Youri van Logchem, The Rights and Obligations of States in Disputed Maritime Areas

Abstract

"1 Introduction The second half of the 20th century witnessed a significant rise in disputed maritime areas, because of the expansion of the limits of maritime jurisdiction. As a result, conflicts inevitably emerged between coastal States that are in close geographical proximity to each other. To first sketch some background to disputed maritime areas, how they arise and need to be understood. Most coastal states will make claims that are based on full entitlements to maritime zones, encompassing, for instance, the whole 200 nautical mile (nm) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or continental shelf and a 12 nm territorial sea subject to delimitation, in case of an overlap. Entitlements to maritime zones derive from land territory, and, in turn, the maritime zones to which a territory is entitled follow from having title over that particular piece of territory, be it mainland or a high-tide feature. Geographers have calculated that because of this tremendous expansion of coastal State authority in the last 50-60 years, about 400 'maritime areas of overlapping entitlements' arose. A 'maritime area of overlapping entitlements' exists when a maritime area has not been delimited, but where potentially a maritime boundary can be determined, due to States having entitlements to maritime zones that overlap in the same area. Often there are two States having overlapping entitlements, but for instance in semi-enclosed seas, characteristic of which is their geographical congestion, there may be more States involved"-- Disputed maritime areas : setting the scene -- Disputed maritime areas : general rules of international law -- Disputed territorial sea and contiguous zone areas : applicable conventional rules -- Disputed EEZ and continental shelf areas : applicable conventional rules -- Case law involving the rights and obligations of states in disputed maritime areas -- Disputed maritime areas generated by claims made from disputed land territory : what are the rights and obligations of states? -- Acts of unilateralism in disputed maritime areas : a survey of state practice -- Are the rights and obligations of states in disputed maritime areas sufficiently defined in international law?