Corpus separatum
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Corpus separatum is Latin for "separated body". The term refers to a city or region which is given a special legal and political status different from its environment, but which falls short of being an independent city state. A significant historical example is that of the Corpus separatum (Fiume), which for several centuries determined the status of Fiume/Rijeka within the Habsburg Empire.
At present, the term is mainly used with regard to Jerusalem.
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[edit] 1947 UN Partition Plan
The 1947 UN Partition Plan used this term to refer to a proposed internationally administered zone to include Jerusalem in the 1947 municipal boundaries "plus surrounding villages and towns, the most eastern of which shall be Abu Dis; the most southern, Bethlehem; the most western Ein Karem (including also the built-up area of Motsa); and the most northern Shu'fat." (Part III (B)) The special status for the city was because "of its association with three world religions". It was to be "under a special international regime and shall be administered by the United Nations". (Part III (A))
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194, 11 December 1948 established a United Nations Conciliation Commission and reaffirmed this statement. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 303 confirmed the decision to place Jerusalem under a permanent international regime according to the 1947 UN Partition Plan.
The Partition Plan was not implemented. Instead, Israel annexed western Jerusalem, while Transjordan annexed east Jerusalem, together with the whole West Bank. Following the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel also gained control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and annexed east Jerusalem to Israel, and Jerusalem became a unified municipality. The present municipal boundaries of Jerusalem are not the same as those of the corpus separatum set out in the Partition Plan, and does not include Bethlehem.
[edit] Later status of Jerusalem
The Israeli Knesset passed a Jerusalem Law declaring united Jerusalem to be Israel's capital in 1980, although the clause "the integrity and unity of greater Jerusalem (Yerushalayim rabati) in its boundaries after the Six-Day War shall not be violated" was dropped from the original bill. United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 condemned this and no countries today have located their embassies in Jerusalem; however, Bolivia and Paraguay have their embassies in Mevaseret Zion, a suburb 10 km west of Jerusalem.
On October 23, 1995, the United States Congress passed the advisory Jerusalem Embassy Act saying that "Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999". Since 1995, the relocation of the embassy from Tel Aviv has been suspended by the President semi-annually, each time stating that "[the] Administration remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem". Since the US Congress does not control US foreign policy, despite the Embassy Act, official U.S. documents and web sites do not refer to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The European Union continues to support the internationalisation of Jerusalem in accordance with the 1947 UN Partition Plan and regards Jerusalem as having the status of corpus separatum .[1]
The Holy See has previously expressed support for the status of corpus separatum. Pope Pius XII was the among the first to make such a proposal in the 1949 encyclical Redemptoris Nostri Cruciatus. This idea was later re-proposed during the papacies of John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II.
[edit] References
- ^ Foundation for Middle East Peace – May 1999: "Europe Affirms Support for a Corpus Separatum for Greater Jerusalem"
[edit] See also
- Positions on Jerusalem
- UN General Assembly Resolution 194, (1948)
- United Nations Conciliation Commission, (1949)
