evidence: In 2008, the ICJ ruled that Singapore had sovereignty over Pedra Branca. While the Sultanate of Johor had original title to Pedra Branca, sovereignty over the island had passed to Singapore by 1980, when the dispute crystallized. The ICJ’s ruling was made on the basis of the fact that Singapore and its predecessor polities had exercised several acts of sovereignty over the island, to which Malaysia and its predecessors had failed to respond. In the same ruling, ICJ also awarded Middle Rocks to Malaysia and ruled that South Ledge belonged to the state in whose territorial waters it is located, a question that is to be determined through a process of negotiation between Singapore and Malaysia. [...] Now that it is legally settled that Pedra Branca belongs to Singapore, there is no dispute that Singapore has the right to reclaim land adjacent to its island in accordance with domestic and international law. If the seven hectares of reclaimed land eventually form an artificial island, this would be in alignment with Article 60 of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which grants nations the right to build and construct new artificial islands in their Exclusive Economic Zones.