니카라과-콜롬비아 간 카리브해에서의 주권적 권리 및 해역 침해 주장 사건 평석

Abstract

This article examines the judgment of the Alleged Violations of Sovereign Rights and Maritime Spaces in the Caribbean Sea (Nicaragua v. Colombia), which was rendered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in April 2022. In addition, it provides some comments in law of the sea perspective and also draws implications in Korean perspective. In this judgment, the ICJ dealt with the following issues: the rights and duties-particularly with respect to the fisheries and marine environmental protection -of Nicaragua and Colombia in Nicaragua’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the compatibility of Colombia’s contiguous zone with customary international law, Nicaragua’s alleged infringement of the traditional fishing rights of the Colombian nationals, and the compatibility of Nicaragua’s straight baselines with customary international law. In this regard, this article points out several noteworthy features in the judgment: first, the ICJ recognized the spatial limit of the contiguous zone and the contents on the control of the coastal State in this zone in accordance with article 33, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as customary international law; second, the ICJ found it possible for the EEZ and contiguous zone to be overlapped between States, because the two regimes regulate different rights and duties; and third, the ICJ determined whether the straight baselines system established by the coastal State was in effect legal or not. Lastly, in the broader context of the law of the sea, this article also takes note that the ICJ declared or reaffirmed that not a few articles of UNCLOS reflected customary international law in this judgement. This suggests that UNCLOS is constantly contributing to the materialization of the customary law of the sea and broadening its universality in the law of the sea field, as the so-called Magna Carta of the ocean.