Options to Avoid and Resolve Disputes over Island Sovereignty

Abstract

Disputes concerning sovereignty over islands and their associated maritime entitlements and thus rights over valuable marine resources are an enduring feature of international ocean law and geopolitics. Such sovereignty disputes have, however, been resolved in the past. The chapter explores instances where contentious disputes concerning island sovereignty have been resolved through negotiations both in the absence of and in conjunction with maritime boundary delimitation. Further, although states have generally proved to be reluctant to submit territorial disputes to judicial settlement, nonetheless several sovereignty disputes over islands have been resolved through international arbitration or litigation. Again, such cases have dealt with island sovereignty alone and with both island sovereignty and maritime boundary delimitation. The chapter draws upon this state practice and international jurisprudence to explore some of the commonalities and contrasts with the factors that led coastal states to reach a negotiated resolution to sovereignty disputes over islands. What were the drivers for coastal states to relinquish sovereignty over islands that previously were disputed? While it is recognized that each island sovereignty dispute is unique concerning its particular facts, the chapter discerns themes and trade-offs that assisted in the resolution of island sovereignty disputes through negotiations despite the traditional and ongoing sensitivities of essentially territorial nation-states over sovereignty issues. Further, concerning the international jurisprudence regarding the settlement of island sovereignty, the chapter seeks to identify the key factors or considerations that led the coastal states involved to seek the resolution of contentious island sovereignty disputes in question through international adjudication. Moreover, the chapter aims to highlight some of the types of arguments and evidence that proved to be most persuasive in determining island sovereignty in these cases. Further, with respect to the island sovereignty disputes resolved in conjunction with the delimitation of maritime boundaries, whether through negotiations, arbitration, or litigation, the chapter assesses the role of the features in question in influencing the course of the maritime boundary line so delimited to evaluate whether a connection and trade-off exist between sovereignty over insular features and their impact on the final course of a maritime boundary line. Additionally, island sovereignty disputes have, on a limited number of occasions, been circumvented to either achieve maritime boundary delimitation without determining island sovereignty or for the states involved to enter provisional arrangements of a practical nature pending resolution of the dispute over island sovereignty. Overall, the chapter seeks to support the objective of progressively developing the rule of law in the regional maritime order by offering a suite of options, grounded in past state practice and international jurisprudence, that has either resulted in the resolution of island sovereignty disputes or their management. The objective is thus to explore and evaluate best practices in resolving island disputes to assist in the avoidance or management of conflict between coastal states over island sovereignty.