Synonyms
Definition
There are things that belong to everyone, to the community: those are res communes omnium. Res communes omnium are beyond ownership and thus excluded from any commercial transaction. In international law, spaces defined as common to all nations are not subject to state sovereignty. Therefore, no state is entitled to exclude other states from the full enjoyment of the res communes omnium. At the same time, every state is free to access, explore, and exploit them.
To be characterized as res communes, those spaces that are free and open to all should fulfill at least three criteria: (i) the absence of territorial sovereignty; (ii) the nonrecognition of sovereign claims; and (iii) the freedom of access and exploitation of resources by those capable of doing so.
Despite the ancient roots of the doctrine of res communis, the debates on the equitable sharing of resources reveal that disputes over its proper interpretation and...
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References
Primary Sources
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Raimondo, G. (2024). Doctrine of Res Communis in International Law. In: Gray, K.W. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Territorial Rights. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68846-6_202-1
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