Parting the Waves: Claims to Maritime Jurisdiction and the Division of Ocean Space
This article casts aside traditional obsessions and examines the development and present state of coastal State claims to maritime jurisdiction, the overlapping claims to maritime space that have inevitably resulted from the significant extension of maritime claims in recent decades, and thus the delimitation of maritime boundaries.
The Continental Shelf Beyond 200 nm: Innovations in Art. 76 UNCLOS
Prior to the adoption of UNCLOS, several circumstances leveled the ground for the emergence of the continental shelf beyond 200 nm and the adoption of scientific formulae disciplining the exact extension of the outer continental shelf. The goal formally announced by the international community was to limit the expansion of coastal state jurisdiction seawards.
The Maritime Delimitation Between Eritrea and Yemen
The Award of the Arbitral Tribunal in the Second Phase (Maritime Delimitation) of the Eritrea-Yemen Arbitration follows the trend towards producing a single all-purpose delimitation line constructed on the basis of equidistance, the course of which is chiefly dictated by mainland coastal geography. Islands are accorded little impact upon the course of the final line, save to the extent necessary to permit them a full territorial sea. The potential relevance of other factors, including fishing and navigational interests is acknowledged but, given the methodology adopted, they did not influence the construction of the line. As in other cases, proportionality is demonstrated by comparison of areas with the relevant coastal lengths, although the usefulness of this is dubious. Although entirely separate exercises, it may be that the methodology pursued owes something to the outcomes of the first phase of the Arbitration, concerning sovereignty over the islands, and this may have a bearing upon the impact of the Award for maritime boundary delimitation more generally.