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Natural Prolongation and Delimitation of the Continental Shelf Beyond 200 nm: Implications of the Bangladesh/Myanmar Case

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2013

Yao HUANG  and
Xuexia LIAO
Yao HUANG*
Affiliation:
Sun Yat-sen University, People's Republic of [email protected]
Xuexia LIAO*
Affiliation:
Sun Yat-sen University, People's Republic of [email protected]
*
*Professor, School of Law, Sun Yat-sen University.
**Graduate student, School of Law, Sun Yat-sen University.
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Abstract

This paper is a response to the latest Bangladesh/Myanmar case decided by the ITLOS on 14 March 2012, which is the first case concerning delimitation of the continental shelf beyond 200 nm. The paper aims to discuss the status and role of natural prolongation in delimiting this area. Natural prolongation constitutes the legal basis for entitlement to the continental shelf beyond 200 nm. Also, natural prolongation should play a role as a relevant circumstance in delimiting the continental shelf beyond 200 nm. To address these two issues, the judgment of the Bangladesh/Myanmar case will also be reviewed. Both the interpretation of the meaning of natural prolongation and its exclusion in the delimitation process are not convincing. Hence, the Judgment's future influence on the continental shelf delimitation is limited.

Type
Articles
Information
Asian Journal of International Law , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , July 2014 , pp. 281 - 307
Copyright
Copyright © Asian Journal of International Law 2013 

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Footnotes

This research is funded by the Philosophy and Social Science Cultivation Project of Sun Yat-sen University on the Innovation Research Group (Project No. 12000-3281901). The authors wish to thank very much the reviewers for their hard work on the draft paper and for their valuable comments. The views expressed herein are, of course, those of the authors alone.

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135. The final delimitation line by the Tribunal is substantially identical with the provisional line claimed by Bangladesh as a result of the application of the angle-bisector method. In this aspect, although the Tribunal rejected the proposal by Bangladesh, the Tribunal made the delimitation line substantially in favour of Bangladesh; see Bangladesh/Myanmar case, Separate Opinion of Judge Gao, at 19−20, paras. 48−52.