methodsof resolving maritime boundary disputes（methodsof解决海上边界纠纷）.docVIP

Methods of resolving maritime boundary disputes A summary of a meeting of the International Law Discussion Group at Chatham House on 14th February, 2006; participants included representatives from Embassies, Government departments, companies and universities. This summary is issued on the understanding that if any extract is used, Chatham House should be credited, preferably with the date of the meeting. David Anderson CMG, former judge of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), introduced the discussion. Introduction The significance of maritime boundaries in current international relations has grown with the expansion of national limits of maritime jurisdiction in the last 50 or 60 years. An acre of sea may be worth more than an acre of barren land, especially if there is oil or gas on the subsoil or on the seabed. Therefore boundary-making is now a major task for coastal States and relatively few of them have a full set of maritime boundaries. Currently 180 boundaries have been agreed upon, which is far less than the 400 boundaries that potentially exist, according to geographers. (A map of the South-West Pacific was shown) The reasons are that countries tend not to see boundary-making as a priority, in the absence of any incidents or natural resources. Furthermore, developing countries often do not have ready access to the required technical advice from hydrographers. Some of them have nevertheless negotiated boundaries e.g. because of encouragement by the oil industry. Causes of maritime boundary disputes or differences There are two possible causes for maritime boundary disputes or differences: 1. Disputed sovereignty over land Two countries can claim the same island (eg: arbitration case Eritrea v. Yemen) or the same area of mainland (eg: Bakassi peninsula in ICJ Cameroon v. Nigeria). To resolve this issue, the relevant rules of international law include those on the acquisition of sovereignty; they look to human