Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2026
Abstract
The intertemporal doctrine provides that international disputes have to be resolved in accordance with the international law that existed at the time the events giving rise to the dispute took place, not at the time the matter is adjudicated.1 It is thought to be impermissible to apply current standards to events that occurred in the past when different legal principles and rules were the norm. This doctrine applies as much to acquisition of colonies as to other international issues.2 So in order to determine whether a European nation acquired sovereignty over an overseas territory, it is necessary to determine and apply the international law extant at the time sovereignty was claimed. As international law has evolved from the time European overseas colonial expansion began in the fifteenth century, this means that different standards can apply in diverse colonial contexts, depending on when sovereignty is alleged to have been acquired.
Repository Citation
McNeil, Kent, "The Intertemporal Law Doctrine’s Application to the Acquisition of Colonies in the Americas" (2026). All Papers. 426.
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/all_papers/426
Included in
Constitutional Law Commons, Indigenous, Indian, and Aboriginal Law Commons, International Law Commons
Comments
"Draft, January 2026"
"This paper has been accepted for publication in the Notre Dame Journal of International and Comparative Law"