How a Latin phrase for nobody's land became a tool for colonial dispossession

Cultures · Published 29 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The legal doctrine of terra nullius, or nobody's land, allowed European powers to claim territory by ignoring the sovereignty of indigenous inhabitants. While once used to justify the seizure of lands across the globe, modern courts have increasingly dismantled this concept, recognizing the pre-existing rights and laws of native peoples.

The term terra nullius emerged in international law during the 19th century, though its roots are often traced to the Roman concept of res nullius, which allowed individuals to claim abandoned property or wild animals. By the 18th century, thinkers like Emer de Vattel argued that land could be considered empty if its inhabitants did not cultivate it according to European standards. This intellectual framework enabled colonial powers to bypass the rights of nomadic or hunter-gatherer societies, treating their ancestral territories as legally vacant.

In practice, the application of this doctrine was highly variable. While some jurists like Francisco de Vitoria argued in 1539 that indigenous populations held sovereignty, others used the absence of European-style political structures to justify annexation. By the 19th century, the rise of scientific racism and legal positivism solidified the view that lands not under a recognized state could be acquired through occupation. This logic was famously applied in Australia, where the 1835 proclamation by Governor Richard Bourke implemented the principle as the foundation for British settlement.

The 20th century saw a significant shift in jurisprudence. The International Court of Justice, in its 1975 advisory opinion on Western Sahara, ruled that territories inhabited by socially and politically organized peoples could not be classified as terra nullius. This precedent proved vital for indigenous rights movements, most notably in the 1992 Mabo v Queensland (No 2) decision. The Australian High Court rejected the doctrine as a legal fiction, finally acknowledging the continuing land rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Today, the concept is largely obsolete in international law, though it remains a point of contention in border disputes and debates over the status of Antarctica.

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