The judge, maritime delimitation and the grey areas

Abstract

The delimitation of maritime areas between neighbours is of vital importance in that it provides for stable and long-lasting relations. With the maritime boundary delimitation, international law has been enriched with a new chapter that has developed steadily in proportion with the related challenges and expectations. After nearly a century of practice, international courts and tribunals achieve a very useful result in boundary delimitation: a single maritime boundary employing the now well-established three-stage equidistance-relevant-circumstances method. The paper examines the Wade-mecuum of the move and the emergence of jurisprudence addressing delimitation of a State's maritime entitlements located beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines, i.e., the so-called Outer Continental Shelf and the legal regime thereof.

The historic verdict of ITLOS on maritime border delimitation in the region of the Bay of Bengal: A historical analysis

“…"At the third and final stage, the ITLOS considered that there should be no significant disproportion between the ratio of the respective coastal lengths and the ratio of the respective maritime areas allocated to each Party to the adjusted line." (Ndiaye, 2015) In the case of adjustment to the temporary line, the ITLOS measured the relevant circumstances intending to reach an equitable outcome. In this connection, Bangladesh emphasized three key geographical features as important circumstances such as that of the "concave shape of the coastline of Bangladesh," the site of St. Martin's Island, and the Bengal depositional scheme as evidence of Bangladesh's natural extension.…”