Law Commons^™

Graduations Between Land And Sea: Recent Developments And Emerging Clarity?, Clive Schofield, Ian Townsend-Gault

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The Legal Regime of Land Features:

Longstanding legal dictum that 'the land dominates the sea'

Sovereignty over land territory therefore a vital prerequisite for advancing claims to maritime jurisdictionTwo seemingly straightforward questions:

* What is 'land'?

* Where does the land end and the sea begin?

One Step Forwards, Two Steps Back? Progress And Challenges In The Delimitation Of Maritime Boundaries Since The Drafting Of The United Nations Convention On The Law Of The Sea, Clive Schofield

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea dealing with the delimitation of maritime boundaries are limited and open to varied interpretation. Nevertheless, the advent of the Convention had a significant impact on ocean boundary making. Subsequent developments have also arguably led to a clearer approach to maritime boundary delimitation. These evolutions are traced and contemporary challenges highlighted

Explainer: The Law Of The Sea And Asylum Seekers, Sam Bateman

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

Prime minister Tony Abbott said on Monday he expects Jakarta to take responsibility for the asylum seekers that Australian authorities rescue in Indonesia’s search and rescue zone. He claims this is the international law of the sea – but this is only half right.

What the law of the sea actually says on this issue can be found in the 2006 amendments to the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, known as the SAR Convention. The amendment to Chapter Three of the convention says the country responsible for the region in which the search and rescue takes place shall …

Increasingly Contested Waters? Conflicting Maritime Claims In The South China Sea, Clive Schofield

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The South China Sea is host to a complex coastal geography, numerous sovereignty disputes over islands featuring multiple claimants, excessive and controversial claims to baselines, confl icting and overlapping claims to maritime jurisdiction and, most recently, contested submissions regarding extended continental shelf rights. The objective of this paper is to review and analyse these issues from spatial, legal and geopolitical perspectives. An overview and assessment of the geographical and geopolitical factors that inform and underlie the South China Sea disputes is offered prior to the claims of the littoral states to baselines and maritime zones being assessed. Maritime boundary agreements …

The Philippine Claim To Bajo De Masinloc In The Context Of The South China Sea Dispute, Lowell Bautista

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The Philippine claim to Bajo de Masinloc, otherwise referred to as Scarborough Shoal, finds solid basis in international law. The territorial claim of the Philippines over Bajo de Masinloc is strong relative to the claim of China as well as with respect to the principles on the acquisition of territory in international law, in particular, on the basis of effective occupation. The sovereign rights and jurisdiction asserted by the Philippines over the maritime entitlements of the features in Bajo de Masinloc are founded on principles of international law and consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the …

Options To Protect Coastlines And Secure Maritime Jurisdictional Claims In The Face Of Global Sea Level Rise, Clive Schofield, David Freestone

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

It is now widely accepted that significant sea level rise is taking place and that this phenomenon is likely to accelerate in the future. This poses potentially disastrous implications for many coastal States, especially those with large and heavily populated low-lying coastal areas, as well as small low-lying island States. In addition to the essentially terrestrial, inward-looking threat posed to low-lying coastal areas and their associated populations from inundation by rising seas, threats also exist looking outward from the land to the ocean spaces adjacent to such threatened territories. In particular, sea level rise has the potential to significantly affect …

Factors Conducive To Joint Development In Asia -Lessons Learned For The South China Sea, Robert Beckman, Clive Schofield, Ian Townsend-Gault, Tara Davenport, Leonardo Bernard

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

Joint development in the South China Sea has been suggested as a solution to the Spratly Islands disputes since the 1980s. China was one of the earliest proponents of ‘setting aside the dispute and pursuing joint development’. The South China Sea Workshops on Managing Potential Conflicts in the South China Sea discussed joint development but ran into a number of obstacles, notably because of longstanding sensitivities over sovereignty issues and conflicting maritime claims. Consequently, the Workshops sought to focus on less contentious issues such as cooperation on marine biodiversity and the safety of navigation. Through this non- confrontational, non-binding and …

Legislative Implementation Of The Law Of The Sea Convention In Australia, Warwick Gullett

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

All States with marine and maritime interests need to ensure that their domestic laws enable them to meet their obligations, and to take advantage of the rights afforded to them, under the international law of the sea. This body of international law is structured around one of the most extensive and widely ratified international treaties: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ('LOSC').1 This paper reviews the general process by which obligations and rights in international treaties become part of domestic law and then examines Australia's experience in incorporating into its domestic law three broad areas of …

What's At Stake In The South China Sea? Geographical And Geopolitical Considerations, Clive Schofield

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The South China Sea ranks among the most geographically and geopolitically complex ocean spaces in the world. It certainly appears to have been one of its most vigorously contested, featuring multiple, longstanding and competing territorial and maritime jurisdictional claims. The objective of this chapter is to provide the geographical and geopolitical background to the frequently conflicting national maritime claims made by the South China Sea littoral States. This exercise is designed to provide the necessary contextual backdrop to considerations of the application of maritime joint development mechanisms and/or other provisional arrangements of a practical nature in the South China Sea. …

Moving Forward On Joint Development In The South China Sea, Robert Beckman, Clive Schofield, Ian Townsend-Gault, Tara Davenport, Leonardo Bernard

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The examination of the factors that facilitated the conclusion of joint development arrangements in Asia in Chapter 11 has demonstrated that there remain considerable obstacles before joint development in the South China Sea can be discussed in a serious and meaningful manner. The following recommendations set out steps which the claimants and, in certain circumstances, other relevant stakeholders, can take to move towards a situation where joint development is a feasible dispute settlement option.

Holding Back The Waves? Sea Level Rise And Maritime Claims, Clive Schofield

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

Sea level rise has the potential to influence the location of baselines along the coast from which claims to maritime jurisdiction are made. Accordingly, sea level rise may have adverse impacts on the extent of national maritime claims. This article provides a brief discussion of sea level rise before exploring the link between potentially variable baselines and the outer limits to maritime claims. Options to address these challenges are then discussed.