Define the principle of prescription

Prescription  (res  nullius-an  asset susceptible of acquisition but presently under the ownership or sovereignty of no legal person). Prescription is a mode of establishing title to territory.   It legitimizes a doubtful title by the passage of time and the acquiescence of the former sovereign. For acquisitive prescription to be effective there must be a display of State authority and the absence of recognition of competing State. The possession must be adverse. The said adverse possession must be peaceful, uninterrupted and done publicly. It relates to a right which a State exercises over a number of years. If a particular territory is occupied by a State without interference from other States then automatically that piece of land becomes a part of that State. For example, Pakistan and India's dispute over Siachen Glacier relates to the problem of prescription. If Pakistan had not contested against the effective control by India over Siachen then following the principle of prescription, it would have become a part of India. Therefore, one State can assert its legal rights over a particular territory; provided it does not belong to any another state and can legally occupy it under the principle of prescription.