Public Law Studies Quarterly

The Use of Straight Baselines in Maritime Delimitation; with Special Reference to Maritime Delimitation between Iran and Kuwait

Author

Sassan Seyrafi

Assistant Prof., Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2018.255668.1714
Abstract
The equidistance method has an essential place in the current law of maritime delimitation. According to the Law of the Sea Convention, the equidistant line must be drawn and calculated from the territorial sea baselines of the opposite and adjacent States. What is unclear is whether the equidistant line can be drawn and calculated from straight baseline. This question was one of the issues that have been raised in negotiations on maritime delimitation between Iran and Kuwait. Iran believed that its system of straight baselines must be taken into account in the determination of the maritime boundary between exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the two States. The findings of this article suggest that international judicial and arbitral bodies have always refused to give effect to straight baselines when it comes to maritime delimitation. This approach is generally confirmed by the treaty practice of coastal States. Therefore, the usefulness of Iran’s position with regard to this subject, whether in future negotiations or in case of submission of the matter to third-party settlement is doubtful.

Keywords

Maritime Boundary
Three Stage Delimitation
Straight Baselines
Equidistance Method
Treaty Practice of Coastal States

  1. . فارسی

    الف) کتاب‌ها

    1. نامی، محمدحسن (1386). مسائل مرز دریایی ایران و کویت، تهران: انتشارات سازمان جغرافیایی نیروهای مسلح.

    ب) مقالات

    1. 1.رنجبریان، امیرحسین؛ صیرفی، ساسان (1392). «خط مبدأ ایران در خلیج فارس و دریای عمان و اعترض کشورهای دیگر به آن»، مجلۀ حقوقی بین­المللی، سال سی­ام، شمارۀ 48.
    2. عسگری، سهراب (1389). «نگاهی به داستان ناتمام تحدید مرزهای دریایی ایران و کویت» در پیروز مجتهدزاده، سیاست­های مرزی و مرزهای بین­المللی ایران، ترجمۀ حمیدرضا ملک محمدی، تهران: سمت.

    ج) اسناد

    1. تصویب­نامۀ شمارۀ 67-250/2 مورخ 31 تیرماه 1352هیأت وزیران، مجموعه قوانین روزنامۀ رسمی کشور، سال 1355.
    2. قانون موافقت‌نامۀ تحدید حدود مرز دریایی در دریای عمان بین دولت جمهوری اسلامی ایران و دولت سلطنت عمان، مجموعه قوانین روزنامۀ رسمی کشور، ج 2، سال 1395.

    د) ارتباط شخصی

    1. فکری، عبدالمجید (1395). مصاحبۀ نگارنده با عضو هیأت نمایندگی ایران در مذاکرات تحدید حدود ایران و کویت، تهران، 5 آذر 1395.

    2. انگلیسی

    A) Books

    1. Ashley Roach, J. & Robert W. Smith (2012). Excessive Maritime Claims, Leiden, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
    2. Charny, Jonathan I. & Lewis M. Alexander (1993). International Maritime Boundaries, Dordrecht, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
    3. 3-Cottier, Thomas (2015). Equitable Principles Of Maritime Boundary Delimitation, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
    4. 4-Fietta, Stephen & Robin Cleverly (2016). A Practitioner’s Guide to Maritime Boundary Delimitation, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
    5. 5-Michael Reisman, W & Gayl S. Westerman (1992). Straight Baselines in International Maritime Boundary Delimitation, London, Macmillan Press LTD.
    6. 6-Prescott, Victor & Clive Schofield (2005). 2nd ed.,The Maritime Political Boundaries of the World, Leiden, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
    7. 7- Tanaka, Yoshifumi (2006). Predictability and Flexibility in the Law of Maritime Delimitation, Portland, Hart Publishing.
    8. 8-United Nations Office for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (1989 a). Baselines: An Examination of the Relevant Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, New York, United Nations.
    9. 9-United Nations Office for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (1989 b). Baselines: National Legislation With Illustrative Maps, New York, United Nations.

    B) Articles

    1. Anderson, David H. (2009). “Maritime Delimitation in the Black Sea Case”The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals, Vol.8.
    2. 2-Boggs, Whittemore (1951).“Delimitation of Seaward Areas Under National Jurisdiction” American Journal of International law, Vol. 45.
    3. Charney, Jonathan I. (1994). “Progress inInternational Maritime Boundary Delimitation Law” American Journal of International law, Vol. 88.
    4. Evans, Malcolm (2015). “Maritime Boundary Delimitation” in Rothwell, Donald R. et al. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of the Law of the Sea, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
    5. Hodgson, Robert D. & E. John Cooper (1976). “The Technical Delimitation of a Modern Equidistant Boundary” Ocean Development and International Law Journal, Vol. 3, No. 4.
    6. Momtaz, Djamshid (2015). “La délimitation du plateau continental du Golfe Persique : une entreprise inachevée’’ in Del Castillo, Lilian et al. (eds.) Law of the Sea, From Grotius to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Leiden, Brill Nijhoff.
    7. Olorundami, Fayokemi (2017). “Objectivity versus Subjectivity in the Context of the ICJ’s Three-stage Methodology of Maritime Boundary Delimitation” The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, Vol. 32.
    8. 8-Pellet, Alain (2017). “La délimitation des éspaces marin” in Forteau, Mathias & Thouvenin, Jean-Marc (eds.) Traité de droit international de la mer, Paris, Edition Pédone.
    9. 9-Sohn, Louis B. (1993). ‘Baseline Considerations’ in Charny, Jonathan I. & Lewis M. Alexander International Maritime Boundaries, Vol.1, Dordrecht, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
    10. 10- Treves, Tullio (2015). “International Courts and Tribunals and the Development of the Law of the Sea in the Age of Codification” in Del Castillo, Lilian et al. (eds.) Law of the Sea, From Grotius to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Leiden, Brill Nijhoff.
    11. 11-Uykur, Teoman (2014).“Settlement Of Maritime Delimitation Disputes Within Complex Geographical Settings” ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law, Vol.20, No.2.
    12. 12-Weil, Prosper (1993). “Geographic Considerations in Maritime Delimitation” in Charny, Jonathan I. & Lewis M. Alexander International Maritime Boundaries, Vol.1 Dordrecht, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

    C) Cases

    1. Bangladesh/Myanmar, International Legal Materials, Vol.51, 2012, 843-914.
    2. The Black Sea Case, ICJ Reports 2008, 61-134.
    3. Cameroon v. Nigeria, ICJ Reports 2002, 303-458.
    4. Costa Rica v. Nicaragua, ICJ Reports 2018, 2-95.
    5. The Fisheries Case, ICJ Reports1951, 116-144
    6. The Greenland -Yan Mayen Case, ICJ Reports 1993, 38–82.
    7. The Gulf of Main Case, ICJ Reports 1984, 246–352.
    8. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya/Malta, ICJ Reports 1985, 13-58.
    9. The North Sea Continental Shelf Cases, ICJ Reports 1969, 3–57.
    10. Qatar v. Bahrain, ICJ Reports 2001, 40-118.

    D) Documents

    1. Notification of the Ministry of External Affairs of 11 May 2009 Concerning the Baseline System, Law of the Sea Bulletin No. 71 (2010), 26-31.
    2. 2-Decree No. 317 Concerning the Delimitation of the Marine Areas Pertaining to the State of Kuwait, 29 October 2014, Law of the Sea Bulletin No. 89 (2017), 20-22
Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 48, Issue 3
Autumn 2018
Pages 483-505

  • Receive Date 11 April 2018
  • Revise Date 10 April 2018
  • Accept Date 03 July 2018

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