore, which it argues is evidence that such permission was granted.

Its third argument is that the British did not exercise sovereignty over the island, but only built and operated Horsburgh Lighthouse there. Singapore's activities, it claims, have also been limited to those related to the running of a lighthouse.

Malaysia argues that under international law, the operation of a lighthouse does not establish the sovereignty of the operator.

Lastly, Malaysia alleges that Singapore never acted as though Pedra Branca belonged to it, for it published no maps showing the island was part of its territory, nor did it include Pedra Branca in its list of islands.

From today until Friday, Malaysia's experienced team of international counsel is also expected to rebut forcefully many of the arguments that Singapore mounted last week.

The team includes Sir Elihu Lauterpacht and Mr James Crawford, two international law experts who helped Malaysia win its case in 2002 against Indonesia in their territorial dispute over the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan.




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Singapore's Case : Long, non-stop display of state authority

SINGAPORE'S proof of sovereignty over Pedra Branca rests on two legs.
The first is that the British took lawful possession of the island in 1847 when it was terra nullius, a Latin phrase meaning empty or no man's land.

It backed this up with an 1850 letter by the General Secretary of the Dutch East Indies, in which he wrote of the construction of a lighthouse 'at Pedra Branca on British territory'.

In its oral pleadings last week, Singapore also highlighted Malaysia's absolute lack of documentary evidence to support its claim of an original title to Pedra Branca.

The second leg of Singapore's case is that since 1847, Britain and its successor, Singapore, have exercised sovereignty over the island through activities that were an open, continuous and effective display of state control.

These included naval patrols as well as the control of access to the island.

Among the incidents Singapore brought to the court's attention last week was one that took place in 1974, when a group of Malaysians who wanted to visit Pedra Branca sought permission to do so from the Singapore authorities.

Singapore also described as 'sudden' and 'extraordinary' Malaysia's late claim to the island, through a map published in 1979.

The move, it said, came after 130 years of silence in the face of Singapore's exercise of state control on and in the waters around Pedra Branca.

During those 130 years, Malaysia had also acknowledged Singapore's sovereignty, it added.

Its legal team quoted from a 1953 letter in which Johor's top official at the time informed the British authorities in Singapore that 'the Johore Government does not claim ownership of Pedra Branca'.

They also highlighted six maps published by the Malaysian government between 1962 and 1975, which showed Pedra Branca as belonging to Singapore.