This chapter assesses the future of the law of the sea in light of the analysis of the past and present development of the law of the sea provided in the preceding chapters. It looks at key themes emerging from this Handbook, with particular attention to the future of maritime limits and zones, law of the sea actors and institutions, substantive regimes under the law of the sea, and regional seas. It considers the future for the UN Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC), the ‘Constitution of the Oceans’.
Sovereignty was and still remains one of the principal reasons for human endeavour in Antarctica. The ‘Heroic Era’ of Antarctic exploration was designed principally to seek out not only new lands including the South Pole, but also to assert territorial claims on behalf of the sovereign who sponsored these expeditions. The ‘planting of the flag’ was therefore just as much a crucial component of Antarctic discovery, as also was the conduct of science. Sovereignty and science remained twin pillars of Antarctic endeavour throughout the early part of the twentieth century, and whilst the region escaped the horrors of World War II, it did not take long after the war for Antarctic endeavours to resume on both fronts. In a decade of frantic diplomatic activity during the 1950s, which was highlighted by the 1957–1958 International Geophysical Year and the 1959 Washington Conference, there was also the prospect in 1956 of a case before the International Court of Justice between Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom over the contested status of territorial claims on the Antarctic Peninsula. Notwithstanding that by this time all of the current claims to the continent had by then been asserted, there had also been moves made by India in 1956 and then again in 1958 to reconsider the management of the continent with a view to its internationalisation under a framework created by the United Nations General Assembly.
Between 2008–2018 the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Baselines under the International Law of the Sea produced two reports on the normal baseline (2012) and straight and archipelagic baselines (2018). The Sofia Report (2012) is organised around the interpretation of Article 5 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) concerning the normal baseline. Under the leadership of Committee Chair Judge Dolliver Nelson, the Committee was asked to identify the existing law on the normal baseline and to assess the need for further clarification or development of that law in light of substantial coastal change. The Report applies the rules of treaty interpretation, including an assessment of the ordinary meaning of the terms of the treaty and, because those leave the meaning ambiguous, the preparatory works of the normal baseline provision. The Report then turns to address the application of the existing law to changing coasts and concludes that the law on the normal baseline is inadequate to address problems of substantial territorial loss. The Sydney Report (2018) is organised around a common methodology in assessing Articles 7, 8, 10, 13, 14 and 47 of the LOSC concerning straight baselines, closing lines, and straight archipelagic baselines. Each analysis seeks to provide some background to the drafting of the Article, analysis of the text, assessment of state practice, relevant case law, and a summary of the commentary by publicists. The Report then moves to address certain cross-cutting or global issues that are relevant to a contemporary analysis of straight and archipelagic baselines, before reaching conclusions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.