The Judicial Development Of The Equity Principle On Continental Shelf Delimitation And Its Implication To China

The Law of the Sea is experiencing profound changing and development. Since theUnited States published the Declaration of Continental Shelf in1945, many countrieshave declared their maritime rights according to their own conditions and interests. Theyeither accept the way to claim rights on continental shelf as United states did, or putforward the “distance” standard, to proclaim they have control or sovereignty over theocean within a certain area. In the1969case which concerns the delimitation of NorthContinental Shelf, The International Court of Justice establishes that the equity principleis the fundamental principle in continental shelf delimitation, and natural prolongation isthe basis for claiming rights on continental-shelf. The1977Anglo-French case furtherstabilizes the equity principle. Although this principle is widely recognized and used insubsequent judicial practice, its meaning is abstract and uncertain. In1982, the UnitedNations Convention on the Law of the Sea established the institution of exclusiveeconomic zone. This institution has some overlap with the continental shelf. So under thisbackground, the International Court of Justice interprets the equity principle in a new way.In the case concerning Libya-Malta, the Court notes that although the concept ofequidistance does not replace natural prolongation, and the principle of naturalprolongation does not affect the maritime delimitation if the distance between the partiesis less than400nautical miles. In the subsequent international-judicial practice, the Courtupholds that the delimitation should follow the principle of equity, but as a delimitatingmethod, equidistance-special circumstances has been frequently used under the equity principle, which greatly weakens the natural prolongation principle. In the caseconcerning Burma-Bangladesh maritime delimitation, the court applies the equidistanceprinciple to maritime delimitation beyond200nautical miles. After a comprehensiveresearch of the continental-shelf-delimitation cases, it is easy to see the following trends:first, the equidistance-special circumstances plays a more and more important role incontinental shelf delimitation; additionally, institutions of the exclusive economic zoneand continental shelf show a merging trend. Lastly, although traditionally, the method ofproportionality is used to check the fairness of the delimitation or as a factor affectingequidistant-the special circumstances, its importance in geology and social developmentshows the rationale for Proportionality to become more influential on the delimitation ofcontinental shelf rights. China should resolve the continental shelf disputes via politicalnegotiation, and should avoid submitting continental shelf dispute to International Courtof Justice or other judicial organization. Meanwhile, from a long-term view, Chinashould pay more attention to the rights on superjacent waters of the exclusive economiczone.