The principle that newly independent states inherit the administrative boundaries they had as colonies or federal units, which become international borders.
In more detail
The Latin phrase ("as you possess") comes from Roman law. It was applied in Spanish America in the nineteenth century and in Africa after decolonisation; the Organisation of African Unity endorsed existing borders in 1964. In the Frontier Dispute (Burkina Faso/Mali) case of 1986, a chamber of the International Court of Justice described it as a general principle linked to decolonisation, designed to prevent fratricidal struggles over borders. After the break-up of Yugoslavia, the Badinter Arbitration Commission applied it to former republics. Critics argue that it entrenched arbitrary colonial lines and limited self-determination for groups divided by them.