bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Canada v. United States of America (Judgment of the Chamber of the International Court of Justice, 12 October 1984)
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
The case analyzed in this chapter concerned delimitation of a single maritime boundary in the ‘Gulf of Maine area’. The Gulf is a broad oceanic indentation in the eastern coast of the North American continent, roughly the shape of an elongated rectangle, and bordered on three sides by land and on the fourth by the open Atlantic Ocean. The role of political and economic considerations in the delimitation process is duscussed. This was a case of many firsts: the first delimitation dispute (indeed, the first dispute of any kind) to be referred to a Chamber of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under Article 26(2) of the ICJ Statute; the first maritime boundary case to be decided after the adoption of UNCLOS; the first time the court had been asked to delimit a single maritime boundary encompassing the continental shelf and exclusive fishery zones; and the first time the court had been charged not just with the enunciation of principles and methods, but also with the delimitation of an actual boundary line. The chapter concludes that the judgment provides a valuable example of the application of three leading methods of delimitation (bisector, adjusted median line, and perpendicular) over the boundary’s three sectors.
Libya v. Malta (Judgment of the International Court of Justice, 3 June 1985)
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter presents the case concerned with the delimitation of the continental shelf boundary between the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and the Republic of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. In this case, Libya presented an argument for delimitation based on natural prolongation. The chapter outlines the various arguments put forward by both sides, and makes a number of interesting conclusions about the significance of this case. The Libya v. Malta Continental Shelf case was the first time the court had been requested to delimit a continental shelf boundary (or, indeed, any maritime boundary) between opposite coasts. It did so at a defining moment in the evolution of the international law of maritime delimitation, just a few years after the signature of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The judgment also marked an important development toward the establishment of equidistance as a first step in the maritime delimitation process.
Guinea-Bissau v. Senegal (Arbitral Award, 31 July 1989)
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter concerns a case involving Guinea-Bissau and Sengal. Guinea-Bissau and Senegal are adjacent States situated on the Atlantic coast of West Africa. The maritime delimitation dispute between the parties of this case emerged after they had gained independence from the former colonial powers of France and Portugal. The Guinea-Bissau/Senegal case, this chapter concludes, is an early (and relatively little-cited) example of settlement of an international maritime boundary dispute by way of ad hoc arbitration. It is notable perhaps for its confirmation of the application of the principles of uti possidetis and intertemporal law in the context of post-colonial maritime boundaries and for the post-Award proceedings by which Guinea-Bissau attempted to have the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declare the Award inexistent, null, and void. From a practical perspective, the Guinea-Bissau/Senegal case, the chapter finally argues, highlights the importance of the clear and precise formulation of the question or questions to be posed to any court or tribunal.
Canada v. France (Award of the Arbitral Tribunal, 10 June 1992)
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter starts by introducing the case, which concerned the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Canada and two islands, St Pierre and Miquelon, which collectively is described as a French ‘collectivité territoriale’ in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean. The dispute dated back to 1966, when Canada and France exchanged notes verbales and aide mémoires stating their positions with regard to continental shelf delimitation following the issuance of hydrocarbon exploration permits by each party. The chapter argues that this was an unusual case involving delimitation between a group of small islands, on the one hand, and a large nearby continental State, on the other. The two sides were in a relationship of coastal adjacency with regard to the majority of the disputed area. The case provides an important precedent in the context of small islands situated adjacent to large continental landmasses and abutting open ocean areas. The chapter ends with some notes on developments since the Award.
Denmark v. Norway (Judgment of the International Court of Justice, 14 June 1993)
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter examines a case which dealt with the delimitation of a maritime area located in the northern Atlantic Ocean between the east coast of Greenland and the island of Jan Mayen. The area lies to the north of Iceland and the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland. This case pre-dated the entry into force of UNCLOS. This judgment represents an important step in the development and harmonization of modern international law related to the joint delimitation of continental shelf and water-column boundaries, illustrating that, even when the delimitation of the shelf and water-column is subject to different formal legal approaches, the practical methodology of delimitation and the final result are highly likely to be the same. A final notable feature of this case was the variable adjustment of the provisional median line throughout the length of the boundary, to reflect the fact that fisheries only constituted a special circumstance in the southern part of the disputed area.
Qatar v. Bahrain (Judgment of the International Court of Justice (Merits), 16 March 2001)
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter describe a case which is concerned with the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Qatar and Bahrain in the southern part of the Arabian/Persian Gulf. The dispute combined land sovereignty and maritime delimitation aspects. The chapter considers the importance of the decision in this case for international law as a whole. The Qatar v. Bahrain judgment is perhaps best known for its treatment of islands, islets, shoals, and low-tide elevations and other small maritime features. This remains the most important practical aspect of the case today. The area of delimitation was littered with small features, particularly within the territorial sea areas. The size of many of those features changed substantially between high and low tide.
Newfoundland and Labrador v. Nova Scotia (Awards of the Tribunal in the First and Second Phases of an Arbitration Concerning Portions of the Limits of the Parties’ Respective Offshore Areas, Dated 17 May 2001 and 26 March 2002 Respectively)
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
The case of this chapter was over a dispute between two Canadian provinces (the Province of Nova Scotia and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador) over the boundary between their respective ‘offshore areas’ for the purposes of certain Canadian legislation. The delimitation was between the island of Newfoundland, on the one hand, and Cape Breton and the south-east portion of Nova Scotia’s mainland, on the other. The chapter argues that the Newfoundland and Labrador/Nova Scotia arbitration, while a sui generis case arising out of an inter-provincial Canadian dispute, has made a significant contribution to the development of the international law jurisprudence on maritime boundary delimitation. The case also provides an example of a tribunal constructing a true equidistance line at the first stage of the delimitation process, before the consideration of adjustment for relevant circumstances such as the presence and disproportionate effect of small islands.
Barbados v. Trinidad and Tobago (Award of the Arbitral Tribunal, 11 April 2006)
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
The case presented here is concerned with the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, which lie off the north-eastern coast of South America. The island State of Barbados is to the north-east of Tobago. The parties had conducted negotiations concerning the use of resources (principally fisheries and hydrocarbons) in the maritime space between them over some three decades since the 1970s. The chapter concludes that the Barbados v. Trinidad and Tobago case was the first maritime delimitation dispute resolved by way of arbitration under Annex VII to UNCLOS. The entire proceeding lasted just over two years between the Barbadian Notice of Arbitration and the tribunal’s Award, demonstrating the expeditiousness with which arbitration proceedings can be completed if effectively managed.
Nicaragua v. Honduras (Judgment of the International Court of Justice, 8 October 2007)
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
The chapter begins with some historic information about this case, which concerned delimitation of the maritime boundary between Nicaragua and Honduras in the Caribbean Sea. Nicaragua and Honduras have adjacent coastlines, separated by the River Coco, and are located in the south-western part of the Caribbean Sea. The chapter discusses the case in detail and concludes by summarizing the significance of the decision for international law. The case is a leading modern example of the rejection of an equidistance/special circumstances approach to maritime delimitation in favour of an alternative methodology that was better suited to the highly unusual geographical and geomorphological context of the case. The court’s judgment is particularly notable in this respect since it followed a series of cases, stretching back more than a decade, in which both the court and arbitral tribunals had embraced the equidistance/special circumstances approach and the drawing of a provisional equidistance line as the first step in the delimitation of single-purpose maritime boundaries.
Romania v. Ukraine (Judgment of the International Court of Justice, 3 February 2009)
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
The case discussed in this chapter is about the delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) boundary between Romania and Ukraine in the north-western part of the Black Sea. The judgment, this chapter argues, confirms the so-called ‘three-stage approach’ as a standard methodology for EEZ and continental shelf delimitation under modern international law. The chapter also considers the court’s approach to the selection of base points for the construction of the provisional equidistance line. The judgment provides one of several modern examples illustrating the burden that must be met by States arguing for adjustment of an equidistance or median line.
Nicaragua v. Colombia (Judgment of the International Court of Justice, 19 November 2012)
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
The case described in this chapter was over a dispute between Nicaragua and Colombia before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over title to territory and maritime boundary delimitation in the Caribbean Sea. The dispute combined land sovereignty and maritime delimitation aspects. Nicaragua and Colombia had long attempted to settle their dispute in the Caribbean Sea. This case, the chapter argues, is significant both for its endorsement of the three-stage methodology normally applied by courts and tribunals in modern maritime delimitation disputes and for the peculiarities of the application of that methodology to the unusual geographical context with which the court was faced. The court adopted a resolute promotion of the three-stage methodology (equidistance/relevant circumstances/disproportionality test) in circumstances where the appropriateness of that methodology was, perhaps, not readily apparent. In doing so, the court confirmed the primacy of that three-stage methodology in modern international law.
The Creeping Subjectivity of Base-Point Selection: A Lurch toward a ‘Four-Stage Approach’ (or a Return to Equitable Principles)?
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter examines the noticeable move of international courts and tribunals, starting with the Black Sea case, toward the subjective selection of base points for the construction of a provisional equidistance line. These cases have moved away from the ‘geometrically objective’ exercise identified by those same courts and tribunals as being central to the first stage of the so-called three-stage approach. Pursuant to that approach, subjectivity should only enter into the delimitation process at the second (relevant circumstances) and third (disproportionality) stages. The chapter questions whether courts and tribunals are being faithful to the three-stage process and its underlying rationale. Or has there been a lurch toward a four-stage process, whereby the court or tribunal considers what are the ‘appropriate’ base points for construction of a provisional equidistance line, before proceeding to construct that line? Could it be said that the level of subjectivity employed by some recent courts and tribunals augurs a decisive move away from equidistance and a return to delimitation through the application of equitable principles?
Relevant Coasts, Relevant Areas, and Proportionality: Variances of Approach and a More Discrete Role for Proportionality in the Delimitation Process?
Authors: Fietta Stephen , Cleverly Robin 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
To date, courts and tribunals have taken some markedly different approaches to the identification of relevant coasts and relevant areas, both in framing the context of the dispute and in presenting (or rebutting) arguments for the adjustment of a provisional delimitation line. This means that the parties to many disputes have devoted considerable efforts to presenting their views about the relevant coasts and relevant areas in each case, to suit their own situation and case objectives and thereby maximize the prospects of a favourable result. This section discusses some of the most common issues in dispute, the different approaches taken, and the solutions adopted by courts and tribunals in identifying relevant coasts and areas.
International Climate Change Law
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Brunnée Jutta , Rajamani Lavanya 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This book provides an overview of the legal instruments and sources that govern the international response to climate change. Climate change is one of the fundamental challenges facing the world today, and is the cause of significant international concern. In response, states have created a legal regime, albeit a contested one, to address climate change and its impacts. The legal texts that comprise the climate regime — the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1992, and its Kyoto Protocol, 1997 — are in force, have concrete content, and are binding. Resources are in place to facilitate the negotiation process, incentivise emissions reductions, and supervise and enforce compliance with the obligations imposed by these treaties. However, the language used in these international instruments is frequently intentionally vague. This book provides a clear guide to the legal regime applicable to climate change, demonstrating how the terms employed in the relevant instruments and conventions should be interpreted. The book begins by locating international climate change law within the broader context of international law and international environmental law. It considers the evolution of the international climate change regime, and the process of law-making that has led to it. It examines the key provisions of the Framework Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. It then analyses the principles that form part of the conceptual underpinning of the climate regime, as well as the elaborate institutional and governance architecture that has been created at successive international conferences. This assessment of the contours of the current regime is followed by a chapter devoted to the design of the post-2012 climate change regime, and trends indicated by the climate negotiations. The final two chapters address the relationship of international climate change law to regional and national climate change law, as well as its relationship with other areas of international regulation.
Climate Change and International Law
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Brunnée Jutta , Rajamani Lavanya 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter explores the key features of the broader legal landscape upon which international climate change law is anchored. It begins with a brief overview of the processes through which international legal norms are developed — the ‘sources’ of international law. The chapter then surveys the evolution of the main rules and principles of international environmental law relevant to climate change, as well as the scope and limitations of the rules and principles that apply between states. In considering the core rules of international environmental law, the chapter also canvasses the salient features and constraints of the law of state responsibility and touches upon the main dispute settlement forums available to states. Finally, the chapter traces the emergence of newer norms.
Treaty-Based Law-Making
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Brunnée Jutta , Rajamani Lavanya 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter is an overview of the basic concepts, processes and devices of treaty law. The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) defines ‘treaty’ as ‘an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law’. The basic rules of treaty law are codified in the VCLT, but are considered today to be universally binding as customary international law. Moreover, international law does not provide general rules to govern treaty negotiations, but certain common practices prevail in the pre-negotiation and negotiation phases, as this chapter shows. After the treaty negotiations, the chapter examines the next step — the adoption, signature, ratification, and entry into force of treaties, before looking at how treaty developments are effected.
Evolution of the United Nations Climate Regime
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Brunnée Jutta , Rajamani Lavanya 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter outlines the four phases in the development of the UN climate regime. The first was an agenda-setting phase, extending through 1990. The second was a constitutional phase, when the basic framework of the UN climate regime was put in place, beginning in 1991, when the UN General Assembly initiated negotiation of a framework convention on climate change, and continuing through 1994, when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) entered into force. The third phase was regulatory, focusing on the negotiation, elaboration, and operationalization of the Kyoto Protocol, which required industrialized countries to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and five other gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. Finally, the period since 2005 has focused on what to do after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period ended.
The Framework Convention on Climate Change
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Brunnée Jutta , Rajamani Lavanya 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter is an overview of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). The FCCC established the governance structure and approach to differentiation for the international climate regime. As a framework convention, the FCCC aims to create a flexible system of governance for the climate change problem. It authorizes the Conference of the Parties (COP) to establish new institutions or change the mandate of existing ones. It allows amendments, annexes, and amendments to annexes to be approved by a three-quarters majority vote. In addition, it provides for regular reviews of its specific commitments on sources and sinks, as well as of the annexes, with a view to their possible amendment.
Kyoto Protocol
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Brunnée Jutta , Rajamani Lavanya 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter discusses the Kyoto Protocol in depth. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol supplements the framework laid out in the FCCC, by establishing internationally-negotiated, legally binding, quantitative emission targets for Annex I parties. Though the Kyoto Protocol was finalized and adopted in December 1997, many of its key provisions were skeletal in character and required further elaboration. It is also one of the most complex and ambitious environmental agreements ever negotiated, and has proven itself to be deeply controversial. The chapter first explores four overarching issues, cutting across the three instruments in the UN climate regime — the FCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. It then provides a detailed analysis of the key provisions of the Kyoto Protocol.
Paris Agreement
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Brunnée Jutta , Rajamani Lavanya 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter details the 2015 Paris Agreement, its four overarching issues, and its key provisions. The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the UN climate negotiations. It sets an ambitious direction for the climate regime, and complements this direction with a set of common core obligations for all countries, including legally binding obligations of conduct in relation to parties' nationally determined mitigation contributions, and an expectation of progression over time. It also establishes a common transparency and accountability framework and an iterative process, in which parties take stock, every five years, of their collective progress and put forward emission reduction contributions for the next five-year period. The Paris Agreement, moreover, commands universal or near universal acceptance, and is applicable to all.
Intersections between International Climate Change Law and Other Areas of International Law
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Brunnée Jutta , Rajamani Lavanya 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This chapter maps the intersections between international climate change law and three areas of international law. Given the breadth of its causes and effects, the issue of climate change intersects with many areas of international law. And while there are other areas of intersection, the three topics considered in this chapter illustrate the crosscutting nature of climate change as an issue. These issues are: human rights law, the law relating to displacement and migration, and trade law. Each of them has given rise to significant scholarly debate and international practice, making them especially well-suited to exploring the interactions between international climate change law and international law more generally.
Conclusion
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Brunnée Jutta , Rajamani Lavanya 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
This concluding chapter summarises the main points discussed in the previous chapters. It briefly maps out the long, winding road that has illustrated the formation and evolution of international climate change law. The chapter then provides some distinctive features of international climate change law — its managerial approach, its explicit articulation of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities as one of its guiding principles, its experimentation with legal form, and its polycentricity. To close, the chapter ponders on the effectiveness of international climate change law, as well as the difficulties in assessing the international response to climate change. Despite the optimism that pervaded international climate change law in 2015–2016, the chapter identifies other challenges, limitations, and areas of improvement in the current international climate change regime.