Uti possidetis

Uti possidetis (Latin as you possess; complete: uti possidetis, ita possideatis - " as you possess, you shall possess " ) is a formation of customary international law principle of effectiveness.

Originally Uti possidetis said that the parties to an armed conflict are allowed to keep the territory and other possessions that they had gained during the war and at the time of the conclusion of peace in possession. In its present shape, the rule limited to the principle of stable limits. Application learned and experienced in particular in the context of the independence of colonial possessions and in Dismembration or secession of states.