ISLAND OF PALMAS CASE

Island of Palmas Case , (Scott, Hague Court Reports 2d 83(1932), (Perm. Ct. Arb. Awards 829), was a case involving a territorial dispute over the island of Palmas (or Miangas) between the Netherlands and the United States which was heard by the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Palmas, also referred to as Miangas, is an island of little economic value or strategic location. It is two miles in length, three quarters of a mile in width and has a population of about 750 when the decision of the arbitrator was handed down. The island is located between Mindanao, Philippines and the northern most island, known as Nanusa, of what was the former Netherlands East Indies. In 1898, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States and Palmas sat within the boundaries of that cession on the U.S. In 1906, the United States discovered that the Netherlands also claimed sovereignty over the island and the two parties agreed to submit to binding arbitration to resolve the dispute on January 23, 1928. The arbitrator in the case was Max Huber, a Swiss national. The question the arbitrator was to resolve was whether the island of Palmas (Miangas), in its entirety was a part of the territory of the United States or the Netherlands.