A surprising number of maritime boundaries remain unresolved, and a range of reasons can be cited to explain why the process of delimiting these boundaries has been so slow. This volume addresses and analyzes some of these reasons, focusing on some of the volatile disputes in Northeast Asia and in North America. Scholars from Asia, the United States, and Europe grapple with festering controversies and apply insights gained from resolved disputes to those that remain unresolved. Islands continue to haunt this process, and the way in which they should affect maritime boundaries remains in dispute. The United States has a number of disputed boundaries with its neighbors to the north and south, and these are examined. Antarctica is a concern of all nations, and the regimes governing the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica are analyzed. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea was created to allow countries to resolve their disputes peacefully, and two chapters look at how this new court is operating. The impact of sea-level rise on maritime boundaries is given special attention in the opening chapter. This volume presents a wonderful collection of provocative chapters written by the top scholars in the field of International Ocean Law. It should help scholars, students, and decision makers to understand the current state of this field and to move some of the difficult disputes toward resolution.

Territorial disputes remain a significant source of tension in international relations, representing an important share of interstate cases brought before international tribunals and courts. Analysing the international law applicable to the assessment of territorial claims and the settlement of related disputes, this Research Handbook provides a systematic exposition and in-depth discussions of the relevant key concepts, principles, rules, and techniques. Combining extensive knowledge from across international law, Marcelo Kohen and Mamadou Hébié expertly unite a multinational group of contributors to provide a go-to resource for the settlement of territorial disputes. The different chapters discuss the process through which states establish sovereignty over a territory, and review the different titles of territorial sovereignty, the relation between titles and effectivités, as well as the relevance of state conduct. Select chapters focus on the impact of foundational principles of international law such as the principle of territorial integrity, the right of self-determination and the prohibition of the threat or use of force, on territorial disputes. Finally, technical rules that are crucial for the assessment of territorial claims, especially the techniques of intertemporal law and critical date, as well as evidentiary rules, are presented. An essential resource for practitioners, international law academics and public officials including judges and arbitrators, this Research Handbook is a highly original collection of scholarship and research on territorial disputes and their settlement. Contributors include: M.J. Aznar, T. Christakis, A. Constantinides, K. Del Mar, G. Distefano, M. Hébié, P. Klein, M. Kohen, V. Koutroulis, S. Lee, G. Nesi, K. Parlett

This book brings a new perspective to the subject of international investment law, by tracing the origins of foreign investor rights. It shows how a group of business leaders, bankers, and lawyers in the mid-twentieth century paved the way for our current system of foreign investment relations, and the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism.

International frontiers and boundaries separate land, rivers and lakes subject to different sovereignties. Frontiers are "zones" of varying widths and they were common many centuries ago. By 1900 frontiers had almost disappeared and had been replaced by boundaries that are lines. The divisive nature of frontiers and boundaries has formed the focus of inter-disciplinary studies by economists, geographers, historians, lawyers and political scientists. Scholars from these disciplines have produced a rich literature dealing with frontiers and boundaries. The authors surveyed this extensive literature and the introduction reveals the themes which have attracted most attention. Following the introduction the book falls into three sections. The first section deals systematically with frontiers, boundary evolution and boundary disputes. The second section considers aspects of international law related to boundaries. It includes chapters dealing with international law and territorial boundaries, maps as evidence of international boundaries and river boundaries and international law. The third section consists of seven regional chapters that examine the evolution of boundaries in the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, islands off Southeast Asia and Antarctica.

Sets out the international law relevant to the Arctic, from indigenous peoples to environmental protection to oil and gas exploration.

On 11 April 2016, Timor-Leste initiated a compulsory non-binding conciliation proceeding against Australia under Annex V of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on its maritime boundary dispute with Australia in the Timor Sea. On 6 March 2018, the parties signed a settlement treaty on the basis of the proposal of the Conciliation Commission. Two months later, the Conciliation Commission issued its report, marking the conclusion of the first ever conciliation proceeding under Annex V of UNCLOS.This book provides detailed analyses of the proceedings and a step-by-step account of the conciliation process, as well as its wider implications for dispute settlement under UNCLOS and beyond. The various chapters explore a wide range of issues, including an overview of conciliation as a means of dispute settlement and the conciliation procedure in UNCLOS, as well as the origins and historical background of the maritime boundary dispute between Timor-Leste and Australia. The book also provides a comprehensive examination of each step of the conciliation proceedings, including the role of the Conciliation Commission, the Conciliation Commission's Decision on Competence, the issue of joint development, and the Maritime Boundaries Treaty, which Timor-Leste and Australia concluded as the legal outcome of the conciliation proceedings. Critically, the book offers insightful perspectives from Australia and Timor-Leste on the conciliation process. The book is an important contribution to the research and analysis of the Timor Sea conciliation. As one of the first books on the case, it will raise awareness and bring more familiarity with conciliation as a viable and effective dispute settlement process, thereby encouraging states to consider conciliation as a means to settle their disputes.

Africa has experienced a number of territorial disputes over land and maritime boundaries, due in part to its colonial and post-colonial history. This book explores the legal, political, and historical nature of disputes over territory in the African continent, and critiques the content and application of contemporary International law to the resolution of African territorial and border disputes. Drawing on central concepts of public international law such as sovereignty and jurisdiction, and socio-political concepts such as colonialism, ethnicity, nationality and self-determination, this book interrogates the intimate connection that peoples and nations have to territory and the severe disputes these may lead to. Gbenga Oduntan identifies the major principles of law at play in relation to territorial, and boundary disputes, and argues that the predominant use of foreign based adjudicatory mechanisms in attempting to deal with African boundary disputes alienates those institutions and mechanisms from African people and can contribute to the recurrence of conflicts and disputes in and among African territories. He suggests that the understanding and application of multidisciplinary dispute resolution mechanisms and strategies can allow for a more holistic and effective treatment of boundary disputes. As an in depth study into the legal, socio-political and anthropological mechanisms involved in the understanding of territorial boundaries, and a unique synthesis of an African jurisprudence of international boundaries law, this book will be of great use and interest to students, researchers, and practitioners in African and Public International Law, International Relations, and decision-makers in need of better understanding the settlement of disputes over territorial boundaries in both Africa and the wider world.

This book provides a user-friendly and practical guide to the modern law of maritime boundary delimitation. The law of maritime boundaries has seen substantial evolution in recent decades. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the law in this field, and its development through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which set out the framework of the modern law in 1982. The Convention itself has since been substantially built upon and clarified by a series of judicial and arbitral decisions in boundary disputes between sovereign states, which themselves also built upon earlier case law. The book dissects each of the leading international judgments and awards since the North Sea Continental Shelf Cases in 1969, providing a full analysis of the issues and context in each case, explaining their fundamental importance to shaping the law. The book provides forty clear technical illustrations to carefully demonstrate the key issues at stake in this complex area of law. Technological developments in the exploitation of maritime natural resources (including oil and gas) have provided a significant impetus for recent boundary disputes, as they have made the resources found in remote areas of the ocean and seabed more accessible. However, these resources cannot effectively be exploited at the moment, as hundreds of maritime boundaries worldwide remain undelimited. The book therefore complements the legal considerations raised with substantial technical input. It also identifies key issues in maritime delimitation which have yet to be resolved, and sets out the possible future direction the law may take in resolving them. It will be an unique and valuable resource for lawyers involved in cases involving maritime delimitation, and scholars and students of the law of the sea.