Legal scenario towards the policy of marine natural resources on the continental shelf: Ambalat case study

Abstract

The conflict in the continental shelf in Ambalat’s Zone between Indonesia and Malaysia always end up with miserable deadlocks and legal uncertainty. The concentration of the offering solution only focuses on the aspect of sovereignty but does not criticize or highlighting the regulatory aspect regarding natural resources and biodiversity. Based on UNCLOS 1982, the coastal State has the right to enforce its authority on the continental shelf and this is implying that everything contained instead of them including natural resources, can be claimed by the coastal State itself. The Ambalat case is a very complex issue to be studied in this journal, where the continental shelf is claimed by two coastal states: Indonesia and Malaysia. Some previous research only emphasized ‘unsettled dispute settlement’ without providing legal certainty in the form of clear regulations regarding the existence and the regulation of natural resources on the continental shelf. This opens the Pandora’s box whether the management of natural resources can be managed independently by their respective coastal states or joint sharing. The results of the study of this article is criticize and provide an option in the form of legal construction of how should or ideally legal policies regarding the regulation of natural resources on the continental shelf are full of potential conflicts (with special conditions).