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.

The delimitation of maritime zones is an important requirement for peaceful relations between neighbouring States. There are numerous examples of areas between States with opposite or adjacent coasts where sovereignty over an island or territory may not be contested but the delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone is still pending. Under the Law of the Sea Convention, the delimitation of these zones shall be effected by agreement on the basis of international law. However, the Convention does not offer a definitive answer as to the methods that should be applied. This publication includes contributions by Judges of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, eminent scholars and experienced practitioners. The papers deal with various aspects of maritime delimitation: the jurisprudence of international courts and tribunals and their relevance for delimitation, the impact of the Law of the Sea Convention, the role of legal practitioners and diplomatic negotiators, and delimitation under particular geological circumstances and in geographically complex regional situations. It is designed to provide insight and guidance to the complicated process of maritime delimitation.

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.

The first study of the three-stage approach to maritime delimitation, collating methods from judicial decisions, treaties and scholarship.

The law of maritime delimitation has been mostly developed through the case law of the International Court of Justice and other tribunals. In the past decade there have been a number of cases that raise questions about the consistency and predictability of the jurisprudence concerning this sub-field of international law. This book investigates these questions through a systematical review of the case law on the delimitation of the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone. Comprehensive coverage allows for conclusions to be drawn about the case law's approach to the applicable law and its application to the individual case. Maritime Boundary Delimitation: The Case Law will appeal to scholars of international dispute settlement as well as practitioners and academics interested in the law concerning the delimitation of maritime boundaries.

Unresolved Border, Land and Maritime Disputes in Southeast Asia, edited by Alfred Gerstl and Mária Strašáková, sheds light on various unresolved and lingering territorial disputes in Southeast Asia and their reflection in current inter-state relations in the region. The authors, academics from Europe and East Asia, particularly address the territorial disputes in the South China Sea and those between Vietnam and Cambodia and Thailand and Cambodia. They apply International Relations theories in a wider regional and comparative perspective. The empirical analyses are embedded in a concise theoretical discussion of the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and borders. Furthermore, the book discusses the role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other multi-track mechanisms in border conflict mediation. Contributors are: Petra Andělová, Alica Kizeková, Filip Kraus, Josef Falko Loher, Padraig Lysaght, Jörg Thiele, Richard Turcsányi, Truong-Minh Vu and Zdeněk Kříž.

The Handbook covers legal, technical and practical information deemed essential in negotiating maritime boundary delimitation between coastal states.It also contains information about the peaceful settlement of disputes where negotiations are unsuccessful and the states wish to avail themselves of the dispute settlement mechanism set out in the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea

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.

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), signed in 1982 and going into force in 1994, was the product of intensive international debates from the 1950s onward. UNCLOS continues to be the subject of vital debates on new initiatives that seek to clarify or expand the scope of the ocean regime. In Ocean Law Debates: The 50-Year Legacy and Emerging Issues for the Years Ahead, distinguished authors analyze the content of these debates, providing both historical perspectives and keen analyses of present-day issues. Several chapters focus on the contributions to debates over half a century’s time by the Law of the Sea Institute, including the controversies involving maritime delimitation issues, creation of marine fisheries law, and responses to the manifold challenges posed by dramatic advances in science and technology. Complementing these historical perspectives, a section of five chapters offers critical discussion of today’s movement to create a regime to sustain biodiversity in the Area Beyond National Jurisdiction. Finally, the volume offers diverse perspectives on the implementation and judicial interpretation of UNCLOS, international whaling regulation, Arctic regional issues, seabed mining problems, the geopolitics of Marine Protected Area declarations, and the role of the IMO in responding to climate change.

New Knowledge and Changing Circumstances in the Law of the Sea focuses on the challenges posed to the existing legal framework, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the various ways in which States are addressing these challenges.