Donald R. Rothwell

Federal and international perspectives on Australia's maritime claims

During 1994 Australia took two significant actions in relation to its maritime claims. On 1 August it declared a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and on 5 October it ratified the UNCLOS. The declaration of the EEZ was the final stage in a lengthy process which reflects the impact of federalism and international developments in the management of Australias offshore areas. This article examines the background to these recent developments and considers the implications of these maritime claims on Australian management of its offshore areas. In particular, the article reviews the constitutional, legal and political elements which have influenced Australias particular approach towards its offshore areas.

Issues and Strategies for Outer Continental Shelf Claims

The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS or the Commission) is a specialist body with a limited mandate with the potential to have a significant impact upon the dynamic of the law of the sea in coming decades as more coastal States seek to claim outer continental shelves (OCS). By the end of 2007, the Commission had received nine submissions but made only three recommendations. Many coastal States will be lodging OCS submissions in the coming years, raising issues as to the Commissions workload and capacity to efficiently consider each submission. Coastal States need to be mindful not only of the legal but also of the practical and strategic issues that are emerging in OCS submissions, including how many of them can meet the May 2009 submission cut-off. Making a partial OCS claim may be one approach. A review is undertaken of relevant State and Commission practice to date.

Australia's Territorial Sea: International and Federal Implications of Its Extension to 12 Miles

Abstract In November 1990 Australia extended its territorial sea from 3 to 12 nautical miles. This article examines the consequences of this extension under international and municipal law, and draws comparisons with the experience of the United States and Canada in relation to their territorial seas. The expansion of Australias territorial sea has some noteworthy features under international law in its effect on Australias territorial claims in the Antarctic, and on the maritime delimitation between Australia and Papua New Guinea in Torres Strait. The consequences of the extension under municipal law arise from the unique offshore regime agreed between the federal government and seven state and territorial governments in 1979, by which jurisdiction over the territorial sea is divided between central and regional governments. Australias federal constitutional structure has created problems of offshore jurisdiction similar to those experienced in Canada and the United States, but the solution adopted is...

The legal framework for ocean and coastal management in Australia

The legal framework for ocean and coastal management in Australia is created by both international law and Australian constitutional law. In 1994 the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea entered into force, thereby giving legitimacy to a wide range of maritime claims. Australia ratified the Convention in 1994 and at the same time declared for the first time a contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone. When combined with its existing claims to a territorial sea and continental shelf, Australia now claims four maritime zones. Australias management of these offshore zones and the coastal area also depends on Australias federal system where powers are divided between the Commonwealth and States. The Offshore Constitutional Settlement has also created a further constitutional law framework within which these areas are managed. The international and constitutional law framework is reviewed and an analysis is undertaken of Australian ocean and coastal management.

Southern Ocean Boundaries and Maritime Claims: Another Antarctic Challenge for the Law of the Sea?

Throughout the life of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty there has been considerable development in the law of the sea. Negotiated following the 1958 First United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, at which the customary international law concepts of the territorial sea and continental shelf were codified into treaty law, the law of the sea has since developed through state practice and most importantly through the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Whatever the merits of examining the interaction between Antarctica and the law of the sea have been in the past, there is much to suggest that the general significance of such issues is growing, especially as states seek to determine the outer limits of their continental shelf claims and in doing so determine Antarctic baselines. This article examines these issues from a general law of the sea perspective, taking into account the impact of the Antarctic Treaty while reviewing Australian practice in particular.

Sovereignty and the Antarctic Treaty

Sovereignty was and still remains one of the principal reasons for human endeavour in Antarctica. The ‘Heroic Era’ of Antarctic exploration was designed principally to seek out not only new lands including the South Pole, but also to assert territorial claims on behalf of the sovereign who sponsored these expeditions. The ‘planting of the flag’ was therefore just as much a crucial component of Antarctic discovery, as also was the conduct of science. Sovereignty and science remained twin pillars of Antarctic endeavour throughout the early part of the twentieth century, and whilst the region escaped the horrors of World War II, it did not take long after the war for Antarctic endeavours to resume on both fronts. In a decade of frantic diplomatic activity during the 1950s, which was highlighted by the 1957–1958 International Geophysical Year and the 1959 Washington Conference, there was also the prospect in 1956 of a case before the International Court of Justice between Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom over the contested status of territorial claims on the Antarctic Peninsula. Notwithstanding that by this time all of the current claims to the continent had by then been asserted, there had also been moves made by India in 1956 and then again in 1958 to reconsider the management of the continent with a view to its internationalisation under a framework created by the United Nations General Assembly.

Australia's antarctic maritime claims and boundaries

Since the Antarctic Treaty was negotiated in 1959, there have been substantial developments in the law of the sea. One of the most significant developments has been the recognition granted to coast...

Building on the Strengths and Addressing the Challenges: The Role of the Law of the Sea Institutions

With the Law of the Sea Convention celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2004, an opportunity arises to assess the impact of new institutions created by the Convention. An analysis is undertaken of the work of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, the International Sea-Bed Authority, and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. It is argued that all three of these institutions are playing an important role in the evolution of the law of the sea, and giving effect to fundamental norms of the Convention, such as the common heritage principle. However, conflicts loom over the delimitation of maritime space, forum shopping, and treaty parallelism. It is concluded that these institutions will continue to play an important role for the law of the sea in the coming decade.

International Straits and Trans-Arctic Navigation

The Arctic Ocean is increasingly becoming accessible to international shipping as a result of the reduction in Arctic sea ice. Commercial shipping may seek to transit the Arctic Ocean from either the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean and, as a result, the legal regime of straits has significance for trans-Arctic navigation. In this article, current developments in Arctic shipping are assessed and consideration is given to certain Arctic straits that could prove to be pivotal in future Arctic navigation and shipping. These straits include the Bering Strait, Nares Strait, Davis Strait, Fram Strait, and Denmark Strait.

Law of the sea and the polar regions: Reconsidering the traditional norms☆☆☆

Applying the law of the sea in the polar regions creates great difflcultles. This Indicates a need to reassess the traditional notlons of the law of the sea. The polar reglons are distinct because they Increasingly have thelr own separate legal regimes. These Issues are examlned from the perspective of SIX bipolar law of the sea problems. A determlnation Is made as to whether the law of the sea deals adequately with the unique geographical, cllmatlc and jurlsdlctlonal problems which arlse In the polar reglons and If a sul generls approach to these issues Is requlred.