Diplomacy and the challenges of resolving maritime boundary disputes in West Africa: Weighing the options in the case of Ghana and its immediate neighbours

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 773-790
Author(s):  
Frederick Boamah
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Peaceful Resolution ◽  
Boundary Disputes ◽  
Maritime Boundary ◽  
International Dispute ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Global Peace

Over the years, the international community has ensured the peaceful resolution of conflict among states. This is reflected in the Charter of the United Nations, where peaceful resolution of international disputes is promoted to ensure global peace and security. The use of diplomacy and pacific settlement of international dispute has been promoted among conflicting states due to its perceived inherent merits. This research explores the significance of diplomacy in resolving maritime boundary disputes in West Africa, placing emphasis on the disputes between Ghana and its neighbours. It does this by looking at secondary data, as well as the unpublished meeting minutes of the parties, to assess diplomacy and other pacific channels of conflict resolution as opposed to third-party dispute processes. The paper highlights diplomacy as the most appropriate means to resolve maritime boundary disputes in West Africa, particularly those confronting Ghana and its neighbours.

Maritime Boundary Disputes and Article 298 of UNCLOS

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Sim
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Safety Valve ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Arbitral Tribunal ◽  
Peaceful Resolution ◽  
Boundary Disputes ◽  
Maritime Boundary

Maritime boundary disputes pose the most dangerous potential for conflict between States. Article 298 of UNCLOS was designed as a safety valve to allow exclusion of sensitive disputes arising out of contested maritime boundaries—but also to provide a safety net for peaceful resolution of all UNCLOS disputes. This paper offers views on four questions which remain unresolved. First, may States exclude obligations of restraint and cooperation under Articles 74(3) and 83(3) of UNCLOS from compulsory dispute settlement by an Article 298 declaration? Second, for submission to compulsory conciliation, what criteria should be used to decide if the dispute arose subsequent to the entry into force of UNCLOS? Third, does a court, arbitral tribunal or conciliation commission have jurisdiction to consider ‘mixed disputes’ involving land sovereignty or other rights? Fourth, what is the meaning of “shall, by mutual consent”—when conciliation fails to reach an agreement, are the parties bound to refer their dispute back to compulsory third party dispute settlement under section 2 of Part XV of UNCLOS?

Part IV Activities of Organizations, Ch.9 Peace Operations

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayal Anjali ◽  
Howard Lise Morjé
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Conflict Management ◽  
International Conflict ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
The World ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Global Peace ◽  
World Organization

This chapter discusses the origins of peace operations; their evolution alongside the growing international conflict management structures of the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations; and their core functions, composition, and efficacy. Although peace operations have roots in earlier forms of military intervention, their emergence as a dominant tool for conflict management is a distinct innovation of the same internationalist project that forged the UN. Their evolution lays bare the fundamental tensions between state interests and the liberal internationalist project of a ‘world organization for the enforcement of peace’, and their execution has defined the way wars are fought today. The chapter focuses on UN peace operations throughout because they are the modal type of mission in the world. It also discusses the use of force within peace operations, an issue of growing importance that highlights fundamental tensions in the authorization and execution of internationally-led efforts to maintain global peace and security.

Progress in International Maritime Boundary Delimitation Law

1994 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan I. Charney
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Third Party ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Boundary Disputes ◽  
International Court ◽  
Maritime Boundary ◽  
Maritime Boundary Delimitation

Judgments of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and awards of ad hoc arbitration tribunals carry special weight in international maritime boundary law. On its face, the international maritime boundary law codified in the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea is indeterminate. For the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone, the legal obligation of coastal states is to delimit the boundary “by agreement on the basis of international law, as referred to in Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, in order to achieve an equitable solution.” The article on the delimitation of maritime boundaries in the territorial sea is no more determinative despite the fact that it makes direct references to the equidistant line, special circumstances and historic title. In spite of this indeterminacy, if not because of it, coastal states have found that third-party dispute settlement procedures can effectively resolve maritime boundary delimitation disputes. As a consequence, there are more judgments and awards on maritime boundary disputes than on any other subject of international law, and this trend is continuing.

12. International dispute settlement and the ICJ

2019 ◽  
pp. 299-322
Author(s):  
Gleider Hernández
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Third Party ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Principal Characteristics ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
Prior Consent ◽  
International Dispute ◽  
The Icj

This chapter examines the various political or diplomatic methods available for international dispute settlement. These methods include negotiation, mediation or ‘good offices’, inquiry, and conciliation. The array of diplomatic techniques available to parties to resolve a dispute is complemented by various means of settling disputes through the application of binding solutions based on the law. Two in particular, arbitration and adjudication, principally developed from earlier forms of non-binding settlement. Though these are different, they are linked by two principal characteristics. Foremost, they allow for a third party to issue a decision that is binding on the parties. Second, resorting to these methods requires the prior consent of the parties. The chapter then considers the International Court of Justice, the ‘principal judicial organ’ of the United Nations. The ICJ’s structure was frequently utilized as a model for later judicial institutions, making an enormous contribution to the development of international law.

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.

scholarly journals Case Study: The Myanmar and Bangladesh Maritime Boundary Dispute in the Bay of Bengal and Its Implications for South China Sea Claims

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 85-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravi A. Balaram
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
South China ◽  
Bay Of Bengal ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
China Sea ◽  
Boundary Disputes ◽  
Maritime Boundary

This paper seeks to review the pertinent Myanmar and Bangladesh history in overlapping maritime territorial claims leading up to the September 2011 International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) case: Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary Between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal. It will dissect the legal proceedings as primary source documents and apply the relevant judgement findings to analyse the implications for the respective countries and for South China Sea maritime boundary disputes. While the judgements of this case set certain legal precedents that may be more easily applied to bilateral disputes, the implications, nevertheless, impinge on multilateral claims as well. To the extent that the Bangladesh-Myanmar ITLOS judgement provides a pathway to third-party, independent, and peaceful resolution to the potentially explosive and escalating tensions in the South China Sea, this paper argues that findings are relevant, but limited.

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.

UN Peacekeeping during Health Crises: Covid-19 and Expansion of Mission Mandates

2021 ◽  
pp. 113-118
Author(s):  
Hajira Arif
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Global Peace ◽  
The Times ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
Hiv Aids

The United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions are increasingly deployed in highly complex environments, working towards realizing global peace and security. The missions face numerous challenges ranging from socio-economic dimensions to even political hurdles. Among these challenges, the role of peacekeepers during health crises calls for in-depth exploration. With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for contextualizing peacekeeping amid health crises is receiving utmost attention. This essay looks at this challenge, notably during the outbreaks of HIV/AIDS, Cholera, Ebola, and the ongoing pandemic (i.e., Covid-19). It briefly analyzes the impacts experienced and the role played by peacekeepers during the times of these outbreaks. The essay also explores the need for „transformation‟ of peacekeeping missions to counter the challenges posed by health crises. It highlights how globalization has caused the „globalized‟ nature of diseases, and therefore thereis an urgent need for exploration and adoption of policies concerning this issue. The essay also suggests some of these potential measures that may equip the peacekeeping missions to fulfil their mandated tasks effectively. It also points towards the gaps in the literature, whose exploration may contribute towards realizing health crises within the broader roles of the peacekeeping mandates.

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