ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the Cameroon/Nigeria judgment focusing particularly on sovereignty over the Bakassi Peninsula since this is at the heart of the territorial dispute in the Cameroon/ Nigeria case. The Cameroon/Nigeria case can be considered as a clear example concerning the application of the Burkina Faso/Mali paradigm. On the basis of the Burkina Faso/Mali paradigm, the Court ruled that title of Nigeria prevails over the effectivites advanced by Nigeria. Under the Burkina Faso/Mali paradigm, the role of subsequent conduct of the parties in dispute is modest where title of a party was already established. Unlike the Cameroon/Nigeria case, the ICJ in the Malaysia/Singapore dispute determined the case on the basis of the subsequent conduct of the parties. The international law of acquisition of territory relates to the reconciliation between the requirement of stability and that of change. The tension between stability and change derives from passage of time, the consideration of time elements becomes the key issue in the law.
