Basic Considerations of Humanity in Relation to Territory

Traditional International Law devoted much attention to the concept of territory, to which it ascribed a central and key position among the prerequisites of statehood. The crystallized right to self-determination of peoples is inherent to populations living in non-self-governing territories or in other circumstances, finding solid support in contemporary international law. The Antarctica Treaty has been significantly instrumental in securing the non-militarization and non-nuclearization of the area. Basic considerations of humanity have come to permeate the chapter of International Law concerning territory in distinct ways. A recent development in the domain of territory in International Law pertains to the transitional administration of territorial units by the United Nations, on behalf of the international community. In our days, other precedents, which took place subsequently, in the United Nations era are given the growing attention currently turned, in particular, to the cases of direct territorial administration of Kosovoand of East Timor.Keywords:Antarctica Treaty; humanity; international community; non-militarization; non-self-governing territories; territory; transitional administration