On the Probative Value of Historical Maps in the Dispute of Territorial Sovereignty and Maritime Delimitation

LI Chuang；CHEN Jueyu；HUANG Yuxin

Territorial sovereignty ； Maritime delimitation ； Map evidence ； Probative value

中华海洋法学评论

37期（2021 / 03 / 01）

88 - 110

英文

In the current international adjudication, there is no set of specific rules for evidence-related issues and the court has greater discretion on this issue. As evidence, historical maps play a proving role that cannot be ignored in territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation disputes. In the practice of judicial decisions and arbitral awards, the probative value of historical map evidence is affected by many factors including historical feature, accuracy, neutrality, relationship with border agreements, whether the State will can be clearly expressed and whether it constitutes the evidence of recognition or acquiescence etc. Generally, the tribunals maintain a cautious attitude towards the probative value of map evidence and believe that map mainly plays the role of corroborating and extrinsic evidence. The weight of evidence may vary from case to case in different situations and international judicial institution needs to comprehensively judge by combining the facts to be proved and other evidentiary materials.