The International Court of Justice and the Law of the Sea Dispute Settlement System
Achilles Skordas and Lisa Mardikian (eds), Research Handbook on the International Court of Justice (Edward Elgar, Forthcoming)
44 Pages Posted: 25 Jul 2023
Date Written: July 19, 2023
Abstract
This chapter explores aspects of the contribution of the ICJ to the law of the sea dispute settlement system. It is not possible to do so without setting out, albeit briefly, the nature of the contribution which the ICJ has made to the substantive development of the law of the sea more generally since this, it is suggested, still colours its somewhat proprietorial approach towards it. The bulk of the chapter is, however, devoted to considering the interaction between the ICJ, ITLOS and arbitration through a variety of lenses, both procedural and substantive. There are many other points of intersection between the ITLOS and the ICJ in addition to the substantive provisions of the LOSC, and the ITLOS has relied on the ICJ’s jurisprudence with respect to a broad variety of questions, including the definition of a dispute, exhaustion of local remedies, reparation, use of force, the relation between domestic and international law and much else besides. There will, therefore, be many borrowings and potential tensions. However, there is a need for a subject focus, and that chosen is contemporary challenges posed by the increased interest in delimitation beyond 200 nm and unilateral activities in undelimited maritime areas which have in recent times been considered by the ICJ, by ITLOS and by Arbitral Tribunals, the overall focus being on the role, function and contribution of the ICJ to the overall efficacy of dispute settlement within the law of the sea.
Keywords: maritime delimitation, ICJ, ITLOS, arbitral tribunals, law of the sea, UNCLOS, international law
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