The Legal Politics of Occupation: the function of law in Western Sahara and Palestine

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17KT0089
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 特設分野
• Research Field: Conflict Studies
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Matsuno Akihisa 大阪大学, 国際公共政策研究科, 教授 (90165845)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-07-18 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 西サハラ / パレスチナ / 占領 / 国際法

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The study examined cases of disputes that illustrate the argument that the legal systems the occupiesr built have become a frontline of the conflict in two occupied areas of Western Sahara and Palestine. As field research could not be conducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the research focused on two problems of application of international law to the occupied areas. One is the disputes at the Court of Justice of the European Union over the legality of economic agreements between the EU and Morocco in which the central issue is the treatment of natural resources of the occupied Western Sahara (agricultural products, marine products). The other is the conflict over the application of international humanitarian law and the Israeli domestic law to collective punishment (such as house demolition or sealing) in Palestine.

Free Research Field

国際政治

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

EUの裁判所で争われている西サハラの取り扱いを争点とする訴訟は、天然資源の恒久主権という国際原則とEUモロッコ間の政治的・経済的関係という利害の対立が現象化したものであり、判決の国際政治に及ぼす影響は大きい。研究はその論点を明らかにしたものであり、本件は欧州の事例であるが、日本も西サハラと類似の問題を抱えていることから、研究の意義がある。また、パレスチナの集団懲罰における国際法と国内法の競合も、国際原則と国家主権の調整されない対立が現象化したものとして、力による現状変更という現実に国際社会はどう向き合うのかという今日的な一般的テーマに示唆をもたらす点で意義がある。