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The Status Of Commission On The Limits Of The Continental Shelf

Posted on:2014-08-01Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:M CuiFull Text:PDF
GTID:2256330401478025Subject:International Law
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
The continental shelf is abundant in natural resources. With the advancement oftechnology, coastline nations start utilizing these resources at a higher level. In themean time, due to the high reliance of modern socioeconomic development onresources, coastline nations are maximizing their respective continental shelf territoryto extend their claim over the resources. In order to specify the definition and thedelimitation of continental shelf, thus reducing the disputes arise from competingclaims, the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea delimited the inner andouter continental shelf. Also, the Commission on the limits of the Continental Shelfwas established according to the Convention. Any case submitted by the coastlinenations, which is regarding the delimitation of continental shelf, will be subject to thereview of the commission to check against compliance of the geological technicalstandard as specified by the Convention. After the review, a proposition will be madeby the Commission on the case. If the proposition is agreed upon by the coastlinenations, they can delimit their respective outer continental shelf based on theproposition, thus rendering the new limits of continental shelf deterministic andlegally binding.The Commission has always been playing an important role in the delimitationof the continental shelf and has received a lot of attention for it. However, due to in deterministic articles in the Convention and the issues arise from the actual practice ofthe Convention, the status of the commission is now questioned by many countriesand scholars. Based on the objectives, staff background and main functions of thisorganization, the Commission should be defined as a professional institution.However, some scholars argue that based on the effectiveness of the proposition andthe role played by the commission in delimitation; the organization should be definedas a judicial institution. Therefore the review mechanism and the binding power of theproposition are called into question. On one hand, China is one of the contractingparties of the Convention; on the other hand, reasonably extending China’s sovereignclaim over the continental shelf has a significant bearing on the country’s sustainablesocioeconomic development. In2012, China filed a case for outer continental shelfdelimitation, which hasn’t triggered the review procedure. Therefore, it is makes greatsense to analyze and clarify the status of the Commission and the scope of the reviewso as to make a compelling case and safeguard our maritime interests, which is alsothe intention of writing this dissertation.This paper is divided into3parts, the introduction, the main body and theconclusion.The introduction gives a general background of the Commission and a briefanalysis on the developments in the resources, the geological definition and the legaldefinition of the continental shelf.Chapter1will give an introduction of the Commission on its legal framework,personnel structure, responsibilities as well as the scope and the procedures of itsreview.Chapter2analyzes the ambiguity regarding the status of the Commission and thecausation of it. Then a detailed analysis of the potential disputes that might arise fromthe ambiguous status during the review of the outer continental shelf delimitation.In Chapter3, the author argues that the Commission is a technical organizationinstead of a judicial one from the perspectives of the responsibilities, the objectivesand the legal foundations of this organization. Also, suggestions of reforms are madeto the Commission on personnel structure, binding power of the proposition and review procedures.In Chapter4, the author made a detailed analysis on China’s case of outercontinental shelf delimitation.In the end, the paper concludes that the Commission is a technical organizationinstead of a judicial one, and it does not have the judicial power to review thelegitimacy of delimitation cases. The author hopes that through this paper, the statusof the Commission can be clarified and some lights can be shed on the measures toprotect China’s sovereign right over the outer continental shelf.
Keywords/Search Tags:United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea, Commission on the limits of the Continental Shelf, Delimitation ofthe outer continental shelf
PDF Full Text Request
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