Research

May 2017

Due to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Africa internationally recognised borders are becoming increasingly difficult to define. Examining the displacement of refugees, as well as the difficulty asserting the State’s territory due to NSAGs’ control over the areas, legal disputes are bound to arise. This research is dedicated to analysing the territorial losses and gains sustained by NSAGs in light of international legal standards. The project’s main ambition is to utilise the information gained through the research to provide a legal framework to effectively remedy the effects following the territorial gains and losses of NSAG’s.

March 2017

The Caribbean has a massive energy potential, which is unfortunately obstructed by the fact that some maritime boundaries in the region have not been explicitly demarcated. This creates a difficulty in exploiting the available natural resources, as figures show that there is a wealth of oil and natural gas under the seabed. To exploit these natural resources, neighbouring states must reach mutual agreements, which some States find a difficulty pursuing as it involves a series of complicated procedures.

Where States have not reached agreements, conflicts are likely to arise, and have arisen in the past. There is a tendency for States to grant exploration/exploitation licenses without consulting with the neighbouring State(s), and precedents show that some states resort to violence, in violation of UNCLOS, to resolve these disputes. The ICJ strongly relies on equitable principles when resolving disputes between states regarding maritime boundaries. There is a tendency to use proportionality to achieve this.

The economic benefits of resource exploitation in the region would be enormous, particularly as this would decrease the reliance on energy imports from neighbouring states in the Americas.

February 2017

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is established under UNCLOS, its main function is to regulate deep seabed mining in order to protect the marine environment. The ISA also conducts research on resources available in relevant areas and processes the information. The ISA has signed contracts for the exploration of three specific types of deep sea minerals: polymetallic nodules, polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts. These contracts allow for the exploration of deep oceans beyond national jurisdictions.

Landlocked and geographically disadvantaged countries are given preferential treatment by the ISA, particularly as they are in remote areas, and tend to be surrounded by poorer countries. They often suffer from high trade costs as a result, and so various of organisations have called for the construction of better transit systems to remedy this. Uganda has appealed authorities in Jamaica to increase awareness around deep seabed activities, as landlocked countries are at a clear disadvantage. UNCLOS addresses the need for special consideration in such circumstances and so the authority was urged to consider the request.

There are a multitude of opportunities at ISA which exist to relieve some of the geographical disadvantages suffered by landlocked countries. They include training and creating awareness, ability to claim benefits from mining in reserved areas, and submitting applications for exploration within the deep sea.

September 2016

A wealth of hydrocarbon deposits has been discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean. Resources including natural gas and oil can only be exploited where maritime boundaries are demarcated through international legal mechanisms. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the main legislation governing these boundaries. Issues begin to arise as some States are not party to this treaty, so neighbouring States continue to find difficulties reaching an agreement. Despite this, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has treated certain aspects of UNCLOS and the 1958 Convention as binding law on all States.

Typically, the ICJ’s approach to resolving disputes between neighbouring States is heavily reliant on the principle of equity. Whilst they do make their decisions in line with legislation such as UNCLOS, they appear to utilise the law in order to achieve an equitable solution. This pattern appears repeatedly in cases such as Tunisia v Libya and Malta v Libya regarding the equidistance method.

Difficulties remain where decisions are made unilaterally, particularly where political strains between neighbouring States exist, as reaching a decision usually depends on their existing relationship. This is evident with neighbouring States such as Turkey, Greece and Cyprus, and Israel and Lebanon. However, in accordance with UNCLOS, appropriate legal instruments are available for States to reach mutual agreements, in order to settle unresolved maritime delimitation issues. The economic benefits are likely to encourage peaceful cooperation between former rival States. Nevertheless, the prospect of these conflicts to escalate and wage yet another war in the region remains.

April 2016

Egypt has recently granted Saudi Arabia sovereignty over two islands Tiran and Sanafir, located at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba. This has been a subject of controversy for many years, as Egypt had asserted that the islands were under its sovereignty in the past, yet the two countries never reached a clear agreement.

Egypt has asserted, following a sequence of occurrences in the past, that Saudi has sovereignty over the islands, referring to evidence of documents exchanged between the country officials. However, these documents have not been made public, so there is difficulty assessing Egypt’s legal position.

There are concerns for Israel, as the islands were previously closed to Israeli shipping during Arab-Israeli wars. Agreements between neighbouring countries have recognised the islands as subject to freedom of navigation. However, Israel is reportedly investigating the matter, and has yet to decide on their legal standpoint.