Outer limits of the continental shelf beyond CLCS recommendations and Article 76(8) of UNCLOS: With reference to Japan’s Cabinet Order No. 302

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Michael Sheng-ti Gau ◽  
Si-han Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
The West ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
Essential Questions ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Common ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Legal Consequences ◽  
The Unclos

Abstract In 2014 Japan’s Cabinet Order No. 302 declared the outer limits of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (OL) to the west and north of Oki-no-Tori Shima (Area 302). Oki-no-Tori Shima consists of two small, barren, and uninhabitable rocks in the West Pacific. The northern part of Area 302 is broader than what the 2012 recommendations of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) specify. A question arises whether Order No. 302 violates Article 76(8) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which provides that the OL established by a coastal state ‘on the basis of’ the CLCS recommendations shall be final and binding. Another question is the role played by the CLCS in ‘assisting’ the coastal states to delimit their national jurisdiction so as to know where the Area (i.e., the Common Heritage of Mankind under UNCLOS Articles 1(1)(1) and 136) begins. The essential questions arising from Area 302 concern how well the UNCLOS mechanism can perform to safeguard the Common Heritage of Mankind through preventing encroachment thereupon by individual coastal states. This article looks at the context and explores the obligations implied by Article 76(8) for coastal states to ‘follow’ the recommendations in establishing the OL, with special reference to the northern part of Area 302. The article also examines legal consequences arising from a breach of these obligations.

The International Seabed Authority and the Common Heritage of Mankind: The Need for States to Establish the Outer Limits of their Continental Shelf

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Franckx
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
International Law ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Common ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
International Seabed Authority ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractThe principle of the common heritage of mankind was introduced in international law to internationalize certain common spaces beyond national jurisdiction. It has found a certain application in outer space as well as in the Antarctic, but it is with respect to the oceans that it has so far found its fullest exposition. Since the principle is very much tied to the Area in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, i.e., the seabed and ocean floor and subsoil thereof beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, it can be said to have triggered that convention, but at the same time was also almost responsible for its demise. As a consequence, its content has changed over the years. The present article intends to have a closer look at how this principle at present relates to the obligation of broad-margin states to establish the outer limit of their continental shelf.

The Permanent Limits of the Continental Shelf

2019 ◽  
pp. 75-103
Author(s):  
Kate Purcell
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Coastal Change ◽  
Coastal State ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Law

This chapter traces the development of the regime of the continental shelf. It challenges the claim that UNCLOS Article 76(9) exceptionally secures the limits of the continental shelf against subsequent coastal change. The permanence of the outer limits of the continental shelf was intended to preserve an area of the seabed beyond national jurisdiction as the common heritage of mankind. The law also provides that the limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (M), which are not defined by distance from the coast, are ‘final and binding’. Neither Article 76(9) nor any other element of the regime of the continental shelf can be said to imply the ambulatory character of baselines and the zonal limits measured from them. Indeed, the requirement to permanently establish the limits of the continental shelf implies that the coastal State is ordinarily permitted rather than required to revise established maritime limits.

The Common Heritage of Mankind

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Lodge
Keyword(s):  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Regulatory Regime ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Common ◽  
International Seabed Authority ◽  
Legal Meaning

Abstract One of the key features of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is its recognition that the seabed and its resources beyond national jurisdiction are the common heritage of mankind. Part XI of the Convention gives precise legal meaning to this term. The International Seabed Authority is responsible for implementing the common heritage principle. Since the Authority was established in 1994, a comprehensive legal regime for the Area has been established. Despite initial problems, the international machinery for the administration of this regime is functioning well. The Authority has made good progress, on the basis of the evolutionary approach set out in the 1994 Agreement, in elaborating a regulatory regime for access to the resources of the Area. Much more work remains to be done, however; in particular, if the economic benefits of the common heritage are to be realized.

Deep Sea Anarchy: Mining at the Frontiers of International Law

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Stefan Fritz
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The Past ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Common ◽  
First Time ◽  
Made In

For the first time, new sources of minerals are likely to be exploited in the deep seas in an area beyond national jurisdiction. Deep-sea mining encompasses the potential for cooperation and/or competition between the most technologically and economically advanced States and those aspiring to join this group. The community of States recognized this potential early on and signed new treaties, established new international institutions, and promised new levels of cooperation. Most importantly, they also set a standard according to which the exploration for and exploitation of these new resources are to be governed, namely in the context of the Common Heritage of Mankind. This article assesses what progress has been made in the past forty years on defining and implementing the Common Heritage of Mankind as a normative and legal framework for governing the exploration for and exploitation of marine minerals in the deep seas.

THE NEGOTIATIONS FOR A NEW IMPLEMENTING AGREEMENT UNDER THE UN CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA CONCERNING MARINE BIODIVERSITY

2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 585-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Efthymios Papastavridis
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Common Heritage Of Mankind ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Common ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The Law ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis article discusses the current negotiations for an Implementing Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. It discusses, in particular, the issue of the relationship of the new agreement with existing and future relevant regional instruments and bodies and the need for cooperation and coordination amongst them, the guiding principles of the new agreement, and the question of implementation and enforcement of the new agreement. These issues and the choices that delegations will make respectively highlight the controversy on the underpinning tenet of the agreement, ie between the ‘freedom of the high seas’ and the common heritage of mankind. The article concludes with a pessimistic prognosis that, in general, the agreement will fall short of the expectations that many States and international community have had at the early days of the negotiation.

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