Tiny Land Features in Recent Maritime Delimitation Case Law

Abstract

A maritime delimitation is, in its very nature, a delicate process, whose complexity can be further compounded by the presence of tiny land features, as they can considerably distort the final delimitation line. In several recent maritime delimitation cases, the question of the legal status of such a feature has arisen on the one hand, and of the potential effect that its presence in the delimitation area should have on the boundary on the other hand. Among the multiple options that international judges or arbitrators may use, they have chosen, and rightly so, a conservative approach, consisting in attributing a largely secondary role, if any, to these chunks of emerged land. This raises the larger issue about the true nature of a maritime delimitation decided by a judge or an arbitrator and, by extension, the relationship between law and nature.