Settlement of maritime boundary disputes: An analysis of the law of the sea negotiations

1980 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul C. Irwin
Keyword(s):  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Boundary Disputes ◽  
Maritime Boundary ◽  
The Law

Dispute Settlement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: Survey for 2004

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Robin Churchill
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
International Tribunal ◽  
Boundary Disputes ◽  
Maritime Boundary ◽  
Caribbean Area ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Law

AbstractThis is the first of a projected series of annual surveys reviewing dispute settlement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea generally, rather than focusing purely on the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The main developments during 2004 were the referral of two maritime boundary disputes in the Caribbean area to arbitration under Annex VII and a prompt release of vessel judgment by the ITLOS in the Juno Trader case.

Territorial Sovereignty Issues in Maritime Disputes: A Jurisdictional Dilemma for Law of the Sea Tribunals

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Buga
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Territorial Sovereignty ◽  
Boundary Disputes ◽  
Maritime Boundary ◽  
Maritime Disputes ◽  
The Law

Abstract It is unclear whether Law of the Sea tribunals under the Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC, or the Convention) have jurisdiction to determine maritime boundary disputes involving concurrent land sovereignty issues. The text of the Convention and case law are silent in this respect. The only reference is in LOSC Article 298(1)(a)(i), which allows States to make declarations exempting maritime delimitations from compulsory dispute settlement, excluding concurrent territorial questions even from conciliation. However, it leaves unclear whether concurrent land sovereignty issues are also excluded in the absence of such declarations. There are indications that LOS tribunals may be able to decide ancillary land issues so long as these do not constitute the ‘very subject-matter’ of the dispute, or rely on an alternative jurisdictional basis. The question of competence over mixed disputes may be less extensive in effect than is often believed. States should not avoid initiating proceedings based on the view that LOS tribunals might not ultimately exercise jurisdiction.

scholarly journals THE 1982 UNITED NATIONS LAW OF THE SEA CONVENTION: UNRESOLVED ISSUES REMAIN

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
George Barrie
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Exclusive Economic Zone ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Fundamental Nature ◽  
Boundary Disputes ◽  
Maritime Boundary ◽  
Economic Zone ◽  
The Law

Despite the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) being generally viewed as one of the major successes of United Nations treaty-making, unresolved issues remain. These range from maritime boundary disputes to straight baselines to artificial islands to military activities in the exclusive economic zone to environmental issues. Four decades have altered the fundamental nature of the regime relating to the law of the sea and have created major implementational challenges. The oceans are becoming more crowded by competitive human activities and, as technology progresses and geopolitical shifts occur, it has become imperative that the unresolved issues be resolved. In so doing UNCLOS’s initial vision can be augmented. This article focuses on five of the more problematic unresolved issues.

The Timor Sea Conciliation under Article 298 and Annex V of UNCLOS: A Critique

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-325
Author(s):  
Xuexia Liao
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Boundary Disputes ◽  
Maritime Boundary ◽  
Timor Sea ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Comprehensive Manner ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Law

Abstract This paper studies the first compulsory conciliation proceeding under Article 298 and Annex V of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It assesses the competence and conciliation proceedings in a comprehensive manner, with a view to understanding how conciliation may contribute to settling maritime boundary disputes. This paper reviews the conciliation commission’s interpretation of Article 281, Article 298(1)(a)(i) and other relevant provisions of Annex V to UNCLOS, and discusses the question of whether a pre-existing treaty between the parties can preclude resort to compulsory conciliation under Article 298(1)(a)(i), a question largely left unanswered by the commission. Furthermore, this paper examines the conciliation proceedings and the outcomes in the light of the law of maritime delimitation.

Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean, Preliminary Objections (ITLOS)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-69
Author(s):  
Thomas Burri ◽  
Jamie Trinidad
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
International Tribunal ◽  
Maritime Boundary ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
The Law ◽  
Arbitral Proceedings ◽  
Chagos Archipelago

On January 28, 2021, a Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) delivered a judgment in which it rejected preliminary objections raised by the Maldives in arbitral proceedings instituted by Mauritius, concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary north of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

The Oxford Handbook of the Law of the Sea

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Vast Number ◽  
Maritime Boundary ◽  
Hugo Grotius ◽  
Gradual Development ◽  
The Law ◽  
John Selden ◽  
Operational Issues ◽  
Maritime Boundary Delimitation ◽  
Oceans Management

Human activities have taken place in the world's oceans and seas for most of human history. With such a vast number of ways in which the oceans can be used for trade, exploited for natural resources and fishing, as well as concerns over maritime security, the legal systems regulating the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans have long been a crucial part of international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea comprehensively defined the parameters of the law of the sea in 1982, and since the Convention was concluded it has seen considerable development. This book provides an analysis of its current debates and controversies, both theoretical and practical. It consists of forty chapters divided into six parts. First, it explains the origins and evolution of the law of the sea, with a particular focus upon the role of key publicists such as Hugo Grotius and John Selden, the gradual development of state practice, and the creation of the 1982 UN Convention. It then reviews the components which comprise the maritime domain, assessing their definition, assertion, and recognition. It also analyzes the ways in which coastal states or the international community can assert control over areas of the sea, and the management and regulation of each of the maritime zones. This includes investigating the development of the mechanisms for maritime boundary delimitation, and the decisions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The book also discusses the actors and intuitions that impact on the law of the sea, considering their particular rights and interests, in particular those of state actors and the principle law of the sea institutions. Then it focuses on operational issues, investigating longstanding matters of resource management and the integrated oceans framework. This includes a discussion and assessment of the broad and increasingly influential integrated oceans management governance framework that interacts with the traditional law of the sea. It considers six distinctive regions that have been pivotal to the development of the law of the sea, before finally providing a detailed analysis of the critical contemporary issues facing the law of the sea. These include threatened species, climate change, bioprospecting, and piracy.

scholarly journals The Timor Sea Conciliation: The Unique Mechanism of Dispute Settlement

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 321-344
Author(s):  
Dai Tamada
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Economic Factor ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Dispute Settlement Mechanism ◽  
International Court ◽  
Maritime Boundary ◽  
Timor Sea ◽  
The Law ◽  
Gas Fields ◽  
Unique Mechanism

Abstract The maritime boundary dispute between Timor-Leste and Australia was submitted to the compulsory conciliation procedure under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This is the first instance of conciliation, whether voluntary or compulsory, under UNCLOS. The Timor Sea conciliation led to the successful settlement of the long-standing deadlock between the parties that had hitherto not been settled by negotiation and had no possibility of being settled by litigation (within, for example, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea or International Court of Justice proceedings) or arbitration (within the context of an UNCLOS Annex VII tribunal). This article aims to elucidate the unique mechanism of conciliation and, to this end, analyses both the procedural particularities of conciliation under UNCLOS and the substantive considerations in conciliation proceedings. The author places emphasis, in particular, on the fundamental importance of the economic factor in the Timor Sea maritime delimitation – namely, the sharing ratio of the natural resources in the Greater Sunrise gas fields. Being a definitive factor for the success of this conciliation, it was the economics of this dispute that incentivized the parties to compromise and settle. Furthermore, given that conciliation is a most elucidating piece in the rather complicated puzzle that is the UNCLOS dispute settlement mechanism, the Timor Sea conciliation offers valuable insights into this mechanism.

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