title: Sovereignty, self-determination and the South-West Pacific: A comparison of the status of Pacific Island territorial entities in international law

authors: Gillard, Charles Andrew

subjects: International Law

abstract: This paper compares the constitutional arrangements of various territorial entities in the South-West Pacific, leading to a discussion of those entities’ status in international law. In particular, it examines the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Norfolk Island, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and American Samoa – all of which are perceived as ‘Territories’ in the international community – as a way of critically examining the concept of ‘Statehood’ in international law.
	
The study finds that many of these ‘Territories’ do not necessarily fit the classification that they have been given. In particular, most of the territorial entities listed above have significant competence to control their own domestic affairs. Some have also begun to develop their own international legal personality by virtue of de facto control over their own external affairs. The United Nations’ focus on ensuring self-determination also indicates that these territorial entities are likely to gain more autonomy as time goes on.

As a result, this paper argues that some of the ‘Territories’ are not necessarily Territories at all; instead, they possess independent control over their own domestic and external affairs, and therefore act as de facto States on the global stage. However, many of these territorial entities still remain heavily associated with recognised sovereign States, with none of the included territorial entities possessing their own de jure Head of State or citizenship: both of which are arguably key foundations of an independent identity. Consequently, there are still questions over the extent to which the territorial entities can be considered sovereign, especially given that the relevant ‘administering States’ still seem to take economic responsibility for their territorial entities if they believe the situation warrants it.

Given these points, this paper argues in favour of a reconceptualisation of the concept of Statehood. It argues that the rise of territorial entities which not only have independent control over their affairs, but which also have significant links to existing States, means that terms such as independence and sovereignty are not either/or concepts. Instead, these concepts should be seen as spectrums, giving rise to a broader definition of Statehood that does not restrictively define States as independent, sovereign entities, but that embraces the concept of ‘Freely Associated States’.

text: Sovereignty, self-determination and the South-West Pacific: A comparison of the status of Pacific Island territorial entities in international law This paper compares the constitutional arrangements of various territorial entities in the South-West Pacific, leading to a discussion of those entities’ status in international law. In particular, it examines the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Norfolk Island, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and American Samoa – all of which are perceived as ‘Territories’ in the international community – as a way of critically examining the concept of ‘Statehood’ in international law.
	
The study finds that many of these ‘Territories’ do not necessarily fit the classification that they have been given. In particular, most of the territorial entities listed above have significant competence to control their own domestic affairs. Some have also begun to develop their own international legal personality by virtue of de facto control over their own external affairs. The United Nations’ focus on ensuring self-determination also indicates that these territorial entities are likely to gain more autonomy as time goes on.

As a result, this paper argues that some of the ‘Territories’ are not necessarily Territories at all; instead, they possess independent control over their own domestic and external affairs, and therefore act as de facto States on the global stage. However, many of these territorial entities still remain heavily associated with recognised sovereign States, with none of the included territorial entities possessing their own de jure Head of State or citizenship: both of which are arguably key foundations of an independent identity. Consequently, there are still questions over the extent to which the territorial entities can be considered sovereign, especially given that the relevant ‘administering States’ still seem to take economic responsibility for their territorial entities if they believe the situation warrants it.

Given these points, this paper argues in favour of a reconceptualisation of the concept of Statehood. It argues that the rise of territorial entities which not only have independent control over their affairs, but which also have significant links to existing States, means that terms such as independence and sovereignty are not either/or concepts. Instead, these concepts should be seen as spectrums, giving rise to a broader definition of Statehood that does not restrictively define States as independent, sovereign entities, but that embraces the concept of ‘Freely Associated States’.

year: 2012

title: Globalization of tephrochronology: new views from Australasia

authors: Lowe, David J.

subjects: tephrochronology

abstract: Tephra (or volcanic ash) studies, once confined largely to volcanic lands, have become increasingly practised in countries far removed from areas of active or recent volcanism – and Australia is no exception. At the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) conference in Cairns in July/August 2007, Sarah E. Coulter (née Davies), now a postdoctoral ice-core tephrochronologist at Queen’s University Belfast, reportedthe first occurrence of an exotic tephra in Australia in a core from Lynch’s Crater, Atherton Tableland, Queensland (Figure 1). The distal tephra, manifest as a tiny concentration of glass shards, was probably derived from a Papua New Guinean eruption around 75,000–80,000 years ago (S.E. Davies et al., 2007). Its value lies in providing a precise chronostratigraphic marker that potentially allows correlation of other long palaeoenvironmental sequences over wide distances. Davies’ study is but one of a revolutionary development in tephrochronology now focused on detecting diminutive, distal tephras that are invisible in the field and referred to as cryptotephras. From the Greek word kryptein, meaning ‘to hide’ (Hunt, 1999a; Hunt and Hill, 2001; Lowe and Hunt, 2001), cryptotephras typically comprise fine-ashsized (< ~100 μm) glass shards sparsely preserved and ‘hidden’ in peats or in lake, marine or aeolian sediments, or in ice cores (Figure 2). The cryptotephra theme is continued in section III, but beforehand nomenclature associated with the term ‘tephra’, which can be confusing and which sometimes is used incorrectly, is outlined.

text: Globalization of tephrochronology: new views from Australasia Tephra (or volcanic ash) studies, once confined largely to volcanic lands, have become increasingly practised in countries far removed from areas of active or recent volcanism – and Australia is no exception. At the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) conference in Cairns in July/August 2007, Sarah E. Coulter (née Davies), now a postdoctoral ice-core tephrochronologist at Queen’s University Belfast, reportedthe first occurrence of an exotic tephra in Australia in a core from Lynch’s Crater, Atherton Tableland, Queensland (Figure 1). The distal tephra, manifest as a tiny concentration of glass shards, was probably derived from a Papua New Guinean eruption around 75,000–80,000 years ago (S.E. Davies et al., 2007). Its value lies in providing a precise chronostratigraphic marker that potentially allows correlation of other long palaeoenvironmental sequences over wide distances. Davies’ study is but one of a revolutionary development in tephrochronology now focused on detecting diminutive, distal tephras that are invisible in the field and referred to as cryptotephras. From the Greek word kryptein, meaning ‘to hide’ (Hunt, 1999a; Hunt and Hill, 2001; Lowe and Hunt, 2001), cryptotephras typically comprise fine-ashsized (< ~100 μm) glass shards sparsely preserved and ‘hidden’ in peats or in lake, marine or aeolian sediments, or in ice cores (Figure 2). The cryptotephra theme is continued in section III, but beforehand nomenclature associated with the term ‘tephra’, which can be confusing and which sometimes is used incorrectly, is outlined.

year: 2008

title: Imagining our own approaches

authors: Smith, Linda Tuhiwai

abstract: I spent some formative years of my life either in the back of museums or their basements helping my father, a scholar of Māori Studies, and keeping myself out of trouble. In the late 1960s I had one small job in the library basement of the Peabody Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, typing new labels for the captains’ log books of ships that were sailing during the American Revolution. I read most of those journals that consisted of pages and pages of wind directions with the rare glimpse of an encounter with another ship or a list of supplies. Why were we there in Salem when we came from Aotearoa, New Zealand? We were there because Salem was the home base for ships that sailed into the Pacific and returned home with collections of materials from the various Pacific Islands countries they visited. My father was studying elaborately carved items from the Marquesa Islands that looked very much like Māori designs.

text: Imagining our own approaches I spent some formative years of my life either in the back of museums or their basements helping my father, a scholar of Māori Studies, and keeping myself out of trouble. In the late 1960s I had one small job in the library basement of the Peabody Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, typing new labels for the captains’ log books of ships that were sailing during the American Revolution. I read most of those journals that consisted of pages and pages of wind directions with the rare glimpse of an encounter with another ship or a list of supplies. Why were we there in Salem when we came from Aotearoa, New Zealand? We were there because Salem was the home base for ships that sailed into the Pacific and returned home with collections of materials from the various Pacific Islands countries they visited. My father was studying elaborately carved items from the Marquesa Islands that looked very much like Māori designs.

year: 2015