Public International Law

LEGAL STATUS OF EASTERN GREENLAND (Norway v Denmark)

Case concerning the legal status of certain territories in Eastern Greenland between the Royal Danish
Government and the Royal Norwegian Government.

STORYLINE
As the world’s nations reorganized their various holdings after World War I, Denmark and Norway got into
a scuffle over the eastern coast of Greenland. The Permanent Court of International Justice fielded the
controversy in the case Legal Status of Eastern Greenland, or Denmark versus Norway.
The saga started with Eric the Red, the explorer who founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland
around 980. The medieval colonies collapsed around 1450. Denmark and Norway were combined into one
country in 1536. Explorers returned to Greenland, which was considered a Norwegian possession until the two
countries separated in the Treaty of Kiel of 1814. Denmark kept Greenland. Norway maintained claims to
territories east of Greenland, including Spitzbergen.
After World War I, the United States gave up any claim to Greenland in exchange for the Danish Virgin
Islands. Denmark worked on persuading other nations to agree not to contest its claim to all of Greenland.
Norway was the only stumbling block. In 1919, the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs met with Ihlen, the
Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs. They discussed the allocation of Greenland to Denmark and Spitzbergen
to Norway. Ihlen said the Norwegian government wouldn’t make any difficulties in the settlement of this question.
During the 20s, however, Norway refused to recognize Danish sovereignty over Greenland and demanded
hunting and fishing rights on the east coast. In 1930, Norway set up hunting outposts on Greenland’s east coast
and announced plans to conduct scientific research.
Denmark submitted the dispute to the Permanent Court of International Justice. It claimed sovereignty
over all of Greenland based on its continuous sovereignty over a long period of time. It also argued that through
the Ihlen declaration of 1919, Norway had promised not to proceed with any occupation of territory in Greenland.

FACTS
By an application instituting proceeding, filed with the Registry of the Court on July 12, 1931, the Royal Danish
Government, brought before the Permanent Court of International Justice, a suit against the Royal Norwegian
Government on the ground that the latter government had, on July 10, 1931, published a proclamation declaring
that it had proceeded to occupy certain territories in Eastern Greenland, were subject to the sovereignty of the
Crown of Denmark.

Contention of Denmark Contention of Norway

• Danish sovereignty existed over all Greenland
• In support of this contention, the Danish
government advances two propositions:
1. The sovereignty which Denmark now
enjoys over Greenland has existed for a
long time.
2. Norway has by treaty or otherwise herself
recognized Danish sovereignty over
Greenland as a whole and therefore cannot
dispute it.
• The Norwegian government submits that the
area occupied was, at the time of the occupation,
terra nullius; its contention being, indeed, that
the area in question lay outside the limits of the
Danish colonies in Greenland and that Danish
sovereignty extended no further than the limits
of those colonies.

ISSUES
1. Whether or not the Eastern Greenland or the whole of Greenland is subject to the sovereignty of the
Crown of Denmark.
2. Whether or not Norway has by treaty or otherwise recognized Danish sovereignty over Greenland as a
whole and can no longer dispute it.

RULING OF THE COURT

 1. The whole of Greenland is subject to the sovereignty of the Crown of Denmark.
2. YES, Norway has by treaty, recognized Danish sovereignty over Greenland.

Occasions for which Norway recognized Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland, and undertakings for which
Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland was recognized:
1. Peace Treaty of Kiel in 1814 – the Kingdom of Norway, excluding Greenland, the Faeroe Isles and
Iceland, was ceded to Sweden.
2. Stockholm Conference – In September 1, 1819, the King of Sweden and Norway agreed to renounce in
favor of the Crown of Denmark, the claims of this country (Norway) in respect of Iceland, Greenland and
the Faeroe Isles.
3. Commercial Treaty – In November 2, 1826, concluded between Denmark and the United Kingdoms of
Sweden and Norway, a treaty for which provision was made in Article 23 of the Treaty of Kiel.
4. Antilles Treaty – In August 4, 1916, the United States signed the treaty for the cession of the Antilles. A
declaration to the effect that the United States would not object to the Danish government extending
their political and economic interest to the whole of Greenland.
5. Ihlen Declaration – In July 22, 1919, Norway Minister of Foreign Affairs made a statement to the Danish
Minister to the effect that the Norwegian government would not make any difficulties in the settlement
of this question. According to the report made by the Danish Minister to his own government, the plans
of the Royal Danish Government respecting the Danish sovereignty over the whole of Greenland would
meet with no difficulties on the part of Norway.
6. Convention on the Greenland Question – In July 9, 1924, the two governments signed a convention
applicable to the whole eastern coast of Greenland, excepting the district of Angmagssalik.
7. Notes – Simultaneously with the Convention, notes were signed by each government to the effect that it
signed the Convention in order to avoid disputes and to strengthen friendly relations between the two
powers, and that it reserved its opinion on questions concerning Greenland not dealt with in the
Convention.
8. Christiana Protocol – Protocol signed at the 12th and last meeting of the delegations held at Christiana
on January 28, 1924, that the Danish contention that Denmark possessed full and entire sovereignty, and
the Norwegian contention that all the parts of Greenland which had not been occupied in such a manner
as to bring them effectively under the administration of the Danish government were in the condition of
terrae nullius, and that If they ceased to be terrae nullius they must pass under Norwegian sovereignty.
9. Exchange of Notes – Entered into by France and Britain, the treatment of Denmark to the Norwegian
subjects in Eastern Greenland dated April 23 and June 4, 1925.
10. Diplomatic Correspondences – During the latter half of the year 1921, and during the two succeeding
years, diplomatic correspondence continued between the Danish and Norwegian governments.
11. Modern Agreements – as examples, the stipulations in the Universal Postal Conventions of 1920, 1924
and 1929, the following shall be considered as belonging to the Universal Postal Union, the Faeroe Isles
and Greenland, as being part of Denmark.

Court’s Ruling on the 2nd Danish Proposition (Norway has, by treaty, recognized Danish sovereignty over
Greenland, as a whole and therefore cannot dispute it).

In three cases, the Court considers that undertakings were given.

1. In the first place, the Court holds that, at the time of the termination of the Union between Denmark and
Norway (1814 and 1819), Norway undertook not to dispute Danish sovereignty over Greenland. Norway
has recognized Danish sovereignty over the whole of Greenland and consequently, cannot proceed to
the occupation of any part thereof.
2. A second series of undertakings by Norway, recognizing Danish sovereignty over Greenland, is afforded
by various bilateral agreements concluded by Norway with Denmark, and by various multilateral
agreements to which both Denmark and Norway were contracting parties, in which Greenland has been
described as a Danish colony or as a forming part of Denmark or in which Denmark has been allowed to
exclude Greenland from the operation of the agreement.
 3. Finally, Denmark has maintained that, under certain provisions of the Covenant of the League of Nations,
of the General Act of conciliation, judicial settlement and arbitration of 1928 and of conventions between
Denmark and Norway for the pacific settlement of disputes, Norway is likewise bound to abstain from
occupying any part of Greenland.

TREATIES
The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, defines a treaty as an international agreement concluded
between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or
in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation.
A treaty is an agreement between sovereign states and in some cases international organizations which is
binding at international law. Treaties can be bilateral or multilateral. Treaties are commonly called agreements,
conventions, protocols, or covenants, and less commonly exchanges of letters.

KEY TERMS USED IN UN TREATY COLLECTION

• Agreements
• Charters
• Conventions
• Declarations
• Exchange of Notes
• Memoranda of Understanding
• Modus Vivendi
• Protocols
• Signatories and Parties
• Treaties